On Saturday, May 24, Séan McCann, former singer and multi-instrumentalist in Newfoundland folk rock band Great Big Sea, will bring some of the band’s music to Fort Frances along with some of the music he’s created since the band dissolved.
McCann announced he would be leaving Great Big Sea in 2013, a choice he attributes to his decision to get sober.
“We were Canada’s favourite party band,” McCann said.
“And we lived up to that reputation. When I tried to get sober, it was a really difficult place to do it on a Great Big Sea tour bus. Drinking is a cultural institution [in Newfoundland], it’s pretty much ingrained.”
After leaving the band, McCann moved to Ottawa with his wife and family, where he’s continued to play music, as well as become an advocate for sobriety.
“I’ve released four solo records and I wrote a book and toured extensively across Canada and the United States,” McCann said of his recent activities.
“I’ve done a lot of public speaking and a lot of recovery advocacy work. I have two dogs and two cats and two children, they keep me pretty busy and I’m still sober 14 years later, right?”
McCann was in the process of booking a tour that would see him the the United States for the next few months, but with the friction between Canada and the U.S. he decided not to go on that tour.
“I was going to be in America for the next four months, but things changed and early on I said ‘I don’t feel good about this,’” McCann said.
“Right after the election I started to pull back from those dates and then when threats against our sovereignty came across I said ‘ok, now we’re done, we’re not going to do that.’ Like many Canadians now, I was forced to pivot. I have to find a way to make a living that doesn’t involve America right now and it’s really hard to do in Canada as a touring musician.”
Instead of touring in the U.S., McCann is embarking on what he’s dubbed The Great Big Canadian Road Trip, which will see him travel from his home in Ottawa all the way to B.C. and back.
“There’s a reason people don’t do what I’m doing, which is literally drive from where I live now, in Ottawa, right to Victoria and back, because it’s really hard,” McCann said.
“But I think I’m exactly like thousands and thousands of other Canadians now that are going to have to work hard and figure it out how to do this, how to make a living without becoming dependent on the U.S. market. So, it took me a long time, but I found friendly people in Kenora and in Fort Frances who were willing to let me come into their churches and have a concert. So that was crucial, because without them, I wouldn’t have been able to get the Winnipeg, and then to Regina. I did this drive when I was 21 and my back was a lot more bendy then, you know, so it’ll be hard, but it’s what we have to do now as Canadians, we have to figure we have to figure out how to do things and how to make it work.”
McCann’s newer songs reflect what he’s learned in his journey of sobriety, but he doesn’t shy away from making songs fun either.
“I could go on and on about what I’ve learned, and I share them. They’re in my shows. The lessons I’ve learned are in the shows. They’re in the songs,” he said.
“But I’ve never lost sight of how you have to entertain people. And I will be, I will be telling funny stories and singing songs that people know, and there’ll be Great Big Sea hits there too, and the ones that I’ve written, you know, myself, and (Great Big Sea frontman) Alan [Doyle] wrote all the songs in Great Big Sea pretty much. I’m still that guy, you know, I don’t like releasing songs that aren’t fun to sing. That’s always the biggest buzz that I could ever have.
When McCann brings his show to Knox United Church in Fort Frances he’ll certainly play a few of those familiar tunes that people will remember from his Great Big Sea days. Even some of the ones that reference drinking are still part of McCann’s show.
“All the hits, the stuff I was involved with,” he said.
“I’ll be doing Mary Mac, I’ll be doing Patty Murphy (a song about an Irish wake), I’m doing Ordinary Day…”
With a smattering of his solo music as well as potentially other Canadian classics, the show will be something to take in for sure. Tickets are available online in advance for $25 plus taxes and fees at seanmccannsings.com/concerts. Otherwise you can pay $40 cash only at the door. The show starts at 7 p.m. at Knox United in Fort Frances.
