Spirit of the West were a Canadian

folk rock Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers s ...

band from North Vancouver, active from 1983 to 2016. They were popular on the Canadian

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has ...

scene in the 1980s before evolving a blend of

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest ha ...

, Britpop, and Celtic folk influences which made them one of Canada's most successful

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commercial ...

acts in the 1990s."The little Celtic band that grew". ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', November 18, 1997.

Early years

Geoffrey Kelly and J. Knutson had begun playing music together as a duo when Kelly's then-girlfriend Alison, at the time a theatre student, told them she had a classmate with a really great singing voice."Spirit of the West: An audio guide to their long, concluding journey"
''

'', April 15, 2016. That classmate, John Mann, joined Kelly and Knutson as a folk trio called Eavesdropper,Michael Barclay, Ian A.D. Jack and Jason Schneider, '' Have Not Been the Same: The Can-Rock Renaissance 1985-1995''.

ECW Press ECW Press is a Canadian book publisher located in Toronto, Ontario. It was founded by Jack David and Robert Lecker in 1974 as a Canadian literary magazine named ''Essays on Canadian Writing''. They started publishing trade and scholarly book ...

. . and scored early gigs as an opening act for rockers such as

Art Bergmann Arthur Frank Bergmann (born February 8, 1953 in Vancouver, British Columbia) is a Canadian rock singer-songwriter who was one of the key figures in Canadian punk rock in the late 1970s.Michael Barclay, Ian A.D. Jack and Jason Schneider, '' Have ...

and Barney Bentall. Early on their set predominantly comprised covers of artists such as Bruce Cockburn,

Eric Bogle Eric Bogle (born 23 September 1944) is a Scottish-born Australian folk singer-songwriter. Born and raised in Scotland, he emigrated to Australia at the age of 25, to settle near Adelaide, South Australia. Bogle's songs have covered a variety of ...

, Richard Thompson and

Billy Bragg Stephen William Bragg (born 20 December 1957) is an English singer-songwriter and left-wing activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, with lyrics that mostly span political or romantic themes. His music i ...

, with original compositions gradually introduced into their set. After a gig on

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest by ...

was erroneously billed as "Eavesdroppings", the band opted to change its name to Spirit of the West, and independently released the album '' Spirit of the West'' in 1984 before signing to

Stony Plain Records Stony Plain Records is a Canadian independent record label, which specializes in roots music genres such as country, folk, and blues. The label has released more than 300 albums. History Stony Plain was founded by Holger Petersen and Alvin Ja ...

, a roots music label based in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city an ...

, Alberta.

Greg Quill Gregory Raymond Quill (18 April 19475 May 2013) was an Australian-born musician, singer-songwriter and journalist. He lived in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, and was an entertainment columnist at the ''Toronto Star'' newspaper from the mid-1980s unt ...

, "Spirit offers hope for future of folk". ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and par ...

'', February 11, 1987. Stony Plain released '' Tripping Up the Stairs'' in 1986. Following that album, Knutson left the band and was replaced by Hugh McMillan. 1988's ''

Labour Day Labour Day (''Labor Day'' in the United States) is an annual holiday to celebrate the achievements of workers. Labour Day has its origins in the labour union movement, specifically the eight-hour day movement, which advocated eight hours for ...

'' spawned the popular single "

Political Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studi ...

" and consolidated the band as a significant draw on the folk festival circuit. The album also garnered the band its first

Juno Award The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall o ...

nomination, for Best Roots & Traditional Album at the

Juno Awards of 1989 The Juno Awards of 1989, representing Canadian music industry achievements of the previous year, were awarded on 12 March 1989 in Toronto at a ceremony in the O'Keefe Centre. André-Philippe Gagnon was the host for the ceremonies, which were br ...

. After that album's tour, McMillan took a temporary hiatus from the band in December of 1988 for personal reasons and to pursue solo interests."Maybe you can hear them coming: Spirit of the West". ''

Ottawa Citizen The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Established as ''The Bytown Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris, it was renamed the ''Citizen'' in 1851. The news ...

'', April 6, 1990. He was replaced by

Daniel Lapp Daniel Edward Lapp is a Canadian folk musician based in Victoria, British Columbia and Pender Island.Linda McRae Linda McRae is a Canadian folk- roots- Americana musician. A multi-instrumentalist (clawhammer banjo, acoustic and electric guitars, accordion, bass, and Porchboard stomp box) singer-songwriter, she is a former member of Spirit of the West. S ...

