Séan McCann brings heartfelt stories and singalongs to Winnipeg stop on Great Canadian Road Trip.
If you were living in Canada in the late ’90s or early 2000s and had even a passing interest in pop music, chances are you cranked a Great Big Sea track or two. With their signature East Coast energy, the band offered an upbeat antidote to the grunge. Their sound filled bars, campuses and car radios across the country.
From chart-toppers to community halls
On Wednesday, May 28 at 7 p.m., Séan McCann—co-founder of Great Big Sea—is bringing that unmistakably Canadian spirit to the Bord-Aire Community Centre in Winnipeg’s St. James neighbourhood, as part of his "Great Big Canadian Road Trip" tour.
Armed with his trusty guitar "Ol’ Brown" and a catalogue of songs and stories, McCann isn’t chasing chart-toppers these days. Instead, he’s criss-crossing the country playing small, intimate venues—legions, libraries, community centres—and connecting with Canadians, one song at a time.
Singing through struggle and sobriety
"I'm not a soldier, I'm not a politician. I'm a song singer and a songwriter and what I can do is sing songs," said McCann in a recent Zoom interview. "So I’ll go where I haven’t been able to go or because it was too hard… That’s what the challenge is for me right now.”
For McCann, who lives just outside of Ottawa, this coast-to-coast tour marks more than just a change in scenery—it's a deeply personal mission shaped by recovery, resilience and rediscovery.
“I’m really lucky to be here,” he said, reflecting on his sobriety. “When things really got hard, I reached for my guitar and I started to sing… As long as I had a guitar and a song to sing, I felt OK I felt it was all right.”
McCann's path to sobriety began on November 9, 2011, when his wife Andrea gave him what he called "the final ultimatum."
“She basically laid it on the line—this has to stop, you’re killing yourself,” he said. “It was culturally ingrained. I’m from Newfoundland. I’m in Great Big Sea. We were Canada’s favourite party band. That wasn’t made up—we lived the life.”
After one final tour sober—an experience he described as “a very dangerous place and a difficult place for a newly sober shanty man to be”—he stepped away from the band. “It ended kind of badly. I take one-third of the blame for that. And I hope someday we get to play a show, do a song or something. I’m available and open to that.”
McCann and his wife wrote a book covering McCann's addiction and recovery called One Good Reason which became a Globe and Mail Canadian Non-Fiction Bestselller.
Healing through music—for himself and others
Since then, McCann has focused on healing through music—not just for himself, but for others. He’s worked with Guitars for Vets, raising money to provide guitars and peer-to-peer support to veterans struggling with addiction, PTSD and homelessness.
“I had no idea that our veterans—large number—are suffering from addiction and mental health issues,” said McCann. “That broke my heart… I know personally that if it wasn’t for Old Brown and having a guitar in my hand, I wouldn’t be here.”
Reconnecting with fans—and Winnipeg
That sense of purpose runs through his solo work and this latest tour, which sees him reconnecting with the people and places that made Great Big Sea so beloved in the first place—including Winnipeg.
“It’s been too long since I’ve been to Winnipeg. I love Winnipeg. It’s always been good to Great Big Sea,” he said. “And I hope people come out and sing with me at the Bord-Aire club.”
Performing without a band, McCann keeps it simple—and intimate.
“I’m renting these little rooms, bringing my own PA, plugging it in. It’s guerilla, it’s bare bones, and it’s exactly how I started,” he said.
As for the setlist? It’s more of a suggestion than a plan.
“I generally work on a set list before I go out... and then I usually just disregard it,” he said with a laugh. “I look at the faces in front of me and I see what it is they might need to hear.”
Every show is a conversation, shaped by the audience, the moment, and the stories behind each song. And McCann’s not shy about opening up, even if the topics are heavy.
“It’s not a successful night until you’ve… grabbed their hearts and squeezed them a bit, just to remind us all we’re human. It’s all right to have the feels,” he said. “Life is more complicated than ‘hey hey, here we go.’”
Still, expect plenty of anthems and singalongs.
“Every night, my audience is the band… together we sing and then it becomes big—much bigger than I ever am. And that’s the measure of success: when people sing. I’ve done my job.”
Through it all, McCann remains optimistic about Canada and its people, even as global tensions rise and the music industry falters.
“We’ll have to become less reliant on America, more reliant on ourselves and each other,” he said. “It’s one thing to wave the flag and say you’re proud to be a Canadian. I’m about to find out exactly what it is to be a Canadian today.”
And for McCann, that starts with a room full of people, a guitar, and a shared song.
Don’t miss your chance to catch Séan McCann live in Winnipeg as he brings his heartfelt songs and stories to the Bord-Aire Community Centre on Wednesday, May 28 at 7 p.m. Whether you’re a longtime Great Big Sea fan or discovering McCann’s solo journey for the first time, this promises to be an evening of music, meaning and true Canadian spirit.