A Musician Inviting the World Into His ‘Songhouse’
by Globe Content Studio
This article is part of a series about the people who make Newfoundland and Labrador an unforgettable place to visit. Warm, welcoming, and fun-loving to the core, they create experiences that stay with you long after you’ve left. Say hello to some of the folks who’ll make you feel at home – no matter where you’re from.
Sean Sullivan, right, and Sheldon Thornhill provide the music at Sullivan’s Songhouse.
After retiring from a job with the phone company at age 54, Sean Sullivan mused aloud one day about starting a small business – inviting people into his home for an afternoon of songs and stories. He remembers his wife’s response.
“‘Sullivan, you might as well,’ she said. ‘This place is already a songhouse,’” Sean says with a laugh. “And she was right about that.”
Sean grew up in Calvert, a community of about 250 people on Newfoundland’s Southern Shore. It’s a stretch of coastline south of St. John’s that bursts with an Irishness you’ll hear the instant you speak to any resident.
“We always sang and played,” Sean says of his youth. “We were singing all the time at the house with our parents, and we always had a keen interest in Irish music, all of us being at least 99 percent Irish around here.”
Those family musical traditions only grew with time. Kitchen parties were the rule, not the exception. Sean might play at a local music festival and then invite everyone back to his place for a sing-along. Or it might just be a regular Saturday evening with a few friends, neighbours and anyone else who happened along.
“We’ve had over a hundred people show up to the house on a warm summer’s night. We’d raise the windows [and] there’d be people lined up looking in,” he says.
“Not everyone had to be a star singer,” Sean says of those days. They would go around the kitchen in a circle, giving everyone a turn to sing, tell a story or do a recitation. Everyone was included, from grandparents to children.
“I’ve seen so much joy at those gatherings, just real wholesome fun,” he says.
In 2017, Sullivan’s Songhouse officially opened its old-fashioned kitchen to visitors from near and far. The house, a traditional Newfoundland home close to where Sean grew up, was gifted to him by a couple who didn’t have any children of their own. “I guess we were neighbourly with them, as you would be,” he says.
The two-hour session is hosted by Sean, on vocals and guitar, and Sheldon Thornhill, an accordion player and singer. “We’re just being ourselves, singing our songs and telling our stories,” Sean says.
Neither are strangers to entertaining a crowd: besides the informal house concerts, Sean is part of the folk duo Sullivan & Slaney, popular at folk festivals and local Irish bars; Sheldon has been part of The Concert Crowd, the Soirees, and other bands. The two met while playing in the traditional / Irish music scene in and around St. John’s and became friends.
Sean and Sheldon welcome a maximum of 25 people for a session twice a week. “We don’t want to get sick of it,” Sean says. “We finish up on Wednesday, and by Saturday, we’re burstin’ to go again.”
It’s a one-of-a-kind experience that won the 2022 Cultural Tourism Award of Excellence from Hospitality Newfoundland and Labrador. One favourite song, played at nearly every session, is Pearson Kitchen Party, written by Calvert resident Tim Murphy about a 2017 incident at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport. During a long flight delay, Sheldon and Sean pulled out their instruments, played a few tunes, and a lively impromptu sing-along followed. Video from the event went viral and netted the pair some gigs in Newfoundland and Toronto. “People get a kick out of it,” Sean says of the song.
The rest of the Songhouse set list features Irish and Newfoundland folk songs and recitations, with plenty of room for requests and even, on occasion, the participation of audience members.
Sean says the event’s freewheeling atmosphere reflects his family’s welcoming attitude when he was growing up.
“We always treated strangers well. My mom would welcome anyone in, bring out the tablecloth and set another plate on the table. I think it’s the Newfoundland way to make people feel welcome, and we definitely want to do that. We’re not doing this to make a pile of money; it’s more a lifestyle we want to share.”
The Songhouse is rewarding for Sean, too.
“When a fellow shakes my hand on the way out and says, ‘Thank you, sir, for letting us into your house,’ that hits you hard,” he says. “Singing for people and making them happy, what more do you want in life, really?”
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