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    Where I Belong: Small Town to Great Big Sea
    Unavailable
    Where I Belong: Small Town to Great Big Sea
    Unavailable
    Where I Belong: Small Town to Great Big Sea
    Audiobook6 hours

    Where I Belong: Small Town to Great Big Sea

    Written by Alan Doyle

    Narrated by Alan Doyle

    4.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    From the lead singer of the band Great Big Sea comes a lyrical and captivating musical memoir about growing up in the tiny fishing village of Petty Harbour, Newfoundland, and then taking to the world stage.

    Singer-songwriter and front man of the great Canadian band Great Big Sea, Alan Doyle is also a lyrical storyteller and a creative force. In Where I Belong, Alan paints a vivid, raucous and heartwarming portrait of a curious young lad born into the small coastal fishing community of Petty Harbour, Newfoundland, and destined to become a renowned musician who carried the musical tradition of generations before him and brought his signature sound to the world. He tells of a childhood surrounded by larger-than-life characters who made an indelible impression on his music and work; of his first job on the wharf cutting out cod tongues for fishermen; of growing up in a family of five in a two-bedroom house with a beef-bucket as a toilet, yet lacking nothing; of learning at his father's knee how to sing the story of a song and learning from his mother how to simply "be good"; and finally, of how everything he ever learned as a kid prepared him for that pivotal moment when he became part of Great Big Sea and sailed away on what would be the greatest musical adventure of his life.

    Filled with the lore and traditions of the East Coast and told in a voice that is at once captivating and refreshingly candid, this is a narrative journey about small-town life, curiosity and creative fulfillment, and finally, about leaving everything you know behind only to learn that no matter where you go, home will always be with you.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateOct 13, 2015
    ISBN9780451481986
    Unavailable
    Where I Belong: Small Town to Great Big Sea

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    Reviews for Where I Belong

    4.5/5

    40 ratings7 reviews

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    • 5/5
      I loved this book! We are planning a trip to Newfoundland this summer and we are actually staying in Petty Harbour, so it was great reading a book written by one of my favourite performers who was born and raised there. Alan Doyle is a member of the band Great Big Sea, but he's still Alan Doyle from Petty Harbour. He grew up on Skinner's Hill, which is one of the highest hills in this little community, and he and his family (mother, father, brother and sister, and the old family dog called Pal), lived in a little house at the bottom of this hill. Skinner Hill was one of his favourite playgrounds while he was groiwing up. The book is funny, warm and totally Canadian, although Alan's grandfather never thought of himself as Canadian. He was a Newfoundlander to the core and wanted nothing to do with Canada. Alan's childhood was rough and tumble, but there was much love there and his family allowed him to grow up the way that he wnated to. He always wanted to play and sing, and his family was very musical, so he got a lot of support from his own family and numerous uncles and cousins. Alan is a storyteller in his music, and that talent is very much apparent in this book. He still considers himself a "Petty Harbour Dog." who realizes he was lucky to learn all his life lessons which he still follows to this day in a little town of 500 souls or so. The sea is all around the town, and it's through and through in Alan's writing. Without the mighty Altlantic Ocean, there would be no Alan Doyle from Petty Harbour. If you take the time to read this book, you will laugh out loud in many places, you will pick up some very colouful Newfoundland language and you will appreciate the rugged beauty of Canada's newest province. And, with any luck, you will fall in love with the beautiful music of Great Big Sea.
    • 5/5
      The Good Stuff A wonderful and charming memoir of a talented (ok and handsome, totally had a crush on him for years -- till Fillion and Tennant came along) humble musician growing up in small town in Newfoundland. The man is a born storyteller, which for those who are fans of his work, will not be surprised. Thoroughly enjoyed where Alan and his mother have a discussion on the recipe for her homemade bread. Reminds me of all the times I would ask my neighbor to write down her recipes, it never happened His tales of the dinner table are so very similar to ones I heard from my husband Don't get me started on the chapter about the family bathroom. I laughed so hard, I had tears running down my face. As a fan of GBS, I never realized the Janie mentioned in Ordinary Day was Jann Arden. Interesting to hear how Ordinary Day came into being. Still one of my favorite songs by them, and like so many others, when I am having a crappy day that song always gets me out of my funk. As a gal raised with very little religion (and in a bigger town, where I don't remember any kind of mentions of the difference between Catholics and Protestants) , I was fascinated by the religious divide between these two faiths (I know I'm a heathen, but to me they both believe in God -- so what's the problem here folks, thought God was about love and acceptance) I felt very nostalgic when he talks about the kitchen parties. My fondest memories of my childhood are when my Dad's side of the family came over for a party. All the male members of the Porter clan have the most beautiful voices (unfortunately for me and my sister, we did not inherit this and we both sound like cats dying when we sing - never stopped me from singing along though) and we would hang out in the kitchen while my Uncles and Cousins strummed their guitars and sang. Guess that's why when I first heard a GBS song, it made me feel like I was home. I appreciate and agree with his commentary on organized religions. Felt like I was hanging out with a good friend telling stories of his youth. Sometimes the stories would make me laugh out loud and at other times made me cry and want to give him a hug. Delightful glossary of terms Book is even better if you read while listening to his solo album, Boy On BridgeThe Not So Good Stuff Hoping he will write a second book, as I want to know more about life on the road with Great Big Sea Spent days singing Ordinary Day - and trust me that was torture for so many people as I just can't sing worth a damn Nooooo he's a Habs fan - why oh why ; ) Ah well, married to one of those, so I can let it go Now having fantasies about this man singing to me -- hmmm new bucket list item. Have attractive man sing a song to me. Might have to let that one go Have had a serious craving for homemade bread - ok lets post this review so I can try to make some (FYI - pals, don't drop by for a while, this could get messy)Favorite Quotes/Passages "This has always been my mother's pearl of wisdom, a single piece of advice she offers just about every time someone walks out the door or every time she ends a phone call. It's one of the most brilliant pieces of advice I've ever heard: Be good. Be good to people." "We even got to play for a few dances in St. Paul's church basement, which meant playing for Protestant girls. And according to my grandmother, these girls were all scandalous whores who were on the pill, girls who were constantly having sex with just about everyone. You can imagine my disappointment when I discovered for myself that these gals were no more willing to make out with a guy like me than the Catholic gals at my own school.""That's how parties went. That's what my folks did. People came over to our house, we sat around the kitchen or the piano and we sang songs. It wasn't a party unless someone was singing a song. We didn't have a big stereo or many records. Music was homemade.""So, I restate my place in the world as a religious free agent with more questions than answers.""Don't be afraid of tough guys. You need them and they need you. Let them have their moments in charge if it buys you order and civility where there might be madness.4.75 Dewey'sI received a copy from Random House in exchange for an honest review. Also won a signed copy - which I will get him to personalize when I meet him next week at Chapters Chinook!!! And will try not to go all fan girl on him or beg him to sing me a song
    • 4/5
      What a delightful book. Doyle tells us the story of his youth growing up in the typical Newfoundland fishing village of Petty Harbour. It is a narrative that is full of eccentric characters and funny stories- all of which Doyle assures us are true. It is also the story of the life experiences of growing up in a happy, supportive family learning to work hard as a kid in school and in the harbour cleaning fish and cutting out cod tongues and how this prepared him for the very successful career as musician in a very popular traveling band.Delightful and entertaining.
    • 5/5

