At one of Great Big Sea’s first big festivals, we opened for the Rankin Family. Back then, in the early ’90s, they were the biggest thing in

Atlantic Canadian music. I’d grown up on them and was a huge fan. I’ll never forget standing in the pit at the Exploits Valley Salmon Festival as they launched into “The Mull River Shuffle,” my favourite song of theirs. It began with Jimmy Rankin’s Recitation, where he invites all the ladies and gentlemen to picture a dance in a small town years ago.

Having grown up in a small fishing town, Petty Harbour in Newfoundland, I knew what that was like. The whole town would be buzzing before a dance.

There was such anticipation, everyone hoping that something foolish would happen.

You’d hope you’d catch one of your older cousins kissing outside the church hall, or a couple of older fishermen getting into a fight. Or someone sneaking an extra cold plate—we had these at garden parties and dances, called turkey teas: you’d get a cold turkey plate with potato and beet or mustard salad and a cup of tea. Everyone would dance for a couple of hours, then it was time for the turkey tea break. Time for small-town drama.

After Jimmy’s Recitation, the second piece of business was the instrumental lead-up, during which the girls danced onto the stage. That was really incredible. In Newfoundland we don’t have a tradition of step dancing like in Cape Breton. Whenever I hear the song now, I see those three beautiful ladies legging it on stage, before the first verse kicks in, and Jimmy starts singing about going home, full of the devil and full of the rum. That says it all.

People wanted mischief, that was their release, their night out, a chance to act out of character. Or to act predictably in character! It’s the summer dance, and Reggie’s going to get into a fight. Reggie always gets into a fight.

That song has a perfect six-eight lift. Many of the best Celtic tunes are in six-eight time, not four- four like the blues. They actually wrote the rhythm

right into the song—this really cool, bouncy bouncy rhythm to dance and sing to. And it perfectly demonstrates Cape Breton fiddle and piano playing, unique to that part of the world.

Whenever I’m back home, having dinner or getting ready to go out, knowing we’re going to go down for a dance, that’s the song I put on. Before we go, to get us all ready, it’s “The Mull River Shuffle.”

As a songwriter and performer, it’s one of my biggest influences. I’ve always wanted to create what that song creates—that sense of impending excitement and awesomeness.

Alan Doyle is a musician and actor from Newfoundland. He has released nine albums with Great Big Sea, as well as three solo albums.