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Darrell Power (born June 3, 1968) is a
Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...
, singer, songwriter, music producer, and former member of Canadian folk rock band
Great Big Sea Great Big Sea was a Canadian folk rock band from Newfoundland and Labrador, best known for performing energetic rock interpretations of traditional Newfoundland folk songs including sea shanties, which draw from the island's 500-year Irish, Scot ...
(1993–2003). He is a guest host of VOCM Nightline and Open Line. Power currently works as a substitute teacher. He lives in downtown
St. John's, Newfoundland St. John's is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland. The city spans and is the easternmost city in North America ...
.


Education

Power grew up in Outer Cove and attended
Gonzaga High School Gonzaga Regional High School is an educational establishment located in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The school began as a Jesuit sponsored all-boys school from grades 9 to 11. It is now a non-denominational coeducational ins ...
. He later attended Memorial University of Newfoundland, where he met the other members of Great Big Sea. All the members of the group were pursuing English degrees at the time. A devoted lifelong learner, Power was named Memorial University's 1999 Alumni of the Year, along with his bandmates.


Musical career


Great Big Sea

Great Big Sea played its first official gig on March 11, 1993, opening for the Irish Descendants at Memorial University of Newfoundland in St. John's, Newfoundland. The founding band members included Doyle (vocals,
guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
,
bouzouki The bouzouki (, also ; el, μπουζούκι ; alt. pl. ''bouzoukia'', from Greek ), also spelled buzuki or buzuci, is a musical instrument popular in Greece. It is a member of the long-necked lute family, with a round body with a flat top and ...
,
mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...
), Séan McCann (vocals,
bodhrán The bodhrán (, ; plural ''bodhráin'' or ''bodhráns'') is a frame drum used in Irish music ranging from in diameter, with most drums measuring . The sides of the drum are deep. A goatskin head is tacked to one side (synthetic heads or oth ...
, guitar,
tin whistle The tin whistle, also called the penny whistle, is a simple six-holed woodwind instrument. It is a type of fipple flute, putting it in the same class as the recorder, Native American flute, and other woodwind instruments that meet such criteria. ...
), Power (vocals, bass, guitar,
bones A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, a ...
), and
Bob Hallett 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). He is also a native of St. John's, Newfoundland, Hallett ...
(vocals, fiddle,
accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...
, mandolin,
concertina A concertina is a free-reed musical instrument, like the various accordions and the harmonica. It consists of expanding and contracting bellows, with buttons (or keys) usually on both ends, unlike accordion buttons, which are on the front. The ...
, bouzouki, whistles,
bagpipes Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, No ...
). The formation and growth of the band has been written about extensively by Doyle in his memoirs ''Where I Belong'' and ''A Newfoundlander in Canada''. After the release of their initial self-titled album ''Great Big Sea'', the band was signed by Warner Music Canada to record their second album ''Up'', which went 4× Platinum. Their next effort, ''Play'', went 3× Platinum. ''Turn'' and ''Sea of No Cares'' also went Platinum on the Warner label. ''Sea of No Cares'' achieved number one status on Canadian charts. The ''Great Big DVD and CD'', recorded live in Ottawa, went 3× Platinum. Subsequent efforts went Gold, as did the twentieth-anniversary greatest hits collection ''XX'' and the live concert CD ''Road Rage''. The band toured nearly constantly for the band's first several years, sometimes traveling as many as 300 days a year, including tours in the United States and Europe. Power retired from Great Big Sea in 2003 to spend more time with his family. He has since made guest appearances with the 7 Deadly Sons at the Newfoundland and Labrador Folk Festival and with Great Big Sea at Torbay 250.


Producer

Power wrote and produced the theme songs for the successful provincial political campaigns of
Premiers Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...
Williams, Dunderdale, and
Ball A ball is a round object (usually spherical, but can sometimes be ovoid) with several uses. It is used in ball games, where the play of the game follows the state of the ball as it is hit, kicked or thrown by players. Balls can also be used f ...
. He also produced the album ''Tarahan's Town'' for the Newfoundland folk group Tarahan.


Festival of Friends

In August 2010 he appeared at the Festival of Friends Song Writer Circle in Outer Cove where he performed his own original songs. The video of the performances achieved a following on YouTube.


Solo Performing

In January 2018, Power launched a series of solo performances at the small Black Sheep pub in downtown St. John's. The performances were largely original music that had been written by Power. He described it as a combination of Canadiana, Americana, and Great Big Sea music.


Film

Power produced and directed the film ''Where There is Love.'' He was the subject of the 2022 documentary ''The Power of Music - Darrell's Story'' produced by his son Ben Power. The documentary focuses on his life during and after Great Big Sea, and his plans for the future.


Politics

On September 4, 2017, Power announced he was running for Councillor at Large in the City of St. John's. He ran on a platform of reduced taxes, improved efficiencies at city hall, and development of cultural industries. He received endorsements from former bandmates Alan Doyle, Sean McCann, and Bob Hallett. He was also endorsed by comedians
Mark Critch Mark Critch (born May 14, 1974) is a Canadian comedian, actor, and writer. He is best known for his work on the comedy series ''This Hour Has 22 Minutes'', initially as a writer and then as a regular cast member beginning in 2003. Career Crit ...
and
Pete Soucy Snook, the alter-ego of Pete Soucy, is a Newfoundland comedian and actor. He is the face of NLClassifieds.com. Pete Soucy Peter "Pete" Soucy was born in Stephenville, Newfoundland and Labrador, moved with his family to Gander in 1969, where he ...
. Power received 9992 votes or 7.65% of the votes, making him 8th in a field of 12 candidates. This was not enough for Power to be elected to the At Large position, as the top four candidates are elected to seats on council.


Philanthropy

Power served as Master of Ceremonies for a Refugee Immigrant Advisory Council event. He has been a songwriter volunteer for Art Smart Songwriting. In December 2017 he was one of the judges for Sing NL, organized by former ''Canadian Idol'' judge Zack Werner.


References


External links

* https://twitter.com/DarrellPowerNL * https://www.instagram.com/darrellpowernl/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Power, Darrell Canadian folk guitarists Canadian male guitarists Living people Memorial University of Newfoundland alumni 1968 births Great Big Sea members Canadian folk rock musicians Musicians from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador 20th-century Canadian bass guitarists 21st-century Canadian bass guitarists 20th-century Canadian guitarists 21st-century Canadian guitarists 20th-century Canadian male singers 21st-century Canadian male singers Male bass guitarists People from Newfoundland (island) Musicians from Newfoundland and Labrador