, but returned before the band's next album was recorded. When McMillan returned, Lapp left the band in June of 1989 due to his wife becoming pregnant, but McRae stayed on. (As a result, Lapp never actually appeared on a Spirit of the West recording. He pursued a solo career, however, releasing a number of albums of experimental jazz/folk/electronic fusion.) On the strength of "Political", Warner Bros. Records signed the band in 1989,"Their own brand of feverish folk has Spirit moving". ''

Edmonton Journal The ''Edmonton Journal'' is a daily newspaper in Edmonton, Alberta. It is part of the Postmedia Network. History The ''Journal'' was founded in 1903 by three local businessmen — John Macpherson, Arthur Moore and J.W. Cunningham — as ...

'', March 17, 1990. p. B1. and Stony Plain released a compilation, '' Old Material 1984–1986'', to close out their contract with the label. In 1990, the band's major label debut, '' Save This House'' was released. The album track " Home for a Rest", which was considered a classic party anthem at universities across Canada was not officially released as a commercial or radio single, but became the band's

signature song A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a handwritten (and often stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and intent. The writer of a ...

. (Despite its not being a single, a music video was released for the song.)

Evolution

As part of their tour to support ''Save This House'', the band toured

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

with The Wonder Stuff,"Spirited folk-rockers show they still have lots to learn". ''

'', October 13, 1991. and decided to bring in a drummer and experiment with a more rock-oriented sound — a need which became particularly acute after the bands played two shows on the same bill as

Jane's Addiction Jane's Addiction is an American rock band from Los Angeles, formed in 1985. The band consists of vocalist Perry Farrell, guitarist Dave Navarro, drummer Stephen Perkins and bassist Eric Avery. Jane's Addiction was one of the first bands fr ...

. After recording some song demos with guest drummer Darrell Mayes of the Colin James bandChristopher Jones
"Revisit NOW's cover story on Spirit of the West from 1989"
'' Now'', November 21, 2019 (orig. March 16, 1989). and then touring for part of 1990 with various session drummers, the band brought in

Vince Ditrich Vince Richard Ditrich (born April 4, 1963) is a Canadian rock musician, best known as the drummer and manager of the band Spirit of the West. Ditrich is also the author of two novels featuring fictional musician Tony Vicar (''The Liquor Vicar'' a ...

, who appeared for the first time on the band's 1991 album '' Go Figure''."Spirits aim to shake up Canadians". ''

'', June 30, 1991. Although the album retained many of the band's folk influences,"High-Spirited group: B.C. folk-rockers pump up volume". ''

The Province ''The Province'' is a daily newspaper published in tabloid format in British Columbia by Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network, alongside the '' Vancouver Sun'' broadsheet newspaper. Together, they are British Columbia's ...

'', June 27, 1991. it was more

than any of the band's previous efforts, and this proved controversial among the band's fans. The album included a rock rendition of "Political", and at one show in

London, Ontario London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximat ...

, the audience presented the band with a petition demanding that they play the original version of that song."That's the Spirit; No 'Home for a Rest' as Spirit of the West releases best-of double disc and hits the road". ''

'', July 16, 2008. Despite the controversies, however, it won them many new fans in the alternative rock scene. The band received a Juno Award nomination for Most Promising Group at the Juno Awards of 1991. MacRae also appeared on The Wonder Stuff's album '' Never Loved Elvis'', and all of the members of both bands recorded a cover of the country standard "

Will the Circle Be Unbroken "Will the Circle Be Unbroken?" is a popular Christian hymn written in 1907 by Ada R. Habershon with music by Charles H. Gabriel. The song is often recorded unattributed and, because of its age, has lapsed into the public domain. Most of the ch ...

" as a B-side for the Wonder Stuff's "

Welcome to the Cheap Seats "Welcome to the Cheap Seats" is a song by British alternative rock band the Wonder Stuff from their third album, '' Never Loved Elvis'' (1991). The song features backing vocals by Kirsty MacColl and was released as part of the ''Welcome to the Ch ...

" single. Over the winter of 1992-93, the band undertook the Hollow Bodies tour, performing material in their older acoustic style. In 1993, the band released their most successful album, ''

Faithlift ''Faithlift'' is a 1993 album by Canadian band Spirit of the West. It is the band's best-selling album, and includes their biggest Canadian Top 40 hit, "And if Venice Is Sinking." The album peaked at #27 on '' RPMs Top 100 albums chart the wee ...

