Writing Out the Notes: Life in Great Big Sea and Other Musical Misadventures

by Bob Hallett

A rambling trip through a colourful and melodic St. John's childhood, combined with a how-not-to-do-it-yourself guide to the music business and a thoughtful and sometimes poignant look at the way a legendary Canadian band creates music — all of these threads and many others are pulled together by writer and musician Bob Hallett. Writing Out the Notes began as a series of essays Hallett wrote to explain his love of music, but it turned into a humorous biography and a kind of extended solo on music and how his love for it transformed his life.

Although he is best known for his role in Great Big Sea, Hallett has long had a parallel career as a writer. And while some writers seek inspiration from travel, history, or romance, for Hallett, the place where he grew up provided all the inspiration he never needed.

Genres: Nonfiction

173 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 15, 2010

About the author

Robert (Bob) Hallett (born 1966) is a Canadian musician, author, producer, and entrepreneur, best known as a founding member of the Canadian folk rock band Great Big Sea (1993–2013). A native of St. John's, Newfoundland, Hallett co-founded Great Big Sea in 1993, with Alan Doyle, Sean McCann, and Darrell Power. The band sold over a million and half records around the world, over a twenty-year period. Through his company, Kilbride Music, Hallett has managed bands and produced records, radio specials, and live concerts. Hallet is a vocal proponent of talent development within the Newfoundland and East Coast Music Industries, and has authored a career guidebook for aspiring musicians. He works with the producers of the Broadway musical Come From Away as a Music Consultant, and has also worked at the Stratford Festival as a Composer & Music Director. As an author he has written dozens of magazine articles, essays and several books, including the best-selling memoir Writing Out The Notes.

Hallett currently plays accordion and other instruments in the band Kelly Russell and the Planks; he has also been associated with The Once, The Dardanelles, Fabian James, and the Irish Descendants, in various capacities. Bob Hallett has two twin daughters.

See also R.B. Hallett.

Reviews

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bob Hallet's book, unlike the two (2) books by his Great Big Sea bandmate Alan Doyle, is not a typical autobiography. In "Writing out the Notes" Bob talks about how the musicans and songs effected his personally and his musical style. This book was not exactly what I was expecting, but I enjoyed the read. I am unfamiliar with the majority of singers, bands, and songs Bob spoke of in his book. It would benefitted readers like myself if Bob had included an appendix with information about those singers, bands, and songs.

[Debbie is on Storygraph · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was more a series of essays than cohesive whole, each focusing on some aspect of music that had shaped or touched Hallett and how he's grown as a musician. It was an easy read. Hallett has a nice, conversational tone in his writing. I probably would have gotten more out of this if I was familiar with the bands and songs he was referencing. But now I have a playlist to explore!

It was also interesting to reach certain points about Great Big Sea's career that Alan Doyle had also touched on in his books, and compare the two.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such an interesting book. The stories were entertaining.I liked the style of multiple short stories. It was a fun and quick read. I enjoyed the insights into the music and life in a band.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up Writing Out The Notes: Life in Great Big Sea at a Great Big Sea concert in Kent, Ohio a few months ago. I confess: I am a folk music fan. I have a tremendously eclectic taste in music; my iTunes library has everything from the Sex Pistols and Einsturzende Neubauten to Bobby Golodsboro and Glenn Gould and all points in between, which makes for some disconcerting segues when you put the whole mess on shuffle. A friend sent me some YouTube links to a couple of Great Big Sea songs a few years ago and I was instantly hooked. I love songs that tell a story, and I love songs I can sing along with — if I can’t crank them up in the car and sing as I’m racing down the highway, what fun are they? Folk music reminds me of the songs my father used to sing with his guitar on the front porch on summer evenings. Folk songs may tell some amazing stories, but folk music isn’t exactly cool or hip, so what makes a young musician choose folk music? What sustains them as they make a career of it? Writing Out the Notes tells a bit of that story.

This is not a big book, only about 170 pages, but it made for very pleasant reading — and it will take me weeks to get through my notes on bands I need to look up and music I need to listen to. Hallett talks at length about the music in his life, everything from the Newfoundland punk rock scene to Beyonce. I have a hard time imagining him in a punk band, but I think we’d have fun talking about music, considering the crazy turns that my personal collection takes (although I spent a chunk of my time with this book Googling all sorts of instruments — who do you know that plays the bouzouki?). I’ve got a list of songs and bands to check out, inspired by the music he wrote about in this book: the Barra MacNeils (subject of a terrific party story in the book), Ryan’s Fancy, Figgy Duff, Altan, the Johnstons. He writes very thoughtfully about music — I tend to be more of the “oooh, I like that!” sort of fan, so it will be interesting to listen to some of these bands, knowing a bit of history.

