Linda McRae is a Canadian

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fo ...

roots A root is the part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors the plant body, and absorbs and stores water and nutrients. Root or roots may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''The Root'' (magazine), an online magazine focusing ...

Americana Americana may refer to: *Americana (music), a genre or style of American music *Americana (culture), artifacts of the culture of the United States Film, radio and television * ''Americana'' (1992 TV series), a documentary series presented by J ...

musician. A multi-instrumentalist ( clawhammer banjo, acoustic and electric guitars, accordion, bass, and Porchboard stomp box) singer-songwriter, she is a former member of

Spirit of the West Spirit of the West were a Canadian folk rock band from North Vancouver, active from 1983 to 2016. They were popular on the Canadian folk music scene in the 1980s before evolving a blend of hard rock, Britpop, and Celtic folk influences which ...

. She has released five albums, ''Flying Jenny'', ''Cryin’ Out Loud,'' ''Carve It to the Heart,'' ''Rough Edges and Ragged Hearts'' and her most recent release, a career retrospective entitled ''50 Shades of Red'' (June 2014).

Career

She earned two

platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Pla ...

and three

gold record Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

s as a long-time member of Spirit of the West. She left the band to resume her solo career and has since released four critically acclaimed recordings: ''Flying Jenny'' with producer

Colin Linden Colin Kendall Linden (born 16 April 1960) is a Canadian guitarist, songwriter and record producer. Linden plays acoustic and electric guitar, specializing in slide guitar, country blues, and ragtime fingerpicking. He frequently collaborates with ...

(

Bruce Cockburn Bruce Douglas Cockburn ( ; born May 27, 1945) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist. His song styles range from folk to jazz-influenced rock and his lyrics cover a broad range of topics including human rights, environmental issues, p ...

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

), ''Cryin’ Out Loud,'' producer

Gurf Morlix Gurf Morlix (born 1951) is an American singer-songwriter and music producer. Career Born in Buffalo, New York, Morlix moved to Texas in 1975 and performed with Blaze Foley. He moved to Los Angeles in 1981 and joined Lucinda Williams's band. H ...

(

Lucinda Williams Lucinda Gayle Williams (born January 26, 1953) is an American singer-songwriter and a solo guitarist. She recorded her first two albums: '' Ramblin' on My Mind'' (1979) and '' Happy Woman Blues'' (1980), in a traditional country and blues style ...

Mary Gauthier Mary Veronica Gauthier ( ; born March 11, 1962) is a Grammy-nominated American folk singer-songwriter and author, whose songs have been covered by performers including Tim McGraw, Blake Shelton, Kathy Mattea, Boy George and Jimmy Buffett. She ...

), ''Carve It to the Heart'' with Marc L’Esperance and herself as producers. Her fourth release ''Rough Edges and Ragged Hearts'' she also produced with L’Esperance and featured performers including the Sojourners, Doug Cox,

Ray Bonneville Raymond J. Bonneville (born October 11, 1948) is a Canadian-born American musician, singer and songwriter. Born in Canada, and raised in the United States, Bonneville is a folk and blues-influenced, song and groove man who is strongly influenced b ...

and Samantha Parton (of Be Good Tanyas). Charting No. 1 at

CKUA The CKUA Radio Network is a Canadian donor-funded community radio network based in Edmonton, Alberta. Originally located on the campus of the University of Alberta in Edmonton (hence the UA of the call letters), it was the first public broadcaste ...

, No. 4 Top Canadian Album, and Nos. 1 and 2 Top Canadian Songs ("Rough Edges & Ragged Hearts" and "Be Your Own Light") and No. 8 Top Canadian Artists on the Folk DJs list, the recording also earned five-star reviews in '' No Depression'' and ''Rock Star Weekly'', and 4.5 stars in ''

Penguin Eggs ''Penguin Eggs'' is the fifth and final studio album by English folk musician and singer Nic Jones, released by Topic Records in 1980. After establishing himself as a sought after figure on the British folk revival scene, Jones recorded ''Penguin ...

''. As of November 2013 it's also been on the Roots Music Report charts for 50 weeks straight. McRae's song "Burning Bridges" was also included on the

Skydiggers Skydiggers are a Canadian roots rock band from Toronto formed by Andy Maize and Josh Finlayson. Since 1990, they have released 19 albums/EPs and have had a number of singles that have appeared on the Canadian charts. Their most successful album i ...

summer 2013 CD entitled ''No. 1 Northern'' which included songs by Canadian artists

Gordon Lightfoot Gordon Meredith Lightfoot Jr. (born November 17, 1938) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist who achieved international success in folk, folk-rock, and country music. He is credited with helping to define the folk-pop sound of the 1960 ...

Ron Sexsmith Ronald Eldon Sexsmith (born January 8, 1964) is a Canadian singer-songwriter from St. Catharines, Ontario. He was the songwriter of the year at the 2005 Juno Awards. He began releasing recordings of his own material in 1985 at age 21, and has s ...

, and

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Fur ...

. ''

Montreal Gazette The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of th ...

, Metro Winnipeg,'' and the ''Nova Scotia Herald'' included her as among these Canadian "greats". Other co-recordings and performances include those with

The Wonder Stuff The Wonder Stuff are a British alternative rock band. Originally based in Stourbridge in the West Midlands, England, the band's first lineup released four albums and nearly 20 singles and EPs, enjoying considerable chart and live success in th ...

Neko Case Neko Richelle Case (; born September 8, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter and member of the Canadian indie rock group the New Pornographers. Case has a powerful, untrained contralto voice, which has been described by contemporaries and cr ...

Alejandro Escovedo Alejandro Escovedo (born January 10, 1951) is an American rock musician, songwriter, and singer, who has been recording and touring since the late 1970s. His primary instrument is the guitar. He has played in various rock genres, including punk ...

