Catherine MacLellan finding more joy in her music

Catherine MacLellan says there is nothing like change to inspire music, so it's no wonder she's working on a new album to be released in October.

"There's been a lot of transition in my life, a lot of changes relationships ending, starting, a big move and yeah, just kind of getting older and feeling that I don't have that much time to waste anymore and it's time to just go ahead and do whatever is the right thing," she said.

The P.E.I. singer-songwriter has spent the last few years showcasing the songs of her father, music legend Gene MacLellan. Her relationship with her father and their struggles with depression were the subject of an award-winning documentary called The Song and the Sorrow.

Coyote will be her first album of original music in four years.

"It's really exciting," she told Matt Rainnie in an interview on Mainstreet P.E.I.

'Feels really good and true'

"This whole journey of spreading my dad's story and talking about mental health and singing his songs, it's been amazing and that's going to continue especially into this next year. But I've had all these songs just waiting to be played and it feels really good and true."

Two singles from the album, Waiting on My Love and Out of Time, were released earlier this month.

She said the songs speak her truth and she remembers the very moment she wrote them, including one about being in the "depths of despair."

When a song really hits you and it makes you feel something that's what I hope people get from my music and if not, I got it at least in the moment I wrote it. Catherine MacLellan

"I'm not very good at asking for help and I went into the studioI think to cry, basically to be alone. And then I ended up grabbing a guitar and, while sobbing, writing this song. And it's really about learning how to ask for help and being OK with not being all put together."

She said music has always been a way to express her range of emotions.

"More and more I find joy in it, not just sorrow, but I think music is the great connector of this world," she said.

"Everybody can speak music, whether it'stalking about their favourite songs or bands or, you know, when a song really hits you and it makes you feel something that's what I hope people get from my music and if not, I got it at least in the moment I wrote it."

Summer shows

MacLellan recently moved to Wellington, P.E.I., and says she'll be sticking closer to home this summer. She'll be playing festivals in P.E.I. and the Maritimes, and will have shows with Meaghan Blanchard and Gordie MacKeeman called Heaven to Me beginning in July at the P.E.I. Brewing Company.

"For us it's really exciting to be able to do this show at home and to be able to celebrate P.E.I. in this way. We'll be doing some of our own songs and some songs that kind of, I think, for me are classics P.E.I. tributes basically."

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