One of the themes that really struck home for me was the talk about travel. I’m writing this from Amsterdam, where I seem to write a lot of my reviews these days, while we are contemplating the schedule for our next round of work in Europe. (Aberdeen in January? Brrrrrr!) Much of my travel is for work, not just as a tourist, which is always a slightly different perspective. And since I’m working with local people, I tend to think a lot about the way people live in the different places I visit — I hear from my co-workers about their evenings and weekends, their difficult commutes, their complaints about local politicians and a host of other things you aren’t exposed to as a tourist. (We’ve been staying at the same hotel in Amsterdam so long that Christian, one of my favorite bartenders, has started telling me stories about picking up female tourists in the hotel. I’m not sure whether to be flattered or insulted, but I am definitely intrigued.)

“I have spent hours looking out the windows of tour buses, watching town after town and mile after mile go by. More than once I have passed a pleasant afternoon strolling around a supposedly dull residential neighborhood somewhere in a factory town in the US Midwest. The houses, the trees, something is always different. It never really gets boring: there is always something to see, some drama, and some subtle different from home that makes it all brand new.

The same questions bother me wherever I go: What is it really like to live here? What are these people doing here, anyway? Do they like it? Do they like each other? Do they even notice where they are anymore?”

Whether I’m driving back to Amsterdam from Belgium, as I was yesterday, fighting LA traffic, broiling in the Houston sun or shivering in a Minnesota winter, I am always curious about the people who live in a place and what brought them/keeps them there. I am envious of someone who gets to travel the way musicians do and of the way they get to experience the places they visit.

Writing Out The Notes: Life in Great Big Sea is an interesting look at the life of a folk musician. Fans of Great Big Sea will enjoy the glimpses of the band’s history and folk music fans will enjoy a different sort of history lesson. This one wasn’t a review copy; it’s one that I bought for the permanent collection. I only wish I’d had a chance to get it autographed.

Originally published on my website, AliveontheShelves.com.

[Jocelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recently saw my first Great Big Sea concert in ten (!!) years at Banff. Alan mentioned that Bob wrote a book, and he was jetting off to (somewhere?) to do a book signing. "It takes four of us to write one song, and Bob wrote a whole book."

I picked it up at a new book store in town on Canada Day, and I'm so glad I did. I've been going through a bit of a 'rock & roll' memoir reading phase lately and I so enjoyed learning about the cornucopia of musical influences, and the stories (memories) that have formed a career.

The structure of the book is set up like a play list reflect that - The middle chapters are titles of songs that have influenced him. Life is a rock concert,

It was a really great read - I especially enjoyed learning being isolated from pop culture (He says Newfoundland has a 5 year lag from American influences in the pre-internet days) and how explains the general mind-set of Newfoundlanders (My parents had no time for hippie folk music) could force other influences to reign.

It's these influences that Bob writes about - how musical experience inspired his songwriting in a different way. Reading these memoirs have given me a respect the life of a working musician and the amount of real talent that goes into a career that we pay $30 to watch for a couple hours on a Saturday night.

He doesn't really go too much into "Life in Great Big Sea" - it's not a tell-all, it's more about how these musical influences contributed to his life in a working band. (I was disappointed he didn't mention 'Old Black Rum' once.)

At the Banff concert we were positioned in front of this Motley Crue of DUDES who were clearly Fans of Bob. For each song the dudes had some sort of (hilarious) positive reinforcement for him. "WOO BOB!" "YOU ACED THAT SOLO BOB!" "Way to ROCK THE TIN WHISTLE Bob". I sound snarky, but they were really being sincere and enthusiastic. Now I understand why: I bet they read his book.

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fans of Great Big Sea know that Bob Hallett is pretty much a musical magician. He can play pretty much anything on anything. What you might not know is that he's also one hell of a writer.

I'd read his blog on the band's site previously, so I knew he was good, but reading a bunch of his essays in one gulp, you really find out how good his is.

The book, while subtitled 'Life in Great Big Sea and other musical misadventures' is really a series of essays about songs and their impact on Hallett and his music. He covers everything from punk to Leonard Cohen to (gasp) the Bay City Rollers. The essays are captured as moments in time as he's heard the song the first time, or how it changed the way he views or plays music. There's really not much about GBS in the book, but with the talent this man has, it's OK.

I would gladly read anything else he writes.

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very quick read. If you've read Bob's blog on the Great Big Sea website , you've probably read most of the book. Each chapter title is the title of a song that influenced Bob in some way.

No real dish on the group. Just music and what it means to this particular member of Great Big Sea.

[Jaim · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has some interesting stories about Hallett's musical influences but I found most of the content to be a little disorganized and one-note. Perhaps I was just expecting more from the book (as I have been a fan of GBS for twenty years). I had hoped for more content about life in the band (as the original title suggested). All in all, it was a quick read.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-written and fascinating look at how Hallett of Great Big Sea ended up where he is today. If you ever have the chance to hear him do a reading in person, go! He's also a fantastic and humorous speaker.

[Dave Rockwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fans of Great Big Sea will love this book. not really a GBS biography, this book is a glimpse inside the events and songs that crafted a master musician. Worthy read for GBS fans and music lovers alike.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I wasn't such a GBS and Bob fan I probably would not have enjoyed it. If you, yourself are a musician, I suspect you will like the read.

[Isblue · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wished it were longer; I enjoyed reading his thoughts.

[Andy McCarthy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book really interesting, but it is not really about his time in the Great Big Sea.