Mark Bragg

Mark Bragg celebrates on Mardi Gras Proper with The Porch.

Mark Bragg doesn’t need much of an introduction in his home town of St. John’s, Newfoundland, where he’s as much a music establishment himself as say, Fred’s Records or The Ship Inn Pub. His Newfoundland fanbase has long been drawn to the tragic-hero protagonists he sings about, and the wild-eyed persona that takes the stage to sing about them.

But for the rest of us, after seeing Bragg play live for the first time, we might wonder which kind of oddball inhabits the character on stage in front of us: is it the harmless socks-with sandals sort of madcap, or the locked in the trunk of a car variety?

While Bragg’s catalogue is full of dark humour and Southern Gothic flavour, his 2018 album “Winter” hosts a subtler cast of characters, making it his most accessible album to date.