Cod Gone Wild Kicks off Neighbourhood Rounds Christmas Tour in Salmon
Arm, Saturday Dec. 9
Cod Gone Wild Announces 2024 will be their Final Year of Performances
Cod Gone Wild released its Christmas album entitled The Neighbourhood Rounds
in December of 2018. With that release, a tradition was born based around the
Newfoundland tradition of the same name, where neighbours go from house to
house to celebrate the season.
This year, the full band has reunited and will be performing a small number of
Christmas shows in the Thompson-Okanagan featuring band members Andrew
Mercer (lead vocals, guitar), Shamma Sabir (fiddle), Sean Bray (electric guitar), Dan
Fogarty (Bass), and David Mihal (Drums). The band will be making a return visit to
cities and towns in our own backyard, continuing the Neighbourhood Rounds
tradition, likely for the last time as Cod Gone Wild.
The band is currently planning its 2024 schedule, with limited dates, but this will be
the last year of performances from one of Western Canadas premier Celtic acts,
which is announcing they will be disbanding after the 2024 summer schedule
concludes. “Cod Gone Wild, has had an amazing run since 2011, but the time has
come to move on to new and exciting projects,” says founder, lead singer, and
resident Newfoundlander, Andrew Mercer. Mercer, who will continue performing
under his own name following the 2024 summer season, described this as a
bittersweet moment. “I’m excited for what the future holds musically for me and all
the extremely talented musicians in the band, with whom I am going to continue to
work with, but in a different format moving forward. The time is right for this
chapter to end and another to begin.” The band will kick off their year-long farewell
tour with their very popular Neighbourhood Rounds Christmas shows, making stops
in Salmon Arm, Kelowna, Osoyoos, Vernon and Kamloops beginning December 9th at
the Shuswap Theatre.
When asked about the story behind The Neighbourhood Rounds, Mercer had this to
say. “I grew up on a small neighbourhood street called Newfound Lane, in the town
of Bay Roberts, Newfoundland. On this street there lived a tight knit group of
neighbours, who regularly got together to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, and
special occasions. Years ago, a tradition was started at Christmas time to go around
the neighbourhood and visit each house, taking the time to have a drink, some food,
and to spin a few yarns (tell stories) at each stop along the way.”
The tradition of the neighbourhood rounds, continues today back home and Mercer
has written the title track of the album to not only keep the tradition alive, but to
remind people to come together this holiday season. “It is my hope that in the spirit
of the season, despite this tumultuous world that we live in, that people can come
together. Visit your neighbours, check in on a friend that you haven’t spoken to in a
while, and most importantly, make time for family,” says Mercer. Although this may
PRESS RELEASE NOVEMBER 29, 2023 WWW.CODGONEWILD.COM
mark the last Neighbourhood Rounds Tour for Cod Gone Wild, Mercer is not ruling
out the possibility of continuing this tradition under his own name. “In the future it
would be nice to keep this going, I’d probably call it Andrew Mercer’s
Neighbourhood Rounds or something to that effect, as I know how many people
look forward to these shows each and every Christmas, including myself.”
The Neighbourhood Rounds Tour will see the band perform a mix of original and
Christmas songs that Mercer grew up listening to on the east coast. “Growing up in
Newfoundland and being exposed to traditional music at a young age, there will
always be a strong Newfoundland influence in my music,” Mercer describes, “having
musicians from various musical backgrounds has always allowed the band to create
something a little more modern and edgy that continues to have a broader appeal
with audiences across the country and around the world.”
Tickets for all shows are available on the bands website at
www.codgonewild.com/shows. Showtime 7:30 pm.
Tour Dates:
December 9th – Shuswap Theatre, Salmon Arm (Matinee 2:00 pm, Evening 7:30 pm)
December 14th – Mary Irwin Theatre (Rotary Centre for the Arts), Kelowna
December 15th – Osoyoos Secondary School Theatre, Osoyoos
December 21st – Trinity united Church, Vernon
December 22nd – Kamloops United Church, Kamloops
The Neighbourhood Rounds is available now, wherever you download or stream
your music. You can also purchase/download directly from the bands website:
www.codgonewild.com.
