N.L. musicians put local performers in the spotlight with new documentary series

Elizabeth Whitten · CBC News

· Posted: Jul 13, 2025 11:30 AM EDT | Last Updated: 9 hours ago

Two accepted Newfoundland musicians are moving from the signifier to the surface to shine a spotlight connected the musicians who inspired them.

So Much More to Here follows Rum Ragged's Aaron Collis and Mark Manning successful a abbreviated documentary bid that profiles Newfoundland and Labrador communities and their musicians. It was released past week connected the band's YouTube page.

"It was astir similar you're letting everyone into the surviving country wherever you grew up and learned the music," Collis told CBC Radio's Newfoundland Morning.

"It's a spot much idiosyncratic for sure, but it's besides a dainty to beryllium capable to present radical to different singers and players who meant a batch to america increasing up."

Collis said immoderate of the radical interviewed aren't those who deed large stages, alternatively they perform successful much intimate settings similar room parties.

He said that's where accepted euphony comes from.

For example, the amusement visits Boyd's Cove, which Collis said is peculiar to him due to the fact that it's wherever his grandfather's household location is located.

"I besides met a batch of large musicians up successful Boyd's Cove that benignant of influenced maine and helped maine recognize truly what accepted euphony … was and however it got passed down implicit the years," said Collis.

When Collis was archetypal learning music, helium utilized CDs and songbooks, but being successful the assemblage made him recognize helium could attack radical to larn songs lone a fewer knew.

"It truly benignant of struck maine … the value of sharing the music," helium said.

Deeper dive

Tom Cochrane, the director, videographer and exertion of the series, said he's worked connected euphony videos with the set implicit the years, and this is simply a bigger task than he's utilized to, involving a mates of months of shooting and being connected the road.

"I've personally been inspired by their communicative by proceeding them speech astir wherever these tunes travel from," helium said. "They speech astir them each nighttime connected signifier and [are] ever giving recognition back."

The bid is six episodes, ranging from 14 to 20 minutes successful length. Cochrane said that gives them the accidental to "dive a small deeper" into the taxable than different projects he's worked on.

"Even wrong that 20 minutes, it's not long, but it carries you done a communicative of a spot and touches connected the past of each place, touches connected the stories of the radical and the tunes," helium said.

Cochrane said he's besides hopeful to bash much projects similar this successful the future, adding the squad is looking astatine this bid arsenic a "launchpad."

He said the amusement has been retired for astir a week and the reception has been "fantastic," with strangers and different musicians reaching out to archer him astir the interaction this bid could person successful the coming years.

"People [are] talking about, you know, however they tin amusement it to their kids, so they person a consciousness of what's travel earlier them and past hopefully [they] privation to walk it connected and proceed connected with it," Cochrane said.

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