Catherine MacLellan
To counter the disappearance of two Gadzooks team members to the far East, I'd like to tell the tale of an Island talent visiting the Big Smoke.
Catherine MacLellan is a welcome sound in today's emo, next wave landscape of music. From her days playing with the New Drifts to her recently dissolved bluegrass band Saddle River , Catherine has been delighting audiences on the east coast.
In 2004, Catherine released her first solo venture Dark Dream Midnight to great success, winning two PEI music awards for best folk album and best female vocalist.
With the success of her first album, Catherine followed up with her second release titled Churchbell Blues in 2006. To help support this new CD she made a recent one week stop in Toronto coinciding with the North by Northeast music festival.
Being a friend from my days in Charlottetown was only one small reason for seeing her play at Free Times Cafe on College. I was a fan of her music for sometime and was familiar with her first release. The Free Times show was well attended, and was the only NXNE show she was playing that week.
Listening to her play seems to slow everything down. Since moving here six months ago, it's a welcome sound from the shock a person from my background can get from the city.
Because I was familiar with her earlier work I was interested to hear what the new material sounded like. The tracks definitely sounded more introspective in nature. Songs such as Emily's Song, River Valley Plains and Churchbell Blues really stood out in terms of new material.
During her week here, Catherine made the rounds to different locations, including The Communist's Daughter and Mitzi's Sister. It was her last one at C'est What on Front Street that I decided to catch one more show before she headed back East. The location was great, and the supporting players worked really well.
Throughout the visit I saw many people interested in what Catherine has to bring to the music scene. I have a strong sense that she'll be making inroads in the near future.
I myself am making a quick 2 week stint back to PEI . I plan to take in as many shows as possible. I have to get my fix . . . who knows when the next Island invasion will be?