Pretty well everyone in Canada knows who Séan McCann is. He was the founder and a vocalist and multi-instrumentalist of the iconic East Coast folk rock party band, Great Big Sea, until December 2013. Most of us associate his name with upbeat sea shanties in the Maritime Celtic tradition, the kind that get your feet dancing.

This is not the Séan McCann who will be appearing in the Theatre at Centre 64 on Saturday evening, April 28. McCann is calling his tour ‘There’s A Place’ after the title of his fifth solo album. ‘There’s A Place’ is all about not letting your history define you, about remembering that you’re not alone in fighting to overcome adversity.

When McCann stopped touring with Great Big Sea he went public about his years of alcoholism, struggling to numb the pain of his earlier sexual abuse by a priest. Since becoming a recovering alcoholic he has become a much in demand as a speaker on the subject and an advocate for mental health. He speaks and sings about music being his medicine on the road to recovery.

‘There’s A Place’ features songs written by McCann, gentler, softer songs about overcoming hurdles and celebrating the good things in life. His rich tenor voice is accompanied by his lyrical finger picking on Old Brown, the guitar he bought in 1989 that has accompanied him from the first song he ever wrote, through his struggle with alcoholism, and out the other side.

Séan McCann is on a tour of Canada and the USA that started in Athens, Ontario, and includes stops in Okotoks on April 26, Canmore on April 27, before landing up in Kimberley on April 28.

The concert begins at 8 p.m., tickets are $30, and can be purchased at Centre 64 (250-427-4919 or [email protected]) or online at eastkootenay.snapd.com.

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