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It was a sound piece of advice he has not forgotten and one that probably helped lead to his success, as he once again tours Canada. Eddie Coffey was born and raised in the Placentia Bay Community of Cuslett where music was a way of life and an instrument of relaxation after the days work was done.
Traditional Music
"My mother is a great accordion player," he says, proudly. "She taught me how to play when I was about 10. One of the first tunes I learned was Mussels in the Corner and another was Carry Me Back which was a tune that my grandmother used to play. She could play the accordion, violin and the flute. Mom is 85 and is still a great musician. She plays the occasional time at senior citizens' homes and events." Like many Newfoundlanders then and now, Coffey had to leave home at an early age to find work. At 18, he went to Labrador to work in the Wabush mines. "I worked there for over two years but I still sang and played at parties after work," he says. It was there that he penned the popular Black Around The Eyes. After Labrador, Coffey went to Halifax. "I fished for around six years out of Halifax on draggers. I would take my guitar and accordion with me and play over the radio of the other dragers," he recalls. "It used to be like a big city on the Grand Banks then. It would be lit up in the nighttime. You could hear the crew on the Russian draggers applauding back over the radio, calling out for more."
Better Destiny
Feeling he was destined for better and bigger things, he took the route that thousands of Newfoundlanders took in those days and headed for Toronto. While there, he ran into Kevin Rowsell from Corner Brook. Rowsell needed an accordionist for his gigs at the Newfoundland club and Coffey got the job. His big break came in 1976 while performing at the Horseshoe Club in Toronto. "Ian and Sylvia were performing there along with some of my friends. When they asked me if I would like to play, I jumped at the chance," he recalls. An executive of a record company was in the audience and invited Coffey to record a single for his label. They next morning he showed up for his recording session. "I decided to do Sweet Forget Me Not. There were two fellows backing me up who never heard the song before until I played it in the studio. I heard Gerald Campbell sing that song at our house at parties long ago and it was always on my mind but I never played it. We ran over it twice there in the studio and then recorded it," he says. That song went into the hearts of Newfoundlanders everywhere. It became a hit and outsold all other local records for that year. Four months after cutting the single, Coffey was asked to record an album. Sweet Forget Me Not became Eddie Coffey's signature song, but its success was bittersweet. "Like a lot of young musicians back then I guess I was naive. I never made a cent on that recording even though it sold thousands and thousands," he says. "If only I knew then what I know now." Nevertheless, Coffey plays and tours across Canada several times a year in his "well-equipped" touring motor home. His music is heard all over the world including Australia and Sweden where his song Peggy's Cove Disaster reached No. 8 on the charts. His natural and unaffected style, characteristic of his native Newfoundland grass roots, tells a stirring tale of the plane crash that occurred in 1998 in Peggy's Cove. The song is also contained on the Roto Noto January 1999 release of Essentials - The 10th Anniversary World Song Compilation CD. Coffey has also been nominated for the Artistic Trailblazer Award for overall talent and outstanding contribution to the music industry. Playing
For Everybody Wounded Warriors Eddie’s
success prior to 1999 was due largely with him teaming up with
life friend and guitarist Marty Delaney. Eddie and Marty just
seem to gel and it showed. As each year passed it seemed
On that
faithful morning of September 11, 2001 while Eddie, Marty and
Rhonda were taking time off back home in Newfoundland and taking
in one of Eddie’s favorite thing’s to do besides writing music
he was trouting. The world changed. With the attacks in America
and in particular to all who believed in freedom he knew his
destiny was about to change. With in hours he began writing
a very powerful song entitled Attack on America. This song symbolized
from A to Z events of that day that will live in the hearts
and minds that witnessed that terrible day. He and Rhonda immediately
recorded the song and sent it out to all radio stations. But
because of an error with the new recording studio it was not
air playable so the moment was lost. But not forgotten. Eddie
realized that Canada and its troops would now be called on to
battle terrorism over-seas with other Coalition Forces. On the
day in late January 2003 he met an old friend, Harold O’Connell
who had sold Eddie’s music to stores in Newfoundland and in
particular, Boston. They both knew how Eddie’s music was received
and together with Rhonda began planning a "Support the Troops"
Tour of North America. With no financial assistance from Provincial
or National Governments, and only with the help of there dear
friend Geoff Sterling of NTV did they commence the tour. Geoff
Sterling told Eddie “ Do us proud performing free concerts to
both Canadian and United States Forces, be ambassadors of our
Province, Country and tell of our culture and heritage “ In May
2003 Eddie, Marty, Rhonda, and Hal hit the road. For eighteen
months they preformed at forty-nine Canadian and United States
Military Bases. They also performed small concerts at some twenty-nine
Veterans Hospitals in both Nations. They were well received
and his music was now more popular than ever. While on tour
in the United States they preformed at Air Shows with the Canadian
Sky Hawks Parachute Team, The USAF Thunder birds, The USN Blue
Angels and Canada’s Snow birds. Even an opportunity to open
up for the Charlie Daniels Band at Mountain Home AFB Idaho.
