ONE
LAND ,
MANY VOICES
By Bob Mersereau
Canadian Music & The Industry That Supports It In 2017
It ’ s been awhile since Tara MacLean has been in the spotlight ; nine years in fact . The singer-songwriter had a pretty enviable career going from the mid- ’ 90s to 2008 , with three solo albums on Nettwerk Records and two with EMI as part of the group Shaye . She had a publishing deal with Sony / ATV , was managed by Terry McBride , had toured on Lilith
Fair , and built a strong U . S . following opening for the likes of Dave Matthews Band . Shaye had done a reality TV show for
CMT , and MacLean had played Conan on her own . All this atop an appearance in the film Coyote Ugly .
Then , she decided to take a little break . Pregnant with her third child , she wanted to get off the road and the treadmill . “ I had a record ready to go with Nettwerk , but when I told them that I was having another baby , they said , ‘ Okay we ’ ll just put it on the shelf and get back to us when you ’ re ready to tour ,’” she said .
It turned out that it wasn ’ t that simple . “ When I was out of the baby phase , I called them and said , ‘ Okay , I ’ m ready ,’ and they said , ‘ You know what ? Everything has changed , and if you want to , you ’ ll have to start from scratch . And if you do that , you ’ ll have to get back in a van and tour . You ’ ve got three children , do you really want to do that ?’ And I realized , I kind of didn ’ t .”
MacLean sat back at her home on B . C .’ s Salt Spring Island and , like everyone else , watched the music world keep changing . Downloads , streaming , multiple revenue streams … In the nine years
MacLean sat out , about the only thing that stayed the same in the Canadian music industry was the name , Canadian music industry .
As the country reflects this year during Canada 150 , it ’ s an interesting time to take stock of our place in the musical world . At every party and event across the country this summer , music will play an integral role in the celebration , and Canadians seem prouder than ever of our musicians . Internationally , Canada ’ s profile has never been
38 • CANADIAN MUSICIAN