'', and scored their biggest hit single, "

And if Venice is Sinking "And if Venice Is Sinking" is a song written by John Mann and Geoffrey Kelly for the Canadian folk-rock band Spirit of the West. Spirit of the West recorded the song on their studio album '' Faithlift''. It also appeared on their greatest hits al ...

". 1995's '' Two Headed'', in turn, garnered significant airplay for the single "Tell Me What I Think", and the band garnered a Juno Award nomination for Group of the Year at the

Juno Awards of 1995 The Juno Awards of 1995, representing Canadian music industry achievements of the previous year, were awarded on 26 March 1995 in Hamilton, Ontario at a ceremony in the Copps Coliseum. Mary Walsh, Rick Mercer and other regulars of the television ...

. However, the album was not as successful on the charts, or as critically hailed, as its predecessor. In the summer of 1995, the band toured with

The Tragically Hip The Tragically Hip, often referred to simply as the Hip, were a Canadian rock band formed in Kingston, Ontario in 1984, consisting of vocalist Gord Downie, guitarist Paul Langlois, guitarist Rob Baker (known as Bobby Baker until 1994), bassi ...

as part of the Another Roadside Attraction festival. Beginning in 1995, the band also performed a number of shows with

symphony orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

s across Canada,"Going symphonic no strain for Spirit of the West; Former folkies' concert with ESO to premiere acoustic material for upcoming album". ''

'', May 6, 1995. premiering songs written for a planned symphony album with the

Vancouver Symphony Orchestra The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (VSO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The VSO performs at the Orpheum, which has been the orchestra's permanent home since 1977. With an annual operating budget of $16 million, it is ...

. After recording two shows with the VSO on May 12 and May 13, 1995, they released the album '' Open Heart Symphony'' that year;"Smells like clean Spirit Despite many musical leaps, Spirit Of The West's aim remains true". ''

'', June 8, 1996. the concert also aired on Bravo concurrently with the album's release. At the end of 1996, McRae left the band amicably to pursue a solo career, performing her last show on New Year's Eve of that year. She released a solo country album in 1997, and then formed the

alternative country Alternative country, or alternative country rock (sometimes alt-country, insurgent country, Americana, or y'allternative), is a loosely defined subgenre of country music and/or country rock that includes acts that differ significantly in style ...

band Cheerful Lonesome. The remaining members recorded 1997's ''

Weights and Measures A unit of measurement is a definite magnitude of a quantity, defined and adopted by convention or by law, that is used as a standard for measurement of the same kind of quantity. Any other quantity of that kind can be expressed as a multip ...

'' as a four-piece at Martin Barre's studio in

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

, England, working with Barre and members of The Wonder Stuff,

Capercaillie ''Tetrao'' is a genus of birds in the grouse subfamily known as capercaillies. They are some of the largest living grouse. Taxonomy The genus ''Tetrao'' was introduced in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of hi ...

and

Fairport Convention Fairport Convention are an English folk rock band, formed in 1967 by guitarists Richard Thompson and Simon Nicol, bassist Ashley Hutchings and drummer Shaun Frater (with Frater replaced by Martin Lamble after their first gig.) They started o ...

to round out the studio effort, and added

Tobin Frank Tobin Frank is a Canadian musician, who records, performs and tours with the bands Spirit of the West and The Paperboys. Primarily a bass guitarist, Frank also plays some accordion and keyboard parts. Frank joined Spirit of the West as a tempo ...

for their concert tour. In the same year, a studio version of the song "Kiss & Tell", which had previously been released only in its live form on ''Open Heart Symphony'', appeared on the soundtrack to the film '' The Hanging Garden''. However, with the music industry's emphasis having shifted by this time away from alternative rock and back toward more mainstream pop-oriented performers, Warner Bros. put little effort into promoting the album, and dropped the band from their roster after the tour.

Hiatus and revival

After ''Weights & Measures'' the band took a hiatus from recording and broad-scale national touring, although they continued to perform selected live dates on the summer

folk festival A folk festival celebrates traditional folk crafts and folk music. This list includes folk festivals worldwide, except those with only a partial focus on folk music or arts. Folk festivals may also feature folk dance or ethnic foods. Handicra ...

circuit and in major concert markets such as Vancouver and Toronto. During the hiatus, Mann, Ditrich and Kelly all released solo albums, Mann pursued acting roles, McMillan worked as a session musician and producer for The Town Pants, and Kelly and Frank recorded with

The Paperboys The Paperboys (sometimes billed and credited as Tom Landa and the Paperboys) are a Canadian folk music band from Vancouver that formed in 1991. The Paperboys blend Celtic folk with bluegrass, Mexican, Eastern European, African, zydeco, soul an ...

