Like so many Canadian folk musicians, MacLellan’s songcraft is heavily rooted in place. And when home is Prince Edward Island, you’re sure to have a few hallmarks: gently picked acoustic guitar, intricate songs that drift from love to hurt to love again, and a sweet voice with that strong bit of saltiness carried over by the wind.

MacLellan has been at it for more than two decades, picking up a Roots category Juno statuette in 2015 and a handful of East Coast Music Awards along the way. She’s also dedicated herself to shining a light on her folk-legend father Gene MacLellan’s legacy by creating a documentary and stage show about his music and mental health struggles that stole Gene from the world in her teens. In addition, she regularly performs that substitute Canadian anthem he penned, “Snowbird.”

After going six years without recording new music – since 2019’s haunting, windswept Coyote – she marked International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women with a new single “Mary Ann,” the true story of an Islander murdered by a rapist who’d attacked one of her 11 children. “Set his sights on your eldest girl / He wouldn’t take no, then he took your whole world.” Whether she’s recreating one of her dad’s compositions on piano or strumming out her own lyrical poetry, Catherine MacLellan’s voice will always find a way to leave the stage – sometimes wafting, sometimes flowing – straight into your mainland heart.

- Jason Markusoff