By silencing the demons that plagued him for most of his career, musician Sean McCann has finally found his voice.
“First I thought the music was to blame, and that was wrong. It’s wrong to blame the music,” said McCann. “The music was something that enabled me to face everything – it was literally a way to face my problem.
“If it wasn’t for music, I would still be stuck.”
As one of three members of the wildly successful Canadian band Great Big Sea, McCann spent two decades touring the world and celebrating the “life is a party” theme the upbeat folk-rock trio was best known for.
But it became more than a musical motto for McCann – it became a lifestyle, and for many of those years the singer and guitar player waged a losing battle with the bottle.
“It was a big sing-along, (and) 90 per cent of it was, “Let’s ignore our problems and get hammered,” recalled McCann of the message of Great Big Sea’s music.
In 2013, after the multiple Juno Award-winning band embarked on its 20th anniversary tour, McCann decided it would be his last go-round with Great Big Sea. He quit the group, got sober, and started writing music on his own – much of it chronicling his struggles with alcoholism.
“I was very raw and I had just sobered up. I started to write songs that dealt with that and tried to make sense of that … and I felt very much alone,” McCann recalled about making his 2015 album Help Your Self. “When I put the record out, the response was huge. What (fans) said was, ‘I know that song. That song is my brother or that song is my mother – or that song is me.
“That was a great leap forward for me, because I learned I wasn’t alone.”
McCann’s journey to sobriety also made him realize he had long been burdened by a terrible secret: he was the victim of sexual abuse by a priest when he was a child.
After years of silence, he chose to open up to his family – and his audience – about those dark times, and has ultimately found freedom in sharing his story.
“Instead of ignoring problems, (I) talk about facing them and overcoming them. Song is a way to beat it,” McCann said. “I’ll never build that cage for me again.”
McCann brings both his music and his stories to Cochrane on March 4 as part of the Legacy Guitar House live series. Tickets are $30 for the St. Andrew’s United Church show, which starts at 8 p.m.
It’s an up close and personal show – and despite the heavier content at times, McCann promises there’s also plenty of upbeat moments.
“It’s a source of love and a source of happiness,” he said of his now-intimate connection with his fans. “It’s an uphill battle (but) … I know where I belong. I know I’m affecting people.”