. The band's first new album in seven years, '' Star Trails'', was released on July 6, 2004 on MapleMusic Recordings. In 2008, the band released a 25th anniversary compilation, '' Spirituality 1983-2008: The Consummate Compendium'', on

Rhino Records A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species ...

. The two-CD set includes 32 remastered tracks from throughout the band's career, including two new songs, "Winter's Now the Enemy" and "Another Happy New Year". Their official 25th anniversary concert, held at Vancouver's Commodore Ballroom on March 14, 2008, was recorded and broadcast by

CBC Radio 2 CBC Music (formerly known as CBC FM, CBC Stereo and CBC Radio 2) is a Canadian FM radio network operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It used to concentrate on classical and jazz. In 2007 and 2008, the network transitioned towards a ...

. Concurrently with the release of ''Spirituality'', Rhino also released remastered editions of ''Faithlift'' and ''Open Heart Symphony''. In 2009, Spirit of the West opened for

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 ...

on the "Fortune's Favour" tour, finishing in

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Gre ...

on March 26."Celtic music rocks on; The faddish frenzy of the '90s is over, but Great Big Sea can still sell out a hockey arena". '' Victoria Times-Colonist'', March 26, 2009. On this tour, the final encore performances typically involved both bands performing together on various songs, including Spirit of the West's "

" and Great Big Sea's "The Old Black Rum"."A great Great Big farewell; Ottawa favourites, fans in high spirits at final show before band breaks for a while". ''

'', March 23, 2009. In 2010, Kelly, Ditrich and Frank joined

Ashley MacIsaac Ashley Dwayne MacIsaac (born February 24, 1975) is a Canadian fiddler, singer and songwriter from Cape Breton Island. He has received three Juno Awards, winning for Best New Solo Artist and Best Roots & Traditional Album – Solo at the Juno A ...

and folk musician Matthew Harder in recording a charity single, "Dreams", to benefit

Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong (born 19 December 1974), nicknamed "The Snow Leopard", is a Ghanaian skier and is the first person from Ghana to take part in the Winter Olympics, which he did at the 2010 Winter Olympics Vancouver, British Columbia ...

, a skier from

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and Tog ...

who was the first Ghanaian athlete ever to compete in the Winter Olympics."Ghana's Snow Leopard records Olympic dream song with Canadian fiddler MacIsaac".

Canadian Press The Canadian Press (CP; french: La Presse canadienne, ) is a Canadian national news agency headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. Established in 1917 as a vehicle for the time's Canadian newspapers to exchange news and information, The Canadian Pre ...

, February 19, 2010. Nkrumah-Acheampong himself participated in the recording, playing traditional Ghanaian percussion. The single, credited to The Parallel Band, was released to

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mu ...

on February 19, 2010. Concurrently, Mann was in

, starring in a stage production of Bruce Ruddell's rock musical '' Beyond Eden''."Rock musical 'Beyond Eden' mesmerizes"

canoe.ca Canoe.com is an English-language Canadian portal site and website network, and is a subsidiary of Postmedia Network. The phrase Canadian Online Explorer appears in the header; the name is also evidently a play on words on canoe (or ''canoë'' in ...

, February 20, 2010. In 2011, the full Spirit of the West lineup recorded and released another charity single, "Bulembu", to benefit the

Bulembu Bulembu is a small town located in northwestern Hhohho, Eswatini, 10 km west of the town of Piggs Peak and close to the border with South Africa. Located above the Komati Valley in Eswatini's Highveld, Bulembu is named after the siSwati wo ...

orphanage and sustainable economic development project in

Swaziland Eswatini ( ; ss, eSwatini ), officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland ( ; officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its n ...

; the song also includes a vocal choir of children from Bulembu. Kelly underwent surgery in early 2012 and was unable to perform for several weeks; Harder and Kendel Carson of

substituted for him in several live shows during this period, including the band's traditional annual St. Patrick's Day show at the Commodore Ballroom. At the band's 2014 St. Patrick's Day show, they were inducted into the

British Columbia Entertainment Hall of Fame The BC Entertainment Hall of Fame in Vancouver was founded on 24 July 1992 to honour British Columbians that have made outstanding contributions to the entertainment industry. Star Walk inductees are featured with a plaque on the Walk of Fame on ...

