From Canadian music veteran Andy McClelland comes Point of View, a compilation of genre-bending and -blending songs that flirt with jazz, bossa nova, ragtime, bluegrass, reggae, even bump and grind.

Here, McClelland has sourced his lyrics from the poems of Canadian writer and traveller Karen Shenfeld to pen, perform, and produce numbers that speak of Gypsy Rose Lee, Pauline Johnson, Toronto’s Little Italy, the Isle of Wight, Mexico, and the region north of Muskoka — where the Toronto-born and -bred McClelland and Shenfeld both now reside and met.

McClelland sings all songs on the CD and plays all instruments, including acoustic, electric, and lap steel guitars, banjo, mandolin, ukulele, piano, bass, and percussion.

Point of View was recorded at the Silversmith Barn Studio in Commanda, Ontario.

You can stream the songs by clicking on the links below:

Purepecha Woman Combing Her Hair
Spring Prophecy
Beach Poem
Gypsy Rose Lee
Companion Poem
Point of View
A Tree Grows on College Street
En Route
They're Bulldozing the Bungalows
On The Isle of Wight
Fanny Brice
Canoeing Song
We All Come from Africa

About Andy McClelland

Photo by Rose Perry-McClelland

Musician. Singer. Songwriter. Producer.

Andy McClelland was born and raised in Toronto and moved to the Near North of Ontario, Canada about 25 years ago.

He is a multi-instrumentalist and has played music professionally for about 60 years in many genres.

He performed with Fred McKenna (of the CBC’s Singalong Jubilee and Don Messer’s Jubilee fame) and Ron Nigrini. He also produced four albums for the latter.

In the 1970s, Andy was on the Holiday Inn circuit. (He still does "Stayin' Alive.”) In the 80s, he hooked up with his old folk-music partner, Ken Harris, to form a "new country" duo, which morphed into a swing, jazz, R & B, classic rock, etc. band.

Andy has released four indie albums on his own, including Songs from the Jazz Age (2022). Point of View (2026) is his fifth.

His main instrument is guitar which he started playing about three months after the first time he saw The Beatles perform on The Ed Sullivan Show. (He wanted to be George.) He also plays banjo, bass, lap steel guitar, piano, drums, mandolin and ukulele.

When people ask him what his influences are, he says: all of them.

Andy is a prolific songwriter. You can listen to some of his works on SoundCloud here.

Contact: andy.mcclelland.773@gmail.com

Karen Shenfeld was raised in a 1950s’ Toronto subdivision named for a minor English lord. Studying at York University in the Seventies, she was mentored by the prophet, Irving Layton.

On her 18th birthday, she was gifted a pair of Rajasthani slippers. Once she slipped them on, she was struck by a desire for adventure.

Among her many journeys, Karen has crossed the Sahara Desert, travelled the length of the Congo River, and voyaged through India, from Kashmir to Kerala. It was on the road that she began to pursue in earnest her reckless calling of poetry.

She has had three books of poetry published by Guernica Editions: The Law of Return (1999), which won the Canadian Jewish Book Award for poetry in 2001, The Fertile Crescent (2005), and My Father’s Hands Spoke in Yiddish (2010). Her most recent book of poetry, To Measure the World, was published by Ekstasis Editions in May of 2020.

Karen has brought her poetic sensibility to the writing of feature magazine stories, and has been published in Saturday Night, Toronto Life, The Idler, and Books in Canada, among other magazines and newspapers. She also worked as a chase producer in the documentary film industry, and has written, produced, and directed two indie feature docs: Il Giardino, The Gardens of Little Italy and Maggie and Merly. She is one of the original members of Shalom Salaam, Toronto and has been a vocal advocate for peace.

You can view her website here

Contact: karenshenfeld@gmail.com