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Séan McCann tour stopping in Kimberley
Séan McCann, acclaimed singer-songwriter, JUNO Award nominee, and mental health advocate, is taking his music and his message on the road. As a founding member of internationally renowned East Coast group Great Big Sea, Séan chose to forge his own path five years ago and use his music to help him heal from an alcohol addiction that masked his secret of sexual abuse during his teens.
In 2018, Séan will play a 29 city tour supporting his fifth solo album, There’s A Place, that sees him taking another step forward in his recovery, but a step back to his traditional musical roots. The tour will stop in Kimberley on April 28 at Centre 64.
Séan’s musical message is now more than just notes and melodies. There’s A Place is a cleansing of sorts. His last two solo albums, Help Your Self and You Know I Love You, were a large musical departure from his Great Big Sea beginnings, but in his latest release he brings together his roots and his message on 11 beautifully crafted tracks sung by a man who knows his purpose, who embraces his past, but refuses to let it define him. Séan also worked with artist/designer Jenna Gregory on There’s A Place: A Colouring Book Companion, which accompanies the album as an interactive creative outlet for fans.
“I believe that a secret can kill you but that a song can save your life,” said McCann. “Music is my religion and it has helped me survive through some very hard times. Today I want to share my story and my songs to help others to “help them selves”.”
At 50-years-old, Séan is now a sought-after speaker and mental health advocate. Séan celebrated six years of sobriety in November 2017.
McCann bought his first guitar in 1989 that he affectionately calls “Old Brown.” Old Brown has been around. He was there for the first song Séan ever wrote. He was there as Séan founded the acclaimed and multi-million selling band that would change his life. He was there to hold Séan up as he struggled with alcohol addiction, and he has been there to help guide Séan out of the darkness with music as his medicine.
John Lennon once sang, “You can live a lie until you die. One thing you can’t hide is when you’re crippled inside.” After exiting the internationally renowned folk group Great Big Sea and publicly admitting a secret past in which he used alcohol to mask the pain of sexual abuse by a priest; Séan stopped lying to himself and found his truth and his own voice. With the release of his fifth solo album, There’s a Place, he continues his journey as a singer, songwriter, and now a sought after speaker and mental health advocate with Old Brown by his side and a simple message: “You are not alone.”
His 2014 album Help Your Self was a battle cry; a line in the sand. It announced that he was ready to change and resonated with people in a way Séan could never have expected. It helped him understand that he wasn’t alone and that telling his story could help others as much as it helped him. You Know I Love You, released in 2015, was inspired by the love he found in sharing that story and an attempt to find a new and real connection in a world that had turned inward to its smart phones. Now comes There’s A Place – a collection of songs from a man who is trying to keep his head up when the temptation is to keep them buried in a screen; it’s the story of a man no longer held back by a lie and has changed his narrative, and never forgetting…that he is not alone.
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