Tara Margaret Charity MacLean (born October 25, 1973) is an Irish-Canadian singer, songwriter, best-selling author and playwright. Her songs as a solo artist include "Evidence", "If I Fall", and "Sparrow". She was a member of the Juno nominated[1]Atlantic Canadian group, Shaye with Kim Stockwood and Damhnait Doyle from 2002 to 2007. Her best selling memoir, Song of the Sparrow (HarperCollins) debuted at #4 for Canadian non-fiction.[2][3][4]
MacLean is the daughter of Sharlene MacLean, an actress, and Danny Costain, a singer and dancer from British Columbia. She was influenced by her stepfather Marty Reno, a songwriter and guitarist with Canadian recording star Gene MacLellan.[5] She was born and raised in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island on the east coast of Canada, and is the eldest of four children. All four were pulled from their burning home in May 1987 by Constable David Cheverie, who was awarded for bravery and received the Cross of Valour for saving their lives. She moved to British Columbia when she was 13 years old.
Nettwerk Records discovered MacLean singing on a ferry between Victoria, British Columbia and Salt Spring Island. She signed to Nettwerk Records in April 1995 after moving to Vancouver to record her song "Let Her Feel the Rain" for Lit from Within, a Nettwerk Records benefit compilation for rape crisis centers. That song was also placed on a Nettwerk compilation titled Slowbrew, and it received some radio airplay. Her representing agents are S.L. Feldman's in Canada and Little Big Man in the U.S. She is signed to Sony Music Publishing Canada.
Her first live appearance in Vancouver was at Nettwerk Record's 10 Year Anniversary Show at the Vogue Theater. MacLean made an impact opening for the Dave Matthews Band and she appeared at the East Coast Music Awards where she sang with Marty Reno and Lennie Gallant as a tribute to Gene McLellan.
In October 1995, MacLean went to San Francisco to record her debut album Silence at Brilliant Studios with producer Norm Kerner with additional recording in Vancouver.
In 1997, MacLean released a five-song EP of live, remixed and re-recorded songs called If You See Me. MacLean embarked on a national club tour to promote the EP, performing as a duo with guitarist Bill Bell. She was named Best New Solo Artist in the Contemporary Hit Radio category at the Canadian Radio Music Awards in 1997.[7] She joined Capitol Records for her major label release.
Her version of the folk song Rattlesnake Mountain, also known as "On Springfield Mountain", was featured during the closing credits of the 1997 movie Inventing the Abbotts.
MacLean's second full-length album was called Passenger. It was recorded in New Orleans and produced by Malcolm Burn (Daniel Lanois) and then husband Bill Bell (Tom Cochrane, Danko Jones). It was released in October 1999 by Nettwerk Records in Canada and Capitol Records in America. MacLean promoted Passenger in Canada, America and Asia for 18 months. "If I Fall" and "Divided" were both released as singles. Live from Austin and Live from Roots Lodge were released as two special live EPs. "Settling" was also released in Taiwan as the album's third single. She toured extensively, opening for Dido on her first U.S. tour.
MaLean collaborated with fellow artists Kim Stockwood and Damhnait Doyle. The resulting group was named Shaye. The name was a tribute to Maclean's sister who died in a car accident in 2002.[9]
Their debut album The Bridge was released in October 2003 on EMI Canada. "Happy Baby" the lead single, was nominated for Single of the Year at the 2004 Juno Awards and won the Canadian Radio music award.[10] This was followed up by "Beauty" in January 2005. They represented Canada at the World Expo in Nagoya, Japan that Spring.
In 2006, she gave birth to her second child Stella Heather Sky Grand in Toronto, where she was residing with her partner, then husband, Ted Grand (director and co-founder of Modo Yoga.)
Their 2006 follow up Lake of Fire was released on EMI Canada. It was exclusively available on iTunes in November 2006, then released physically in February 2007.
Wake
MacLean's third full-length release Wake was released on April 22, 2008, and is available to purchase as CD or MP3 from Nettwerk.
On October 8, 2007, MacLean announced that she was leaving Shaye due to parental commitments and the desire to pursue a solo career.[11]
She had her third child, Flora Samadhi Shaye Grand in April 2008.
Atlantic Blue
MacLean's fourth studio album Atlantic Blue was released on May 22, 2017, to project supporters on PledgeMusic on digital, CD and vinyl. As part of the promotion of the project, an EP called Evidence[12] was released on NoiseTrade as a free download, which featured a mix of released and previously unreleased tracks.
Tara MacLean's album Deeper, released in 2019, marked a significant turning point in her career. It was her first collection of entirely original material in over a decade (since 2008's Wake) and was released independently.
The album was co-produced by Tara MacLean and Dennis Ellsworth and recorded at The Hill Sound Studio in Prince Edward Island.
Sparrow and Song of the Sparrow
Song of the Sparrow, and its accompanying soundtrack album, Sparrow, in early 2023, serves as a definitive statement on the intersection of trauma and triumph, utilizing both the written word and aural reimaginings to catalog a twenty-five-year journey through the international music industry. Released on March 14, 2023, by HarperCollins Canada, Song of the Sparrow promptly became a national best seller.
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