Rosemary Lawton’s new album, Untamed, may be full of traditional ballads, but she’s done away with any sort of traditional gender roles. “A Man in Love,” the first single, is rowdy take on an Irish classic penned by a County Antrim schoolmaster by the name of Hugh McWilliams. The song first appeared in the book Poems and Songs on Various Subjects which was published in 1831.
Rosemary Lawton says “‘Untamed’ is a collection of old traditional songs that tell stories of empowering women in Newfoundland. Each track tells stories of women in atypical gender roles or just taking charge of whatever situation they are being put in during the song.”
“The single ‘A Man in Love’ is no different. It tells the tale of a man who has waited too long and expects too much from his lass, so she bids him farewell. This song fully encompasses the new album in that it is more vocal this time around than from my previous release ‘Painted Glass’ but still has a strong instrumental presence.”
The man in the song sets out to seas, and the woman, who has spent the last seven years of her life courting him, is now free to live out her days with her dozen cats.* It all seems very modern for 1831, but if a Victorina woman is truly forthright and progressive in her thinking, as well as her actions, she must take the bull by the proverbial horns herself.
Tour Dates:
07.03.19 – St. John’s, NL @ Spirit of NL
07.04.19 – Clarenville, NL @ Arts Under the Stars
07.07.19 – Brookfield, NL @ Norton’s Cove Cafe
07.17.19 – Musgrave Harbour, NL @ Soundbone Festival
07.19.19 – Lewisporte, NL @ The Citadel House
07.25-27.19 – Bonavista, NL @ Garrick Theatre
07.29.19 – Port Rexton, NL @ Two Whales
08.08.19 – Woody Point, NL @ Merchant Warehouse
08.09.19 – Springdale, NL @ Summer Concert Series
08.10.19 – Fogo Island, NL @ Fogo Island Inn
08.11.19 – Twillingate, NL @ The Gate
08.12.19 – Lewisporte, NL @ The Citadel House
*Cats not actually mentioned in the song, but it’s what we would have done.