This Detroit Native is Now a Celebrated Artist in Canada’s Music Scene

Khari McClelland is a Juno nominee and darling of Canadian music critics.

Khari

Click the audio player above to listen. CultureShift airs weekdays 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. on WDET 101.9FM, Detroit Public Radio.

Detroit native Khari Wendell McClelland became a celebrated artist in the Canadian music scene after he immigrated to the country more than a decade ago. 

MClelland was nominated for a Juno Award for a project in which he traveled across Canada to collect the songs of former Southern slaves who escaped north to freedom, as his own family did before the Civil War. 

McClelland will perform at Windsor’s Phog Lounge on Thursday, February 21, with his latest project, called “We Now Recognize.”

The work explores the act of apologizing, even after years of silence.

Listen to CultureShift’s Amanda LeClaire chat with McClelland about “We Now Recognize” and the redemptive power of music. 

Author

  • Amanda LeClaire is an award-winning journalist and managing editor and lead reporter of WDET's new environmental series, the Detroit Tree Canopy Project, as well as WDET's CuriosiD podcast. She was the host of WDET’s CultureShift and a founding producer of the station’s flagship news talk show *Detroit Today*. Amanda also served as a Morning Edition host at WDET and previously worked as a host, audio and video producer, and reporter for Arizona Public Media.