Conclusion

In September 2014, Mann announced that he had been diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease,"Alzheimer's diagnosis takes centre stage for Spirit of the West frontman"
''

'', September 8, 2014. but planned to continue performing with the band as long as he remained able to do so. In concession to Mann's illness, the band began performing with an

iPad The iPad is a brand of iOS and iPadOS-based tablet computers that are developed by Apple Inc., Apple Inc. The iPad was conceived before the related iPhone but the iPhone was developed and released first. Speculation about the development, ...

mounted near the microphone in case Mann had difficulty remembering the lyrics, while Harder joined full-time to take over Mann's duties on lead guitar. Weeks after the announcement, Mann performed a concert featuring his solo material and that of Spirit of the West, which was broadcast by

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French- ...

's ''

Absolutely Canadian ''Absolutely Canadian'' is a Canadian documentary television series. Formerly a weekday news series on CBC Newsworld, it currently airs as a weekly series on CBC Television. Newsworld In its CBC Newsworld era, the program aired news reports on l ...

'' in July 2015 as "John Mann Here and Now". The band's preparations for a 2015 concert at Massey Hall are profiled in

Pete McCormack Pete McCormack (born January 27, 1965) is a Canadian author, filmmaker, screenwriter and musician. He is best known for directing the Academy Award short-listed documentary Facing Ali and the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour, Leacock Awa ...

's documentary film ''

Spirit Unforgettable ''Spirit Unforgettable'' is a Canadian documentary film, which premiered at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival in 2016.Norman Wilner"Spirit Unforgettable" ''NOW'', April 26, 2016. Directed by Pete McCormack,

''. In December 2015, the band announced that they would perform a three-night run at the Commodore Ballroom from April 15 to 17 as their final shows."Spirit of the West performs final concerts in Vancouver"

CBC News CBC News is a division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC.ca ...

, April 14, 2016. Over the month before the final shows, the band undertook a small-scale final tour."On the Hip’s final tour, and enduring illness on stage"
''

Maclean's ''Maclean's'', founded in 1905, is a Canadian news magazine reporting on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, and current events. Its founder, publisher John Bayne Maclean, established the magazine to provide a uniquely Canadian pers ...

'', August 10, 2016. As Ditrich was also in poor health with

kidney disease Kidney disease, or renal disease, technically referred to as nephropathy, is damage to or disease of a kidney. Nephritis is an inflammatory kidney disease and has several types according to the location of the inflammation. Inflammation can ...

, he was not able to perform for the full duration of all three Commodore shows, and shared drum duties with

Kris MacFarlane 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 ...

and Pat Steward."Spirit of the West gets a proper send-off with hometown finale"
''

'', April 15, 2016. Kendel Carson, Paul Hyde,

Jim Cuddy James Gordon Cuddy, (born December 2, 1955) is a Canadian singer-songwriter primarily associated with the band Blue Rodeo. Early life and education Cuddy was born in Toronto, Ontario. His Mother Jean Cuddy was an English teacher at Monarch Par ...

Steven Page Steven Jay Page (born June 22, 1970) is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He was a founding member, lead singer, guitarist, and a primary songwriter of the music group Barenaked Ladies. Page left the band in Februar ...

, Colin James, Andy Maize and Craig Northey also participated in the Commodore shows as guests. The band remained informally active through private "Johnny Jams" as a form of

music therapy Music therapy, an allied health profession, "is the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional who has completed an approved music t ...

for Mann, and Kelly communicated the hope that Mann would remain healthy enough for the band to play occasional brief reunion sets in the future. Following

's announcement in May 2016 that singer

Gord Downie Gordon Edgar Downie (February 6, 1964 – October 17, 2017) was a Canadian rock singer-songwriter, musician, writer and activist. He was the singer and lyricist for the Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip, which he fronted from its form ...

had been diagnosed with brain cancer but would undertake a tour with the band in summer 2016, Kelly was interviewed by both

CBC Radio One CBC Radio One is the English-language news and information radio network of the publicly owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It is commercial-free and offers local and national programming. It is available on AM and FM to 98 percent of C ...

's ''

Day 6 ''Day 6'' is a Canadian radio program hosted by Brent Bambury, which airs Saturdays on CBC Radio One."Saturday morning guy; Saint John native Brent Bambury hosts new CBC radio show 'Day 6'". ''The Telegraph-Journal The ''Telegraph-Journal'' ...

