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Figgy Duff was a Canadian folk-rock band from Newfoundland, Canada. They played a major role in the Newfoundland cultural renaissance of the 1970s and 1980s. Formed in 1976 by Noel Dinn, who named the band after a traditional pudding, Figgy Duff travelled across Newfoundland, learning traditional songs and performing them with distinct elements of rock and roll.

The band relied heavily on the research of ethnomusicologist Kenneth Peacock's 1965 3-volume Songs of the Newfoundland Outports as a resource for songs that they adapted into a new rock-based sound called “trad-rock” — an amalgamation of rock music and traditional folk music of unknown authors.

They began working with Island Records early, though the album that resulted has yet to be released. Instead, they released their independent self-titled debut album: Figgy Duff in 1980. The album was also released by Ottawa-based Posterity Records. It was followed by After the Tempest in 1982.

Through the next thirteen years, Figgy Duff continued touring and released three more albums: Weather Out the Storm (1989), Downstream (1993) and the compilation Retrospective (1995).

The band's line-up changed several times, but the core of Noel Dinn and Pamela Morgan, singer-songwriter, stayed the same. Weather Out the Storm was nominated for a 1991 Juno Award. Dinn died of cancer in 1993, and Morgan disbanded Figgy Duff soon after.

The band has since reunited three times, once in 1999 for a silver anniversary tour, again in summer 2008 to celebrate the release of a CD of live recordings from the bands' previous reunion, and for the 2016 Newfoundland and Labrador Folk Festival, featuring Aaron Collis on accordion.

Discography

• 1980: Figgy Duff
• 1982: After the Tempest
• 1989: Weather Out the Storm
• 1993: Downstream
• 1995: Retrospective
• 2008: Figgy Duff Live Silver Reunion

References

1. Hallett, Bob (2010). Writing Out the Notes. Insomniac Press. p. 20. ISBN 9781897415337.
2. ^ Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 859. ISBN 0-85112-939-0.
3. Morgan, Pamela. "Figgy Duff, 1995". nlfolk.com. Folk Arts Society. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
4. Kearney Guigne', Anna (2008). Folksongs and Folk Revival: The Cultural Politics of Kenneth Peacock's Songs of the Newfoundland Outports. Memorial University Press. p. 225. ISBN 9781894725064.
5. Saugeres, Lise (August 1991). Figgy Duff and Newfoundland Culture (Masters thesis). Memorial University of Newfoundland. Retrieved 16 April 2024.
6. "Figgy Duff = Figgy Duff - 1980 - (Full Album)". youtube.com. YouTube. Archived from the original on 12 December 2021. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
7. "Figgy Duff After the Tempest Customer Reviews". amazon.com. Amazon. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
8. "Figgy Duff – After The Tempest". discogs.com. Discogs. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
9. "Figgy Duff – Weather Out The Storm". discogs.com. Discogs. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
10. "Downstream Figgy Duff". qobuz.com. Qobuz. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
11. "Figgy Duff – A Retrospective 1974-1993". discogs.com. Discogs. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
12. "CD Review - Figgy Duff "A Retrospective 1974 - 1993", 1997". irishmusicmagazine.com. Irish Music Magazine. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
13. Fitzpatrick, Jamie. "Pamela Morgan and Noel Dinn, 2001". heritage.nf.ca. Heritage Newfoundland & Labrador. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
14. "Figgy Duff – Live Silver Reunion". discogs.com. Discogs. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
15. Rigler, Michael. "Figgy Duff Reuniting for Writers...Western Star May 2008". Press Reader. Retrieved 7 October 2021 – via PressReader.
16. "Living Tradition, July 2008". thescope.ca. The Scope. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
17. "N.L. Folk Festival announces lineup...May 2016". cbc.ca. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
18. "Figgy Duff | Album Discography". AllMusic. Retrieved 27 August 2021.

External links

• Figgy Duff official site at Amber Music
• More Figgy Duff background
• Figgy Duff – Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador, v. 2, p. 62
• Figgy Duff in The Canadian Encyclopedia
• Figgy Duff discography at Discogs

• Musical groups established in 1976
• Musical groups disestablished in 1995
• Musical groups from Newfoundland and Labrador
• Canadian folk rock groups
• Celtic fusion groups
• 1976 establishments in Newfoundland and Labrador
• 1995 disestablishments in Canada
• Canadian Celtic music groups