When writing an article about Ryan’s Fancy for the Broadside, how do you start? You might (if you are smart) phone Fergus O’Byrne, Dermot O’Reilly, and Denis Ryan straight away and see if you could arrange an interview with them. They are all busy, dynamic guys who travel, so if you leave it too late, you might be out of luck.

Then you might do a bit of research, reading the numerous articles that have already been written about Ryan’s Fancy. You will find that this group of Irish musicians came to Newfoundland via Ontario in 1971, and that their original plan was to attend Memorial University and gradually ease out of the uncertain business of traditional music and into more traditional careers (such as accountancy). However, what happened was that they took the Newfoundland music scene by storm, quickly becoming local heroes and performing traditional songs with fabulous ringing harmonies, great energy and a strong mix of instruments to packed and wildly enthusiastic audiences at the Strand Lounge. Stories abound of the energy, charge and lift of the performances, of the packed venues, of people dancing on tables, and heaven knows what else.

In 1973, the music found a wider audience when a CBC TV producer named Jack Kellum, who had just arrived in Newfoundland, ran into Ryan’s Fancy one evening at the Legion in Pleasantville. This fortuitous meeting resulted in the Ryan’s Fancy television shows, which ran from 1974 to 1983. Through the medium of TV and because the shows involved travelling and performing to and with musicians and local people from Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick, the impact and popularity of Ryan’s Fancy extended throughout Atlantic Canada.

During this time there were three Ryan’s Fancy TV series and the band released 12 LPs. In 1983, they decided to disband and Fergus, Dermot and Denis went their own particular ways.

Fast forward to November 5, 2003 when the following announcement was made:
During a press conference held today at the Delta St. John’s Hotel and Conference Centre, the East Coast Music Association proudly announced Newfoundland super group RYAN’S FANCY as the recipient of the Dr. Helen Creighton Lifetime Achievement Award for 2004. This award recognizes an individual or group who has had a profound and lasting effect on the Atlantic Canadian music industry.

[Historical Note: The Award is named after Dr. Helen Creighton, Canada’s “First Lady of Folklore.” Helen was a Nova Scotian who as a young writer in 1928, was asked to write a story about Nova Scotia’s pirates. As she had never heard any local pirate stories, she did a bit of research and found not only pirate stories, but also met a man who sang pirate songs to her. That was the beginning of a lifelong passion, and from then until her death in 1989, Helen Creighton, collected approximately 16,000 songs and ballads reflecting the diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds of Nova Scotians.]

Back to February 2004, when the Lifetime Achievement Award was actually presented to Ryan’s Fancy at the East Coast Music Awards Ceremony in St. John’s, Newfoundland. In the first few minutes of the ECMAs, one of Ryan’s Fancy demonstrated his lasting effect on the Atlantic Canadian music industry, because the show was opened by A Crowd of Bold Sharemen - a lineup well know to lovers of great traditional music, consisting of Jim Payne, Colin Carrigan, Graham Wells, Gerry Strong and Fergus O’Byrne, and they didn’t disappoint! But the highlight came as Ryan’s Fancy accepted their truly well deserved award. Fergus, Dermot and Denis stood round the microphone and launched into a chorus of the Tiree Love Song. What a breathtaking moment of harmony - over too soon - and then (as is often said of Ryan’s Fancy) “up she went!” The Stadium erupted, and I am sure that living rooms all over Atlantic Canada erupted in unison as the spell was broken and we could all breath again. Later that evening, the female anchor of CBC’s Newsnight said, “Ah, they’ve still got it!”, and she was right, they do still have it. Suddenly all the stories about The Strand came back to me - what an exciting time that must have been - and I wished I had been there to hear all the wonderful music made by Ryan’s Fancy that is now so hard to get hold of. Ryan’s Fancy made a lot of LPs, but they have not been made into CDs so you can’t just go into Fred’s and pick up the complete works. There is one CD available - Songs from the Shows - and it is wonderful. But I started thinking about all the other songs which they had liked enough to record together. How did they sound? I went on line, found an excellent web site developed and maintained by web master Roger Lockyer, and I got some answers.

Here are the LPs that Ryan’s Fancy made while they were performing together and the songs that they recorded.

What a list, what songs, and what a finalé - Irish Love Songs, and the last Parting Glass. How I would have loved to be able to pick up those CDs and listen to all those great songs and harmonies now, with a glass of wine in Logy Bay. I was just starting to get maudlin when I thought - wait a minute - I heard Dermot and Fergus singing some of these songs together not long ago in Erin’s. I love I Followed Her into the West and I’d follow Dermot into a bar to hear that any day of the week! And on a good week in St. John’s, I can! The Punters sang Candlight and Wine at the Festival of Friends in Middle Cove last year and we all sang along. Coal Town Road - what a great song - I’m going to ask Fergus if he will sing that the next time I get a chance - and I do get a chance because I live in a place where music is living and vibrant and the songs move around and the arrangements may change but the songs don’t get forgotten.

The Lifetime Achievement Award is all about having a lasting effect on the Atlantic Canadian music industry - and the effect of Ryan’s Fancy, and now Dermot, Fergus and Denis, is lasting indeed. Fergus sings, plays, and tours extensively - and his reach is long! Towards the end of April, my cousin phoned me from her house in Devon, England saying that she had just read that a Newfoundland duo - Jim Payne and Fergus O’Byrne - would be performing close by she was going to go and hear them. I had already sent her two great CDs (Wave over Wave and A Crowd Of Bold Sharemen,, so she was well prepared! Countless children (including my own) have had the great good fortune to have Fergus visit their schools, and they are the richer for it. As well, Fergus organizes and facilitates Young Folk at the Hall, an ongoing traditional music workshop that aims to bring young people together to explore, expand and express their love of traditional music. Fergus collaborates with musicians of all generations both on stage and on CD. And in true Ryan’s Fancy Tradition, his performances with Dermot are not to be missed.

Dermot continues to enchant all generations with his solo performances (just ask my daughter and her friends who have fallen for the traditional tunes and songs while listening to Dermot in Erin’s). He is also dedicated to preserving those good sounds for posterity at his recording studio in Torbay where he produces and releases recordings by local artists. Rumour has it that he is working on his own album at his studio in Torbay. It will be eagerly received when it appears.

In the years since Ryan’s Fancy disbanded, Denis has become involved in a number of projects - founding Nova Scotia Crystal, working in the investment business, hosting numerous major fund-raisers and community projects in Nova Scotia. On the musical front, he has released three CDs: Mist Covered Mountains, Here and There (Denis Ryan & Friends), and Newport Town (with his cousin Denis Carey). So all three of Ryan’s Fancy can still be heard, both live and on some great current CDs, and their impact on the traditional music scene in Atlantic Canada lives on. Collectively they have a legion of fans, and individually they each have legions of their own. The songs they sung are now being learnt and performed by a new generation of up and coming musicians - a tribute to their lasting contribution. Not long ago (this May) I heard Allan Ricketts give a beautiful heartbreaking rendition of The Green Shores of Fogo at a concert in Pouch Cove, and yes - he said “I got this from Ryan’s Fancy.”

So, although I wish I could go down to Fred’s and buy the “Collected Works” of the great Ryan’s Fancy, and although the supergroup Ryan’s Fancy is no more, the component parts are alive and well and making wonderful music in Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and abroad.