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DARRELL
BOB
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Photo Credit: Fiona Younger
Bob, being the only born and bred St. John's man in the group, is from the community of Kilbride in the extreme West End of St. John's. He was brought up in a very musical family. There were always instruments around to be played, and he took full advantage of this.
The multi-instrumentalist of the band, Bob picks up instruments very quickly. In high school he played the baritone saxiphone, he taught himself to play the guitar and tin whistle while in his teens. His grandmother taught him how to play the button accordion and since she was left handed, Bob consequently now plays his various accordions upside down, even though he's right handed. At the relatively advanced age of 20, Bob picked up a fiddle that had been sitting in the corner of the living room and taught himself how to play it. He now plays it astonishingly well, for a selt-taught man.
After highschool, Bob attended Memorial University, majoring in Newfoundland history and literature, and graduated in 1990. It was here where he met Séan and formed the Newfoundland Republican Army. This eight-member band did not last very long however. Next they formed Rankin Street and were joined by Darrell. Apparently, they had a policy of total spontaneity, and this led to some interesting happenings. Audience members were invited to participate on stage, band members switched instruments, etc. Rankin Street produced a live recording, which is not being made anymore, but is still looked for by many people. This band broke up in 1993 and then Great Big Sea was formed.
The job that Bob left to work more extensively with GBS was as managing editor of The Muse and The Newfoundland Herald. With this background, he was the obvious choice for the designer of all of the band's early publicity material, including the liner notes on the three most-recent albums.
[Darrell] [Alan] [Séan]