Séan McCann is trading big stages for small halls and churches. The Newfoundland musician has set out on what he calls a “Great Big Canadian Road Trip” – a grassroots cross-country trek that has brought him closer to communities and audiences across the country. “I carried my own PA, a little sound system, and my own couple of lights. It was just really grassroots and it reminded me of when I started,” McCann said in an interview with CTV Atlantic’s Katie Kelly. The trip has also been a chance to embrace the music that defined his career. McCann, a founding member of Great Big Sea, says he has made peace with the band’s legacy, rediscovering the songs that first connected him to audiences. “This show is really all over the place. There will be Great Big Sea songs. There always is now and I love them, and people love them,” said McCann. At a time when tensions across the country have been high, McCann says his mission is to use music to bring people together. “On this trip, every night I was in a room in a small town in Canada. I was looking out at an audience that I knew were divided politically every night, but every night as Canadians we sang together,” said McCann. This weekend, McCann will bring the tour to the Maritimes, with shows in Dartmouth, Saint John and Charlottetown. “I will be singing my heart out and I believe music is medicine. I do it as much for myself as for anyone else,” said McCann. “If you come to my show and sing along with me, you will feel better.”
