Songs from the heart
New documentary series features P.E.I. musicians
Two P.E.I. singersongwriters say a new documentary they are featured in took them to places they never expected to go.
Secret Songs began streaming on Bell Fibe TV1’s platform on Jan. 12, focusing on five artists and one group, all from P.E.I. It was produced by P.E.I.’s Confound Films.
“They approached me about doing this incredible project,’’ singer-songwriter Tara MacLean told the SaltWire Network in a recent interview, adding that she and the producers chose to focus on a song, Love Never Dies, she had written about her sister, Shaye, who died in 2002 at the age of 27. “I wasn’t expecting them to go so deep with their storytelling.”
MacLean said she thought the producers wanted to talk about the song and a bit about her sister, but interviews ended up really delving into how the girls grew up, their relationship and how it all translated into songwriting.
Nathan Sizemore, the producer, took MacLean to the remote cabin in the Cardigan area where she grew up.
“We hiked in. It was completely dilapidated by then,” MacLean said. “We did some filming there, and it brought back some old memories. It was a beautiful and very cathartic experience. It was so powerful.”
MacLean’s mother, Sharlene MacLean, joined the hike and had lots of stories to tell about living in a remote area.
“Growing up on the Island off the grid in my young years is one of the reasons why I’m a songwriter because I was always surrounded by other songwriters coming into our cabin, people like Gene MacLellan and Marty Reno sitting by the fire, playing tunes and creating new songs out there in the forest,” Tara MacLean said. “It was just a beautiful way to grow up.”
Kierrah, who goes by a single stage name, is also featured in the documentary. She’ll be playing Sky Blue, a song she wrote to help herself stay afloat during a period of grief.
Kierrah moved to P.E.I. three years ago from Syracuse, N.Y., to attend Holland College. She graduated from the School of Performing Arts program and is now teaching vocal instruction at the college.
“When I wrote that song, I thought a lot about my home and my grandfather. During my first year of classes, my grandfather passed away and it was very devastating to me,” Kierrah said. “We both loved music, and he was extremely talented. He was the first really motivational figure that I looked up to in terms of music. He was very, very happy for me to come (to P.E.I.). I dedicated my episode to him and the song to him because I know that he struggled a lot in life and I just wanted to share his story.”
Sizemore, who helped launch Confound Films in Charlottetown in 2015, said the documentary, which features six, 12-minute episodes, was shot over a twoweek period in August and September 2021.
“This is our first foray into commercial (work),” Sizemore said. “We found there’s a lot of music on the Island. It’s a very musical place, and a lot of people I connected with ... were musicians. It seemed like a natural place to go if we were going to do a project about P.E.I.”
Bell TV liked the pitch, so Sizemore started reaching out to artists.
In addition to MacLean and Kierrah, the documentary will feature Dylan Menzie, Meaghan Blanchard, Logan Richard and Vishtèn.
The artists were filmed performing at The Guild in Charlottetown and in their own private settings.
The crew followed Richard around Charlottetown for a day and then had him perform a song in the woods at Victoria Park with his mother and grandmother along for the experience.
Sizemore said they filmed Kierrah on campus at Holland College while film crews dropped by Blanchard’s farm in O’Leary and shot the singer performing in her kitchen.
“It’s been a great project,” Sizemore said. “We got to know these artists and really enjoyed their music even more. I have a totally different knowledge of their lives and what makes them tick than I did at the beginning.”
MacLean said she felt quite vulnerable shooting her episode considering the source material.
“It opened up certain aspects of my life. Shaye’s death was sudden and shocking. But ... I’m in the middle of writing a memoir ... it felt timely to open up about certain aspects of my life,” MacLean said, referring to the fact this year marks the 20th anniversary of Shaye’s death.