Kate McCann

Kate McCann is a folk singer and banjo player whose music draws on old-time, Irish, and maritime music traditions. As both a performer and scholar, she is interested in how folk music spans time, place, land, and sea.Her debut EP, Sea Songs, was released in 2023 with support from the Maine Arts Commission, and its single “Bone Dry” was named Song of the Year by the Maine Songwriters’ Association. The album is a mix of traditional and original songs inspired by Kate’s time working as a chanteyman at the Mystic Seaport Museum and as a deckhand on tall ships.She holds a BA in music and anthropology from Bennington College in Vermont, where her thesis focused on unaccompanied singing in contemporary Ireland, and she is currently pursuing an MA in Ethnomusicology at Memorial University, where her research explores the folk music of fishing communities in Newfoundland following the cod moratorium.Kate performs regularly at folk festivals, museums, libraries, concert venues, and cafés, combining original songs with thoughtfully crafted interpretations of traditional repertoire. Her performances celebrate folk music as a living tradition rooted in history, community, and participation.