Introduction
Catherine MacLellan is a Canadian folk singer-songwriter, currently based in Prince Edward Island. The daughter of Canadian songwriter Gene MacLellan, she was born and raised in Summerside, Prince Edward Island.
Before beginning her solo recording career, she sang with The New Drifts, a four-piece band featuring Island musicians James Phillips (guitar, mandolin), Stéphane Bouchard (bass) and Dave Gould (drums & percussion). She spent time working at the box office of Summerside's Harbourfront Jubilee Theatre, a 527-seat theatre where she made her soft seat début as a solo performer.
MacLellan released two albums, 2004's Dark Dream Midnight and 2006's Church Bell Blues, independently before signing to True North Records, which rereleased Church Bell Blues in 2007. She followed up with Water in the Ground in 2009; Dark Dream Midnight was included as a bonus disc with physical copies of that album. She toured Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom throughout 2009 to support the album, including performances on CBC Radio's Canada Live and The Vinyl Cafe. Her album Silhouette was released by True North Records in July 2011. Her album "The Raven's Sun" was released August 2014.
She has also participated in two collaborative "Canadian Songbook" tours: in 2008 with Murray McLauchlan, Stephen Fearing and Paul Quarrington, and in 2009 with McLauchlan, Barney Bentall and Nathan Rogers.
In November 2009, she recorded a new song, "Singing Sands", for CBC Radio 2's Great Canadian Song Quest.
She was formerly married to singer-songwriter Al Tuck, with whom she has a daughter, Isabel MacLellan.
Discography
- Dark Dream Midnight (2004)
- Church Bell Blues (2006)
- Water in the Ground (2009)
- Silhouette (2011)
- The Raven's Sun (2014)
Awards and achievements
2012 East Coast Music Awards & Nominations:
- Folk Recording of the Year - Winner
- Album of the Year
- Solo Recording of the Year
2010 East Coast Music Awards & Nominations:
- Female Solo Recording of the Year - Winner
- Folk Recording of the Year - Winner
- SOCAN Songwriter of the Year
Winner for English Songwriter of the Year at 2012 Canadian Folk Music Awards
Winner for Solo Artist of the Year at 2009 Canadian Folk Music Awards
#1 Roots Artist on iTunes Canada
PEI winner for CBC Radio 2 – Canadian Song Quest
Penguin Eggs – New Artist Discovery of the year
2015 Juno Award for Roots & Traditional Album of the Year – Solo, for The Raven's Sun