, and Ray Waylie Hubbard, and another with Gurf Morlix. Recent performances include Plainsong Festival in Nebraska,

Yukon Arts Centre The Yukon Arts Centre (YAC) an arts centre and gallery located in Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada. The art centre opened in May 1992 and contains a 428-seat theatre, and a used to hosts arts performances and exhibitions. The arts centre permanent colle ...

, Vancouver Island Music Festival in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

; South Country Fair in

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

;

Barbican Theatre The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and art exhib ...

, London; Maverick Festival, UK; the

Bluebird Café The Bluebird Café is a 90-seat music club in Nashville, Tennessee that opened in 1982. The club features acoustic music performed by both established singer-songwriters, and cover artists. The Bluebird receives over 70,000 visitors annually. T ...

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

; and New Folsom Prison, California's infamous maximum-security prison where she performed and facilitated writing workshops for the inmates. These workshops lead to the creation of her Express Yourself Writing Workshops currently being presented in detox centres, alternative schools, and youth and adult correctional facilities across North America. McRae has partnered with the following festivals to continue to present her workshop as part of their community outreach programs: Plainsong Festival (USA), South Country Fair (Canada), Coldsnap Festival (Canada), Hamburg Music Fest (USA), Vancouver Island Music Fest (Canada), Youth Rehabilitation and Treatment Center (USA), Folk Alliance International (USA), Bread and Roses (USA).

Discography

As self

*Linda McRae, Going to the Well, October 2019 *Linda McRae, Shadow Trails, September 2015 * Linda McRae, 50 Shades of Red, 2014 * Kenny Butterill, Troubadour Tales, 2014 * M.C. Hansen, He Was A Young Father (recorded in Whitehorse, Yukon in 2013) * Linda McRae Live, (recorded at The Sportsmentʼs Tavern, Buffalo, NY, 2013) * Linda McRae, Rough Edges & Ragged Hearts, 2012 * Loretta Hagen, Mud and Stone, 2011 * Jason Eklund, Jason Eklund, 2009 * Paul Hyde, Love & the Great Depression, 2009 * Joanne Mackell, Brand New Lonesome, 2008 * Linda McRae, Carve It to the Heart, 2007 * The Boomchix, Surprise, Surprise, 2007 * Rodney DeCroo, War Torn Man, 2006 * The Knotty Pines, The Fabulous Sounds, 2005 * Linda McRae, Escovedo 101, Compilation, 2004 * The Turaeward Family, Deep Rooted Beefs, 2004 * Rodney DeCroo, Rodney DeCroo and the Killers, 2004 * Gurf Morlix, CutʼN Shoot, 2004 * Eric Westbury, Burnt Tongues and Blue Truths, 2004 * Linda McRae, Cryinʼ Out Loud, 2004 * Leslie Alexander, Savage Country, 2003 * John Guliak, The Black Monk, 2002 * Women & Songs 6, Compilation, 2002 * Jeff Gibbons, Love Tattoos, 2001 * Neko Case, Furnace Room Lullaby, 2000 * Jim Whitford, Poison in the Well, 2000 * JT King, Ruby River, 2000 * Nanaimo 8:38 Saturday Morning, Bob Bossin, 1999 * Girls With Guitars, Volume 1, 1999 * Bruce Cockburn, Where Have All the Flowers Gone, 1998 * Linda McRae, Flying Jenny, 1997 * Spirit of the West, Open Heart Symphony Live with the VSO, 1996 * Spirit of the West, Two-Headed, 1995 * The Waltons, Cockʼs Crow, 1995 * Spirit of the West, Upfront! Canadians Live On Stage Various Artists, 1994 * Spirit of the West, Faithlift, 1993 * The Wonder Stuff,

Will The Circle Be Unbroken "Will the Circle Be Unbroken?" is a popular Christian hymn written in 1907 by Ada R. Habershon with music by Charles H. Gabriel. The song is often recorded unattributed and, because of its age, has lapsed into the public domain. Most of the ch ...

, 1992 *

Welcome to the Cheap Seats "Welcome to the Cheap Seats" is a song by British alternative rock band the Wonder Stuff from their third album, ''Never Loved Elvis'' (1991). The song features backing vocals by Kirsty MacColl and was released as part of the ''Welcome to the Chea ...

, 1992 * Spirit of the West, The Hanging Garden Joni Mitchell Compilation, 1997 * Spirit of the West, Go Figure, 1991 * Island of Circles, Donovan Compilation, 1991 * Spirit of the West, Collected Works Compilation, 1991 * Spirit of the West, Save This House, 1990 * Terminal City, CITR Tapeathon, 1988 * Terminal City, Live, 1987 * Easy Money, Standing in Your Shadow, 1981 * Easy Money, Getting Lost, 1981

As part of Spirit of the West

*'' Open Heart Symphony Live with the

Vancouver Symphony Orchestra The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (VSO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The VSO performs at the Orpheum, which has been the orchestra's permanent home since 1977. With an annual operating budget of $16 million, it is ...

,'' 1996 *'' Two-Headed,'' 1995 *'' Upfront! Canadians Live On Stage Various Artists,'' 1994 *'' Faithlift,'' 1993 *'' The Hanging Garden,'' 1997 *'' Go Figure,'' 1991 *'' Collected Works'' compilation, 1991 *'' Save This House,'' 1990

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:McRae, Linda Canadian alternative country singers Canadian women singers Canadian songwriters Living people Musicians from Vancouver Writers from Vancouver Canadian folk rock musicians The Minus 5 members Spirit of the West members Year of birth missing (living people) Black Hen Music artists Stony Plain Records artists