'Like recording the Bible': Musicians pay tribute to Ron Hynes with new album

The biggest music acts in Newfoundland and Labrador music are set to release a new tribute album for the late Ron Hynes, the singer-songer often dubbed "the man of a thousand songs."

Sonny Don't Go Away: A Tribute to Ron Hynes features 20 of Hynes's best-known songs, and the list of cover artists rounds up many of the best-known performers in the province, including Alan Doyle, Kellie Loder, the Once, Shanneyganock and Amelia Curran, to name a few. 

Doyle co-produced the album with collaborator Cory Tetford as way to acknowledge the legacy of Hynes, who died at 64 in 2015 after a battle with cancer. 

"As soon as Ron passed, I feel like a dozen or more of us around the St. John's and the neighbouring music scene thought instantly about paying tribute to Ron in some fashion," Doyle told CBC News.

"Then of course, the pandemic hit and all of a sudden, everyone was available and it was probably doable." 

Doyle's manager, Louis Thomas, brought the project to the label he runs, Sonic Entertainment.

"We thought it was a perfect time to try and get a bunch of people together to honour Ron's legacy and catalog," Doyle said. 

Doyle and team rented a small house in the Battery neighbourhood of St. John's — overlooking the very harbour Hynes immortalized in St. John's Waltz, which Doyle himself covers with the Dardanelles, the folk band fronted by Q host Tom Power — to record some of the smaller setups like the Fortunate Ones and the Ennis Sisters.

WATCH | In 2016, Alan Doyle sang an impromptu version of St. John's Waltz in Belgium, while making the CBC documentary Trail of the Caribou: 

Alan Doyle sings St. John's Waltz in Belgium

9 years ago

Duration 2:38

Back in July, a CBC TV filming a documentary on Beaumont Hamel captured an emotional moment between Doyle and the owners of a Belgium farm where Tommy Ricketts earned the Victoria Cross. Doyle sang a Ron Hynes' signature song as a thank you.

They were also given the use of Devon House in downtown St. John's, where they recorded artists like Shanneyganock and members of the Wonderful Grand Band — Sandy Morris, Paul (Boomer) Stamp, and Glenn Simmons — in a moment Doyle says was surreal. 

"Having the Grand Band all play music together was a very big moment for me because of course I grew up listening to the Grand Band," said Doyle of the performers seen weekly in the early 1980s CBC series WGB. 

"They became integral to Ron's development as a solo artist and became his band effectively for so long, and it was just very cool to have them in there."

Doyle said it didn't take long to get people to agree to be a part of the album, with the first 20 people asked saying they wanted to be a part of it. 

That said, he was nervous to take the project on. 

"Dealing with Ron's songs in Newfoundland and Labrador is like recording the Bible or something," he said. 

"I didn't take it lightly, to take on this project. It was a passion project of mine [and] everybody that came through the door." 

WATCH | At a 2011 performance, Ron Hynes tells stories and performs the original St. John's Waltz along with Amelia Curran, who will also perform on the new album: 

St. John's Waltz

14 years ago

Duration 4:24

Ron Hynes tells stories and performs for a live audience.

Doyle said Hynes's legacy includes not just his vast catalogue of songs but a successful career that helped others appreciate their home as a source for material. 

"We heard ourselves in Ron's songs. And we heard our stories, and our mom and dad's voices, and our grandparents voices, and our friends voices in a way that you never heard on commercial radio," Doyle said. 

"We just felt like Ron made it not only OK for us to to sing and write about our own backyard here, but it's essential to write about. Ron's greatness gave us all licence to be ourselves, and I think it was in retrospect, that's been irreplaceable."

Stellar list of artists

Sonny Don't Go Away: A Tribute to Ron Hynes is out physical and digital platforms on Oct. 20. 

Here is a full list of performers and the Hynes song they cover: 

• Tim Baker — Leaving on the Evening Tide
• Amelia Curran & Duane Andrews — Dark River
• Quote the Raven — Godspeed (Requiem for Gene MacLellan)
• Alan Doyle & The Dardanelles — St. John's Waltz
• The Once — Atlantic Blue
• Jodee Richardson — Cryer's Paradise
• Mallory Johnson — River of No Return
• Joel Thomas Hynes — Last Chance Avenue
• Ennis Sisters — Lonely Song
• Matthew Byrne — 1962
• Barry Canning — Where Do You Get Off
• Cory Tetford — Shine Like Diamonds
• Glenn Simmons — Picture of Dorian Grey
• Yvette Lorraine — Where Does Love Go Wrong
• Rum Ragged — House
• Shanneyganock — If I Left You Alone with My Heart
• Fortunate Ones — No Change in Me
• Silver Wolf Band — Dry
• Mick Davis — Get Back Change
• Kellie Loder — Sonny's Dream

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