SKYDIGGERS record covers of great Canadian artists including Gordon Lightfoot, Ron Sexsmith, LINDA McRAE and Neil Young!” (Montreal Gazette, Metro Winnipeg, Nova Scotia Herald, July 2013)

It’s no accident that the current buzz surrounding Linda McRae is building. Linda’s recent release Rough Edges & Ragged Hearts was nominated by the Canadian Folk Music Awards for Contemporary Album of the Year has been on the Roots Music Report Charts for 48 straight weeks. That fact and the recent signing of Linda to seminal Canadian Folk Music Label Borealis Records is definite proof of that fact.

Produced by Linda and Marc L’Esperance featured performers include The Sojourners, Doug Cox, Gurf Morlix, Ray Bonneville and Samantha Parton (Be Good Tanyas). Charting #1 at CKUA, #4 Top Canadian Album, #1 & 2 Top Canadian Songs (Rough Edges & Ragged Hearts/Be Your Own Light) and #8 Top Canadian Artists on the Folk DJ’s list the recording also earned 5* reviews in No Depression and Rock Star Weekly, and 4.5* in Penguin Eggs. All this and the recent inclusion of Linda’s song Burning Bridges on the The Skydiggers most recent CD confirms the buzz is definitely building.

Earning two-platinum and three gold records as a member of Spirit of the West Linda left the band to resume her solo career and has since released four critically acclaimed recordings: Flying Jenny with producer Colin Linden (Bruce Cockburn, Bob Dylan), Cryin’ Out Loud, producer Gurf Morlix (Lucinda Williams, Mary Gauthier), Carve It To The Heart producers Linda McRae and Marc L’Esperance and her fourth release as mentioned above.

Performing on clawhammer banjo, acoustic guitar, accordion and porchboard stompbox, Linda combines old-time sounds with universal themes of heartbreak & redemption offering an intriguing sepia postcard from the past that is vibrant and alive in the present. Recordings and performances with musical luminaries include Bruce Cockburn, Neko Case, Alejandro Escovedo, Gurf Morlix, and Ray Waylie Hubbard.

Recent performance include Plainsong Festival NE, Yukon Arts Centre, Vancouver Island Music Festival BC; South Country Fair AB; Barbican Theatre UK; Maverick Festival UK; The Bluebird Café TN; and New Folsom Prison, California’s infamous maximum-security prison where she performed in concert and facilitated writing workshops for the inmates.

These workshops lead to the creation of her EXPRESS YOURSELF Writing Workshops currently being presented in partnership with North American Music Festivals as part of their community outreach programs to detox centres, alternative schools, and youth and adult correctional facilities across North America.

For more information on these workshops please visit http://lindamcrae.com/writing_workshops

Instrumentation

Linda McRae - Acoustic finger style and flat pick guitar, Clawhammer Banjo, accordion, dulcimer, Porchboard, Vocals.

WORKSHOP FACILITATOR

FESTIVALS / CONFERENCES / ARTS ORGANIZATIONS

Folk Alliance International Conference: Porchboard Demonstration

Coldsnap Fest/Youth Around Prince: Different Paths Workshop, Prince George

Maverick Festival: Easton, Suffolk, UK, Clawhammer Banjo Workshop

Ontario Council of Folk Festivals: Mississauga, Songwriting Workshop

Artswells Festival: Songwriting Workshop

Folk Alliance International Conference: Memphis, TN, Songwriting

Island Mountain Arts: Wells, BC, Summer Songwriting Camp

Island Mountain Arts: Wells, BC, Summer Songwriting Camp

EXPRESS YOURSELF!! Creative Writing Workshops (originated in 2011)

