Catherine MacLellan was stuck at home on a stormy day, making pancakes for her daughter, when she found out she had been nominated for two Juno Awards.
The PEI folk singer’s latest album Raven’s Sun was nominated for best roots and traditional album of the year in the solo category, and she was also nominated for songwriter of the year for a pair of songs off the album.
MacLellan is no stranger to awards (she won songwriter of the year at the 2012 Canadian Folk Music Awards, for example) but 2015 was her first nod from the Juno committee.
Raven’s Sun is her fifth album, and she said the record represents the maturation of her music—especially from a songwriting perspective—so getting the nod for her songwriting from the Juno committee is especially meaningful.
“It’s so nice to be recognized by my peers, because I feel like this album best reflects where we are at musically,” she said.
Where she’s at now is a far cry from where she was less than 10 years ago. Despite being the daughter of Canadian folk icon Gene MacLellan, she didn’t charge full-force into the music industry. More accurately: she tentatively backed into it.
She had been playing music her whole life, but her shyness and anxiety kept her from persuing it too feverishly. It was only with some coaxing from her brother—who owned his own recording studio—that she got together with a bunch of friends to record her first album.
At that point she didn’t really take it seriously, but once the industry started taking notice, her fate was sealed.
But even now as an established name in the Canadian folk scene, MacLellan occasionally still struggles with anxiety when she takes the stage—sound checks can be particularly stressful for her—but she said once the show starts she always has fun.
“What’s better than getting to share your art with fans? [I get to] make something that people enjoy, [and] that hopefully touches them and makes them think. And I’m so lucky to be able to do that.”
But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t still need time to recharge.
To do that she goes back to PEI, where she lives in a rural farming community. A self-professed homebody, she’s spent the last few months “chopping wood, and living the rural farm life,” visiting friends, enjoying her family and strapping on snowshoes to hit the trails.
MacLellan will roll through Jasper Feb. 13. She said she will be treating the audience to a selection from her Juno-nominated album.
“I really am proud of [Raven’s Sun],” she said, adding jokingly that despite her pride she doesn’t really expect to win a Juno.
“I can’t imagine I’ll actually win,” she said. “It would be amazing if I did, but I don’t like to set my hopes too high.”
Trevor Nichols
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