'' and ''

'' about his experiences performing with Spirit of the West under similar circumstances. The band performed a reunion set at Spirit of Canada, a benefit concert for Alzheimer's awareness at the Commodore Ballroom on November 19, 2017. The concert's lineup included

Odds Odds provide a measure of the likelihood of a particular outcome. They are calculated as the ratio of the number of events that produce that outcome to the number that do not. Odds are commonly used in gambling and statistics. Odds also have ...

, Barney Bentall, Dustin Bentall, Jim Byrnes, Kendel Carson,

Alan Doyle Alan Thomas Doyle (born May 17, 1969) is a Canadian musician and actor, best known as the lead singer of the Canadian folk rock band Great Big Sea. Life and career Alan Doyle was born and raised in Petty Harbour, Newfoundland, in a Roman Cat ...

, Colin James,

Sarah McLachlan Sarah Ann McLachlan OC OBC (born January 28, 1968) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. As of 2015, she had sold over 40 million albums worldwide. McLachlan's best-selling album to date is '' Surfacing'', for which she won two Grammy Awards (ou ...

Ed Robertson Lloyd Edward Elwyn Robertson (born October 25, 1970) is a Canadian musician, best known as the lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter of the band Barenaked Ladies. He, along with former member Steven Page, founded the group in 1988. As of Page's ...

Shari Ulrich Sharon "Shari" Ulrich (born 17 October 1951) is a Canadian/American musician and songwriter. She has also worked as a television host, actress, film composer, and educator. A multi-instrumentalist, she plays Violin, Mandolin, guitar, piano, and Du ...

and Spirit: The Next Generation, an act consisting of the band members' children. Before the show, the performing musicians participated in a group recording of the band's signature song "Home for a Rest" as a tribute to Mann. Mann died on November 20, 2019.

Discography

Albums

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Singles

Album appearances

* '' Island of Circles'' (1991): " Sunshine Superman" * '' Back to the Garden'' (1992): "

Coyote The coyote (''Canis latrans'') is a species of canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. It fills much of the same ecological nich ...

" * '' Upfront! Canadians Live from Mountain Stage'' (1994): "

" * '' Due South: The Original Television Soundtrack'' (1996): "Bone of Contention" * ''

20 Years of Stony Plain ''20 Years of Stony Plain'' is a compilation album, released in 1996 on Stony Plain Records Stony Plain Records is a Canadian independent record label, which specializes in roots music genres such as country, folk, and blues. The label has re ...

'' (1996): "Political" * '' The Hanging Garden'' (1997): "Kiss and Tell" * ''

Frosh A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ara ...

'' (1998): " Home for a Rest"

Reception

* In 1999, CFNY-FM ranked "

" No. 524, and " Home For a Rest" No. 689, in its "Top 1002 New Rock Songs of All Time" chart. * In 2005, " Home for a Rest" was named the 22nd greatest Canadian song of all time on

's '' 50 Tracks: The Canadian Version''. * In 2007, " Home for a Rest" ranked No. 8 on CFNY's "Top 102 Canadian New Rock Songs of All Time" chart. * "Save This House" is the theme song for '' Save Us from Our House'', a combined relationship/renovation/reality TV show which aired in 2007 on the Canadian cable network W, and on

HGTV HGTV (an initialism for Home & Garden Television) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The network primarily broadcasts reality programming related to home improvement and real estate. As of February 2015, app ...

in the U.S. * In 2010, Spirit of the West were the recipients of the National Achievement Award at the annual SOCAN Awards in Toronto. * In 2022, " Home for a Rest" was voted British Columbia's favourite song by a local artist, in a

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

competition organized by local CBC reporter Justin McElroy, beating

Carly Rae Jepsen Carly Rae Jepsen (born November 21, 1985) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. After studying musical theatre for most of her school life and while in university, Jepsen garnered mainstream attention after placing third on the fifth season of ...

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Call Me Maybe "Call Me Maybe" is a song recorded by Canadian singer-songwriter Carly Rae Jepsen for her EP '' Curiosity'' (2012) and later appeared on her second studio album and first international album ''Kiss'' (2012). The song was written by Jepsen and ...

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Spirit of the West
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Spirit Of The West Musical groups established in 1983 Musical groups disestablished in 2016 Musical groups from Vancouver Canadian folk rock groups MapleMusic Recordings artists Celtic fusion groups 1983 establishments in British Columbia Canadian Celtic music groups Canadian alternative rock groups Stony Plain Records artists