Vancouver Island Music Festival, 2 workshops

Plainsong Festival / Youth Rehabilitation Center, Geneva, Nebraska

Bread and Roses / Veteran’s Hospital, San Francisco, CA

New Folsom Prison, Arts in Corrections, Folsom, CA

Cariboo Action Training, Camp Trapping, Prince George, BC

Prince George Regional Youth Correctional Center, BC

Prince George Regional Women’s Correctional Center, BC

Prince George Regional Men’s Correctional Center, BC

St. Vincent de Paul Mary's Home Women's Shelter, Toronto, ON

South Country Fair Outreach / Foothills Detox Centre, Fort McLeod, AB

Coldsnap Festival / S. Fort George Family Resource Centre, Prince George, BC

Coldsnap Festival / McNaughton Centre, School Distric #28, Quesnel BC

Prince George Regional Women’s Correctional Center, BC

Prince George Regional Men’s Correctional Center, BC

Storefront Program, John McInnis Centre, School District #57, Prince George, BC

Truro Correctional Institute for Women, Truro, NS

Westmorland Correctional Institute, Dorcester, NB

Arts In Corrections, New Folsom Prison

Ashcroft Junior High School Music and Songwriting Workshop

Ontario Council of Folk Festivals, Songwriting Workshop, Mississauga

PANELIST

Folk Music Ontario: Fostering Diversity as a Resource

Folk Alliance International Conference: Making A Difference in Your Community, Toronto, ON

Folk Alliance International, Songwriting Workshop, Memphis, TN

Folk Alliance International Conference: The New Tradition, Memphis, TN

Northeast Regional Folk Alliance Conference: Kerhonksen, NY, Crossing Borders

MENTOR

Folk Music Ontario: Youth Mentor; Mississauga, ON

Ontario Council of Folk Festivals: Mentor, Ottawa, ON

North East Regional Folk Alliance: Mentor: Kerhonksen, NY

JUROR

JUNO AWARDS: Judge in 3 categories

BREAKOUT WEST: Judge in 3 categories

FACTOR GRANTING AGENCY

WORK EXPERIENCE

President 42RPM (Recording, Promotion, Management)

2005-present

Private Instructor: Bass Guitar, Rhythm Guitar, Accordion

Publicity & Promotions, Merle Haggard’s Canadian Tour,

Freedom to Grove, 2004

Vice-President of RANCH, non-profit society helping raise

awareness of BC’s roots music. Co-producer and stage

manager of monthly events plus annual festival .1998 - 2003

Producer & Stage Manager, Silvertone Anniversary featuring 25 local acts. 2003

Producer & Host Songwriter’s Round-Up, featured highlights, Jenny Whiteley, Danny Michel, Andy Stochansky, Josh Finlayson and Andy Maize (Skydiggers), Christine Collister, Martyn Joseph, Slaid Cleaves, Gurf Morlix,

1999-2005

MUSIC EDUCATION

Canada Council Grant, Songwriting: Jon Vezner, Nashville, TN

Canada Council Grant, Clawhammer Banjo: Brad Leftwich, Bloomington, IN

Clawhammer Banjo: Ken Perleman, Paul Brown, Fort Flagler, WA

Acoustic Blues Guitar: Ken Hamm, Wells, BC

Acoustic Guitar: David Grier, Jack Tottle, Nashville, TN

Accordion: Joan Michelson, Victoria, BC

Bass Guitar: Lee Oliphant, Rene Wurst, Vancouver, BC

Music Workshops, Camps Attended

REO Songwriter’s Retreat, 3 songwriting camps (week each)

American Banjo Camp, 2 weekend camps

Island Mountain Arts Blues Guitar workshop (4 days), Ken Hamm

Songwriting, “Brainstorming and Verse Development” SAC Workshop, Pat Pattison

SAC Workshop, “Rhyming Techniques and Strategies” Pat Pattison

Canada Council, “Touring for the Commercially Challenged Artist”, Gary Cristall

SELECTED TELEVISION APPEARANCES

Farm Tracks – A Celebration of Roots Music, CMT documentary featured performer

Open Heart Symphony, Bravo TV Special filmed with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. Also live CD recorded over two nights Orpheum Theatre, Vancouver, BC

Intimate and Interactive, Much Music Special, Toronto, ON

SELECTED FILM/TV SONG PLACEMENTS AND ACTING

The Baby Dance, Actor, played accordion player in lead (Richard Lineback) band

Paper Moon Affair, Fairchild Films International, song placed “Hoot and Holler”

Party of Five, Season 6, Episode 5, song placed “Somewhere Along The Way”

DISCOGRAPHY

M.C. Hansen, He Was A Young Father, Release TBA (recorded in Whitehorse, Yukon in 2013)

Linda McRae Live, Release TBA (recorded at The Sportsment’s Tavern, Buffal, NY, 2013)

L. 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, Cut’N Shoot 2004

Eric Westbury, Burnt Tongues and Blue Truths 2004

Linda McRae, Cryin’ 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, Cock’s 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, 1992

The Wonder Stuff, Welcome To The Cheap Seats 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 Compilation1991

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

Official Website

http://lindamcrae.com