On March 11, 2010, Great Big Sea celebrated their 17th birthday as a band. “No one is more surprised than us that we have lasted almost 18 years,” points out lead singer Alan Doyle. “Like most bands, when we started we were just looking forward to the next tour, the next show or the next song. Then, after a few years we realized that we liked doing this more than anything else. So we kept going.” Their latest album, Safe Upon The Shore, reflects the newest twists in their original plan. The album is a feast of creative impulses, recorded in fits and starts over a six-month period. Some of it was recorded in New Orleans with producer Steve Berlin, while other songs were recorded at the band’s studio in St. John’s, NL. The band used guerrilla setups to record the rest of it on tour buses and in various dressing rooms.