Love trumps loss: Irish musician moves to N.L. despite having violin stolen during tour

Irish musician Rowan Sherlock used to play violin in a band called Newfoundland.

Now he lives in Newfoundland with his newfound love.

"When we were on tour here with the band … I was kind of saying during the tour that I'd love to move here anyway, because it feels like a home away from home," Sherlock told CBC Radio's Weekend AM this week.

I still feel like I'm at home, which is nice — a nice comfort to have.- Rowan Sherlock

"But the first night I was here I actually met a lady, and after the tour finished, I came back myself for a week and stayed with this said lady and we decided I'd actually make the move and come on over. So here I am."

Sherlock visited with his band — which is, in fact, called "Newfoundland" — in May and immediately fell in love with the province.

"It's just how friendly and accommodating everybody was for the whole tour. They couldn't do enough for you," he said.

He was also taken aback by the extreme weather patterns Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are all too familiar with.

"The weather was just bizarre to us," he said. "In one of the days we were here … it was a long, long day of driving, but we had snow and icebergs. Then we got sunburnt, and then there was near flash-floods all in the space of a day — which is crazy."

Though he clearly enjoyed his visit enough to move to St. John's, he did have one unfortunate experience.

Before his final gig, his treasured violin was stolen out of his girlfriend's car.

• Expensive violin stolen from Irish band in Newfoundland

"We were inside this house for 20 minutes in town. [When] we came out, we discovered that Kayla's SUV had been broken into," Sherlock said.

"Windows were smashed in the back of the Jeep, and my violin was stolen, one of the guy's guitars was stolen, and all of Kayla's camera equipment as well. It was all taken from the Jeep."

Settling into N.L. life 

Sherlock said there has been no word on his stolen instrument, but he hasn't completely lost hope. In the meantime, he bought a new violin to continue performing and teaching. Recently, he accepted a job teaching violin and piano at the Music Collection.

"The plan is the day job is the day job. If I can get gigging with a few local bands and a few local musicians, well, then all the happier," he said.

"That's what I would love to do in the long run."

Sherlock said his former bandmates also love Newfoundland, and they plan to return to the province to tour. He said he'll join them again when they're here.

The similarities between Ireland and Newfoundland are not lost on Sherlock.

"I don't feel like I'm out of Ireland yet, I still feel like I'm at home, which is nice —  a nice comfort to have," he said.