Fortunate Ones keeping it positive

By Chris Brown on September 20, 2018.

cbrown@medicinehatnews.com @MHNBrown

Catherine Allan and Andrew O’Brien are taking a message of resilience and positivity across Canada for the next two months.

The Newfoundland duo is on the Esplanade to begin the ON-Stage Series Oct. 4.

“A lot of what we’re trying to deal with is making sense of where we are in the world. We’re trying to put some type of positivity back out there,” O’Brien said last week. “It’s easy to be swamped by all the negativity that’s going on in the world and if you can infuse or inject it with a little bit of hope and positivity then you should.”

Hope and positivity flows throughout the songs on the duo’s album “Hold Fast,” released this year. The track “Steady As She Goes,” dedicated to those affected by the Fort McMurray wildfires in 2016, also has a message of coming together during the hardest of times.

O’Brien and Allan were writing with Alan Doyle (of Great Big Sea) when the fires were raging and following all the news report they could. With so many of their fellow Newfoundlanders flying between home and Alberta for work and many more having made the move to Alberta the fires were hitting them hard. Some of their family members were directly affected by the fires.

“We just kind of felt compelled to sing about it to write about it. It was such a devastating thing,” O’Brien said. “In our own small way we wanted to let them know that they weren’t alone. We were sending good vibes out their way, and particularly to the first responders.”

O’Brien’s younger brother is a paramedic so seeing first responders from all over the country rushing to help in Alberta was touching for him.

“I was overwhelmed to see the response from first responders. We wanted to tip our hats to first responders,” he said.

Allan recounted a story about a flight attendant holding babies so exhausted mothers could sleep on the flight as they flew back to Newfoundland.

“I feel so moved by that because it’s definitely outside their job description. That empathy and kindness was beautiful to hear,” she said.

Other songs about moving forward include “Northern Star,” about the struggles refugees must go through leaving their homes and moving to Canada, and the title track, about not letting fears and insecurities hold you back.

Overall the album marks a change in musical direction by Fortunate Ones. Their debut album “The Bliss” was more folky and soft, said Allan. “Hold Fast” is more pop-driven. This tour is also going in a different direction from previous ones. For the first time they have a drummer on stage with them, allowing them to honour the drums from the record.

“At any time I’d be playing a kick drum, Catherine would be using a sample pad for tambourine sounds,” O’Brien said. “What adding a drummer affords s is the ability to focus more on the instruments that we’re playing. Also it adds layers of percussion and different percussive textures that we weren’t able to do live before.”

“The songs are really taking shape and we’re just excited now to get out and play them,” added Allan.

Allan and O’Brien are bringing Mo Kenney as a special guest for the show, which starts at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets, $35.25 all in, are available at tixx.ca, by calling 403-502-8777 or in person at the Esplanade box office or the Medicine Hat Mall customer service desk. A bundle pack for all five ON-Stage shows is also available.

Note: This story has been updated to correct the ticket price.

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