Figgy Duff

{{Short description|Canadian folk-rock band}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}

{{Infobox musical artist

| name = Figgy Duff

| image =

| alt =

| caption =

| image_size =

| landscape =

| background = group_or_band

| origin = Newfoundland, Canada

| genre = Folk rock

| years_active = {{start date|1976}}–{{end date|1995}}, 1999, 2008, 2016

| label = Amber Music (1991–1995)

| associated_acts =

| website = {{URL|ambermusic.ca/artist_figgyduff.htm|Figgy Duff}} (defunct)

| current_members =

| past_members = Noel Dinn (1948-1993)
Pamela Morgan
Frank Maher
Dave Panting
Geoff Butler
Philip Dinn (1949-2013)
Art Stoyles (1943-2015)
Derek Pelley
Kelly Russell
Sandy Morris
Anita Best
Jamie Snider
Bruce Crummell
Rob Laidlaw

}}

Figgy Duff was a Canadian folk-rock band{{cite book|last=Hallett|first=Bob|title=Writing Out the Notes|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o9Vp19U2UxYC&pg=PA20|year=2010|publisher=Insomniac Press|isbn=9781897415337|page=20}} from Newfoundland, Canada.{{cite book|title=The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music|editor=Colin Larkin|publisher=Guinness Publishing|date=1992|edition=First|isbn=0-85112-939-0|page=859}} They played a major role in the Newfoundland cultural renaissance of the 1970s and 1980s.{{cite web |last1=Morgan |first1=Pamela |title=Figgy Duff, 1995 |url=https://nlfolk.com/laa-recipients/figgy-duff/ |website=nlfolk.com |publisher=Folk Arts Society |access-date=2021-10-06}} Formed in 1976 by Noel Dinn, who named the band after a traditional pudding, Figgy Duff travelled across Newfoundland, learning traditional songs and performing them with distinct elements of rock and roll.

The band relied heavily on the research of ethnomusicologist Kenneth Peacock's 1965 3-volume Songs of the Newfoundland Outports as a resource for songs that they adapted into a new rock-based sound called “trad-rock” — an amalgamation of rock music and traditional folk music of unknown authors.{{cite book |last1=Kearney Guigne' |first1=Anna |title=Folksongs and Folk Revival: The Cultural Politics of Kenneth Peacock's Songs of the Newfoundland Outports |date=2008 |publisher=Memorial University Press |isbn=9781894725064 |page=225 |url=https://memorialuniversitypress.ca/Books/F/Folksongs-and-Folk-Revival}}{{cite thesis |last=Saugeres |first=Lise |date=August 1991 |title=Figgy Duff and Newfoundland Culture |url=https://research.library.mun.ca/5503/ |degree=Masters |chapter= |publisher=Memorial University of Newfoundland |access-date=April 16, 2024}}

They began working with Island Records early, though the album that resulted has yet to be released. Instead, they released their independent self-titled debut album: Figgy Duff in 1980.{{cite web |title=Figgy Duff = Figgy Duff - 1980 - (Full Album) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkbTwE1imXQ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/UkbTwE1imXQ| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live|website=youtube.com |publisher=YouTube |access-date=2021-10-06}}{{cbignore}} The album was also released by Ottawa-based Posterity Records. It was followed by After the Tempest in 1982.{{cite web |title=Figgy Duff After the Tempest Customer Reviews |url=https://www.amazon.com/After-Tempest-Figgy-Duff/product-reviews/B003DP7R1Y?reviewerType=all_reviews |website=amazon.com |publisher=Amazon |access-date=2021-10-06}}{{cite web |title=Figgy Duff – After The Tempest |url=https://www.discogs.com/master/633590-Figgy-Duff-After-The-Tempest |website=discogs.com |publisher=Discogs |access-date=2021-10-06}}

Through the next thirteen years, Figgy Duff continued touring and released three more albums: Weather Out the Storm{{cite web |title=Figgy Duff – Weather Out The Storm |url=https://www.discogs.com/release/8486439-Figgy-Duff-Weather-Out-The-Storm |website=discogs.com |publisher=Discogs |access-date=2021-10-07}} (1989), Downstream{{cite web |title=Downstream Figgy Duff |url=https://www.qobuz.com/dk-en/album/downstream-figgy-duff/lkqiig17g8nzb |website=qobuz.com |publisher=Qobuz |access-date=2021-10-06}} (1993) and the compilation Retrospective{{cite web |title=Figgy Duff – A Retrospective 1974-1993 |url=https://www.discogs.com/release/5384062-Figgy-Duff-A-Retrospective-1974-1993 |website=discogs.com |publisher=Discogs |access-date=2021-10-06}}{{cite web |title=CD Review - Figgy Duff "A Retrospective 1974 - 1993", 1997 |url=http://www.irishmusicmagazine.com/issues/backissue/?9708Aug=Figgy |website=irishmusicmagazine.com |publisher=Irish Music Magazine |access-date=2021-10-06}} (1995).

The band's line-up changed several times, but the core of Noel Dinn and Pamela Morgan, singer-songwriter, stayed the same. Weather Out the Storm was nominated for a 1991 Juno Award. Dinn died of cancer in 1993, and Morgan disbanded Figgy Duff soon after.{{cite web |last1=Fitzpatrick |first1=Jamie |title=Pamela Morgan and Noel Dinn, 2001 |url=https://www.heritage.nf.ca/articles/arts/pamela-noel.php |website=heritage.nf.ca |publisher=Heritage Newfoundland & Labrador |access-date=2021-10-07}}

The band has since reunited three times, once in 1999 for a silver anniversary tour,{{cite web |title=Figgy Duff – Live Silver Reunion |url=https://www.discogs.com/master/997297-Figgy-Duff-Live-Silver-Reunion |website=discogs.com |publisher=Discogs |access-date=2021-10-07}} again in summer 2008 to celebrate the release of a CD of live recordings from the bands' previous reunion,{{cite web |last1=Rigler |first1=Michael |title=Figgy Duff Reuniting for Writers...Western Star May 2008 |url=https://www.pressreader.com/canada/the-western-star/20080505/281608121165845 |via=PressReader |publisher=Press Reader |access-date=2021-10-07}}{{cite web |title=Living Tradition, July 2008 |url=http://thescope.ca/music/living-tradition |website=thescope.ca |publisher=The Scope |access-date=2021-10-07}} and for the 2016 Newfoundland and Labrador Folk Festival, featuring Aaron Collis on accordion.{{cite web |title=N.L. Folk Festival announces lineup...May 2016 |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/nl-folk-festival-40th-anniversary-lineup-1.3569652 |website=cbc.ca |publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation |access-date=2021-10-07}}