Alan Doyle, Bandits on the Run

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Sullivan Event Photography

Alan Doyle and guitar.

Alan Doyle

For those of us who still miss Great Big Sea — the energetic Canadian band of merrymakers that fused rock-pop interpretations of traditional Newfoundland folk songs with their own catchy material — the opportunity to see one of its core members perform is the next best thing. After Great Big Sea parted in 2013, singer/guitarist Alan Doyle embarked on a solo career during which he has consistently released new music. His latest is the six-song EP Already Dancing, released in February, which suggests that while Doyle is in a more reflective mood these days, his songwriting remains sharp. And, yes, he still plays Great Big Sea tunes, too. Bandits on the Run, a quirky indie-folk-pop-americana trio from Brooklyn, N.Y., opens.

media release: General Admission Seating: $30ADV / $35DOS

Front Row Seating: $50ADV / $55DOS

When you’re as busy as Alan Doyle, you create music whenever and wherever you can. So, it’s not shocking to hear that his six-song EP, Already Dancing, was recorded in six studios across five cities in two countries – especially considering that last year may have been the busiest of his more-than-three-decade career.

With Already Dancing, Doyle and his collaborators recorded wherever they happened to be. Featuring five original songs (including the foot-stomping first single “Nancy,” with The East Pointers) as well as Doyle’s version of the 1986 Spirit of the West classic “The Crawl” (with the band’s legendary co-founder Geoffrey Kelly on whistle and vocals), Already Dancing took shape in: St. John’s, Newfoundland; Halifax, Nova Scotia; Charlottetown, PEI; and Santa Monica, California, before Doyle brought the whole team together at the National Music Centre in Calgary to finish it off.

Doyle’s CV is extensive: founding member of Great Big Sea, a best-selling author, a film and TV actor-producer with multiple major credits, including staring in the wildly successful musical Tell Tale Harbour. Yet the wildly popular musician from Petty Harbour, Newfoundland remains most electrifying before a live audience, abetted by his ace band. “I am the luckiest guy in the world,” Doyle says. “It’s such a privilege to stand among those players on stage.”