      I'm not a huge Great Big Sea fan, but I do enjoy the music. I also enjoy a good autobiography, one where you feel the author is sitting beside you, telling you about their life.

      With this one you feel like you are sitting across the kitchen table from Alan, while he tells you stories from when he was younger. The book has real authentic flavour, it's well written and very fun to read. A real glimpse into the author's life.
    • 4/5
      Alan Doyle is the lead singer for the Newfoundland band Great Big Sea. I love their music and was fortunate to see them play live once. But you don't have to know who they are or even have heard their music to like this memoir. This is the story of Doyle's childhood growing up in a small fishing town, Petty Harbour, Newfoundland, in the '70s and '80s. It's a wonderful boyhood story of a money poor but spirit rich Catholic family whose life and community revolved around two things: fishing and music. Doyle tells of a time and place that no longer exist today both economically and culturally. Doyle grew up in the last years when cod fishing was the major economic industry that kept his tiny village busy day and night and he grew up in the same era as I did (he's one year younger than me) where the everyday kids' play and experiences would never be tolerated today. We meet a quirky, eccentric cast of characters and Doyle tells many funny and odd tales. There is a lot about music in the book as Doyle's family was musical, from traditional Newfoundland kitchen party singing to various uncles and his father appearing on the CBC, but there are only small asides about the actual Great Big Sea. The book ends with him entering his twenties and having just joined with the guys who will form the band. An enchanting book of growing up and coming of age in material poverty tempered with familial riches in Newfoundland.
    • 4/5
      Where I Belong is a testament to the power of a sense of place. It is a love letter to Newfoundland from “Alan Doyle of Petty Harbour.” In Where I Belong, Doyle chronicles his adventures from being a cod-tongue cutting alter boy hanging out at the wharf in Petty Harbour, to being a religious free-agent and museum guide in St. John’s at the genesis of Great Big Sea. Throughout those years, he more than lived up to his mother’s send-off pronouncement; “be good.”Coming from “the musical Doyle’s of Petty Harbour”, it is not surprising that he would become a successful musician, though throughout the book you come to realize that his success comes from not just his natural talent, but is due to his hard work, positive outlook, kindness towards others, and genuine good nature. What he attributes to a lucky break seems more like a recognition of these qualities by others.Though the book ends where GBS starts, it will certainly appeal to fans of the band and Doyle’s solo work. It should also be required reading for all Canadians to better understand what it means to be a Newfoundlander. It is also a pretty good inducement to visit the “province that Canada joined in 1949.”
    • 5/5
      Alan Doyle grew up to become lead singer of Great Big Sea. He grew up in a small town, just outside St. John’s, Newfoundland with 3 siblings and a very musical family; in fact, they were known as “The Doyles from Petty Harbour” and everyone knew they were musical. The book is told as a series of stories, and include stories of his family and friends, music, religion (Catholic vs. Protestant), fishing, and more. I listened to the audio, read by Alan himself. I loved it! The accent and the phrases, and he’s so funny! I laughed out loud many times (people on transit probably stealing odd glances toward me?)! Oh, what a great storyteller! Listening to the audio, he actually played a recording of a brief conversation with his mom, and when there were lyrics in the text of the book, he sang them. Sigh… I had a roommate/best friend in my 20s who was from Newfoundland (in fact, from The Goulds, near Petty Harbour, where Alan went to high school) – the accent and phrases and funny stories all made me think of her. He’s only a few years older than me and my friend, so I recognized many things/places that she talked about, as well. Oh, I even remember her mentioning the high school band he was in – I think she showed me a yearbook photo of them with the FA on the drums (for First Attempt). I really don’t think people would need the personal (or in my case, secondary) references to enjoy this, though. I highly recommend the audio!