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Philip Dinn died Thursday in Halifax. He had recently become ill after being diagnosed with lung cancer.
Dinn was a singer and percussionist in the earliest incarnation of Figgy Duff, playing alongside his brother Noel Dinn. He went on to help establish Sheila’s Brush Theatre Company alongside actress Mercedes Barry and Frank Barry (unrelated).
Former Figgy Duff member Kelly Russell can remember first meeting Dinn in the mid-1970s. Russell was playing in a cover group at the time called Rakish Paddy, which also featured Tommy Sexton on vocals.
Dinn left Figgy Duff in 1979 and established the Sheila’s Brush Theatre Company in St. John’s that same year. According to an obituary piece for Mercedes Barry published in the Globe and Mail in 2004, the troupe was formed in the rented apartment of a young Andy Jones.
Jones worked with Dinn for the first time in 1979 on a pair of plays called “Jack’s Christmas” and “Jack Meets the Cat,” which were performed at The LSPU Hall and resulted in tours the following two years. They eventually collaborated on a play called “Jack-Five-Oh” to mark the 50th anniversary of Confederation for Newfoundland and Labrador and later adapted it into a book called “Peg Bearskin” that was published in 2003.
“He was passionately interested in all things Newfoundland — the history of Newfoundland, the culture of Newfoundland, and certainly the music of Newfoundland,” said Jones.
In addition to writing and performing for theatre, Dinn also worked in film and television. He appeared in the feature film “The Boys of St. Vincent” and the television mini-series “Random Passage.”
Dinn did not entirely abandon his musical background. He took park in Figgy Duff reunion concerts in 1999 and 2008, neither of which involved his brother, who died in 1993 from cancer.
An event at the LSPU in the near future to honour Dinn's life.
NOTE:
Figgy Duff released their first album (Debut) in 1980 entitled FIGGY DUFF
1982- AFTER THE TEMPEST
1989- WEATHER OUT THE STORM
1993- DOWNSTREAM
1995- RETROSPECTIVE
2008- FIGGY DUFF LIVE
The group line-up changed several times through the years, but the core of Dinn and Pamela Morgan, singer-songwriter, stayed the same.
The band since reunited twice, once in 1999 for a silver anniversary tour and again in 2008 to celebrate the release of a CD of live recordings from the band's previous reunion.
The bands album, WEATHER OUT THE STORM, was nominated for a 1991 Juno Award. Philip's brother Noel, member of the group died of cancer in 1993, and Pamela Morgan disbanded Figgy Duff soon after.