Gary O'Driscoll

Gary O'Driscoll, a Newfoundlander by origin, is a songwriter, musician, composer and producer.

Gary now lives in Peterborough, Ontario, and has become a close friend of the Rocket 88s. We are hoping that Gary will be a great help in getting our music onto vinyl.

Gary has written many songs and musical compositions over the years, and assisted many artists to produce their music for albums, radio and TV. In 1993, he was winner of the Gabriel Award for excellence in entertainment programming. Gary has performed his own songs on national television and radio programs, and wrote and produced numerous film and video soundtracks and commercial jingles, including the theme music for the popular CBC-TV program LAND AND SEA which has aired in Atlantic Canada for over 30 years.

Gary wrote musical scores for national TV programs such as THIS LAND, COUNTRY CANADA and a long list of regional programs. He worked as music sound consultant on the EDDIE EASTMAN series produced by CBNT-TV St. John's.

Gary was one of the founding Directors of the Music Industry Association of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Gary has produced over 50 successful albums by some of Newfoundland's finest artists, including The Irish Descendants, Paddy Maloney and the Chieftains, Barry Williams, Fine Crowd, Shanneyganock, Masterless Men, The Ennis Sisters, Hugh Scott, Anne Marie Ulrich of Denmark, Janet Cull, Colleen Power, Sonya Abbott and Cheryl Hickman

Out From St. Leonard's

Written in 1981 by Gary O'Driscoll of Bay Bulls and St. John's, NL

In the mid 1960's the news rang out clear,
Pack your bags and your nets, you must get out of here;
Take your picks and your shovels, your rakes and your hoes,
The government says you must pack up and go.

Well, the news it soon spread to the harbours and coves,
That the young people were leaving in hoards and in droves;
For to go to Toronto and follow their goals,
For to go to Placentia to live off the dole.

And it's out from St. Leonard's and out from Toslow,
They'd steam 'cross the bay with their houses in tow;
With their beds in the bow and their stoves in the stern,
Bound away with their sons and their daughters.

Now, Skipper Jim Pittman said he wouldn't go,
While there's nets to be mended and hay to be mowed;
He said he'd never work, no matter the pay,
In some hockey stick factory out Stephenville way.

And it's out from St. Leonard's and out from Toslow,
They'd steam 'cross the bay with their houses in tow;
With their beds in the bow and their stoves in the stern,
Bound away with their sons and their daughters.

Now, on all politicians they cursed and they swore,
They rather would fight off in some distant war;
For when they ceased to ramble and they ceased to roam,
They'd like to return to the place they called home.

And it's out from St. Leonard's and out from Toslow,
They'd steam 'cross the bay with their houses in tow;
With their beds in the bow and their stoves in the stern,
Bound away with their sons and their daughters.

Now the islands and harbours and coves are ghost towns,
You need a long liner to harvest the ground;
And a big oil refinery now stands as a shrine,
To the daughters and sons who remember the time.

And it's out from St. Leonard's and out from Toslow,
They'd steam 'cross the bay with their houses in tow;
With their beds in the bow and their stoves in the stern,
Bound away with their sons and their daughters.