Eddie’s song Attack On America was now being heard and
admired, Even Charlie himself commented on how powerful the
lyrics were and how it made him proud. As the
group toured, Eddie was continuosly writing music about his
and the groups experience‘s while on tour. Upon returning to
Canada in the spring of 2005, Eddie and the group recorded Heart
of the Island. Two featured songs, Letter from Afghanistan,
about a young Canadian Navy Medic whom he met in San Fransico,
and a song entitled Heart of the Island, which tells
the tale of how the cod fish and the fishery collapsed which
was the Heart of the Island at one time. After its release the
group once again hit the road touring North America and Supporting
the Troops .While performing in Florida at McDill AFB, Tampa
to boost morale for Coalition Forces, Canadian Forces hosted
a meet and greet and show cased Eddie’s music as a part of Canadian
Culture and Heritage. McDill AFB Base is Central Command Headquarters
for sixty-three Coalition Countries troops battling global terrorism.
His music was so well received that he was nominated for the
Order of Canada. In the
spring of 2007 Eddie Coffey and his Group headed west to the
oil fields of Alberta just as so This tour
would be different for Marty Delaney had left the group for
family reasons. But all was not lost for Rhonda Stamp now was
playing guitar and doing the back up vocals with Harold O’Connell
also participating with harmonica and ugly stick. Eddie and
the group was a smash hit at all events including shows at CNRL
Horizon, Suncore, Syncrude and Albian Sands work camp in Fort
McMurray. That summer a new album was released entitled Welcome
Back Home a tribute to our returning troops. Feature songs
include Mother’s Rose Tree dedicated to his Mother Gladys.
Crocodile Tears in memory of the late Steve Irvin who
Eddie admired. The feature song Welcome Back Home for
our troops but also for him, for he had not been home in almost
four years as his dedication to the music and the cause took
more importance. For years Eddie encouraged other musicians
to step out and believe in themselves and their dreams. He even
convinced Rhonda to record a song in a woman‘s point of view
- Cold Canadian Waters on this Album. Eddie
and his Group will be starting a summer tour in 2010 for the
Children's Miracle Network. Eddie
Coffey is truly one of Newfoundland and Labrador’s native sons
who embraces in his songs the true meaning of life and living
with the culture and heritage of his native shores. He has become
the Ambassador of Canada to all Coalition Countries whose troops
and people believe in freedom, democracy and the preservation
of peace. Stay tuned - there’s more to come! Eddie Coffey Group Singing For The Kid’s Tour This summer is one we hope will be a blast, We are doing concerts across Newfoundland and donating $5.00 dollars from each ticket sold to the Children’s Miracle Network in Aid of the Janeway Hospital. We have great support from other companies, Labatt of Newfoundland, Tim Horton stores , NTV, OZ fm and New-Cap radio to help us market the concerts and sell tickets, in each of the areas that our concerts take place, the radio stations will be airing 60, 30 second adds, road show giveaways of tickets and our tour tee-shirts. 
We have 2500 tee-shirts with our tour of Singing for the Kids, not a Grey Foggy Day logo on front and on the back a list of shows and communities we are doing, and companies who are helping sponsor this tour, We would love to have you on board, as a sponsor and put your store and location on the shirt as where people can obtain Eddies music after our concerts. We will have plenty of all our cd titles that we can supply you for sale at your location during the live remote at your location. We would include you store on all radio spots and television advertisment mentioning you as our sponsor and tickets can be sold at your location, and do a live CD singing event at your location before the show in your area. Upon completing the tour, we then would hold a press conference at the Janeway to present the funds raised through your help and the others who help make this possible. Our printing of the shirts will be done by mid July so there is lots of time to make this happen. I will list all locations, dates and local radio info in this correspondence, we are asking for $1000.00 dollars which will help with the printing and advertising costs. It will increase sales, great exposure for a great cause and in the end make us all feel good. For tour dates visit the events section. Harold
O’Connell |
When
he was just 12 years old, an ambitious local artist sent for
a book titled, How to be A Musician. The title page read "play
for everybody, everywhere."
As
a Teenager, he heard some of the finest traditional music of
the Cape Shore area and recalls people coming to their house
on weekends to hear his mother Gladys play the accordion. Eddie
soon became part of the Cape Shore music.
In
1974, Coffey moved to Ottawa where he met up with an Irish group
called The Beggerman. After about a year or so, the group disbanded
and Coffey began playing solo around clubs in Ottawa.
