Tickle Harbour

Music Industry Association of Newfoundland & Labrador Award Winners
1998 Album of the Year
1998 Instrumental Artist
1998 Folk/Roots Artist / Group

East Coast Music Awards Nominees
2000 Roots Traditional

The Hares Ears was our first endeavor. It was recorded in 1979 at Clode Sound Studios in Stephenville, Newfoundland. We had a day and a half to record, mix, package and send it to press. Believe it or not we pulled it off. It was basically recorded live off the floor. The studio engineer was Neil Bishop who 20 years later mixed Battery Included.

This recording was only ever released on LP. There were no CDs in those days. The band at that time was Don Walsh, Des Walsh, Gerry Strong and Rick Hiscott.

Unfortunately it's no longer available. There were only 1,000 copies pressed and they went in a very short while. I'm not sure why but we never did do a second pressing.

The Brule Boys in Paris was recorded at Don's Dadyeen Studios. It was recorded in 1991, a full 12 years after The Hares Ears. We were fortunate enough to have Seamus Creagh, of Jackie Daley and Seamus Creagh fame, along for the ride on this one. Seamus lived in Newfoundland for five years and played with the band during this time. Also in the band at this time was another great Cork fiddler, Bob O'Donovan and a great Cork flute player, Rob Murphy. And rounding up the field was Scott Schillereff, Paddy Mackey, Gerry Strong and Don Walsh.

Click on The Brule Boys in Paris for a look at the CD cover and liner notes.

Battery Included was our big award winner. It won three awards at our own Music Industry Awards in 1998. It made us very proud due to the fact that these awards were voted on by our peers.

The Performance Hour on CBC radio with Russel Bowers asked people to vote on the top 10 recordings of all time in Newfoundland & Labrador. When the results were tabulated, Battery Included was number 6

It was also recorded in Don's Dadyeen Studios this time just a mere seven years after our last recording. And, as before, with practically a whole new lineup in the band.

Don Walsh and Gerry Strong seemed to survive the twenty years together in the band but it seems that no one else could put up with them... how else can we explain the disappearance of band members each time a new recording was done :-) Joining Don and Gerry on this one were Vonnie Barron: Vocals, Patrick Moran: Fiddle, Fergus O'Byrne: Concertina, Bodhran and Francesca Swann: Cello.

Click on Battery Included for a look at the CD cover and liner notes.

Tickle Harbour
"Tickle Harbour represents the spirit of what Newfoundland folk music at its best is all about. This is a group that obviously has a lot of fun making music..."
(Glenn Colton -Sunday Telegram)

Tickle Harbour is still having fun. The music is a marriage of Irish and Newfoundland traditions. The band is acoustic, but doesn't shy away from fresh approaches to tunes, some familiar, some dug out of oblivion. The six musicians in the band are some of the best traditional players in Newfoundland.

These are a bunch of photos of the band. I've broken them down into categories to make the thumbnails easier to load

Boston
Vancouver
Misc
At Home In St. John's
Canada Games 99 in Corner Brook

The most entertaining and best overall performance of the evening was unquestionably the six member band Tickle Harbour. An experienced, talented cast of musicians who work well together, Tickle Harbour represents the spirit of what Newfoundland folk music, at its best, is all about. The group's interesting combination of traditional instruments (including fiddle, guitar, flute and cello among others) add to their distinctive sound. This is a group that obviously has a lot of fun making music, an enthusiasm which had an immediate spillover effect to the crowd. Spontaneous clapping, dancing, and a rousing cheer at the conclusion of their set gave ample evidence as to who the crowd favorite for the evening was.
(Excerpt from a review of the St. John's Folk Festival by Glenn Colton - Sunday Telegram August 3, 1997.)

Tickle Harbour: A musical journey through Newfoundland's heritage.

The Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage Website has a section on Tickle Harbour which includes Real Audio files for most of the tunes and songs on both The Brule Boys in Paris and Battery Included.