Meryn Cadell

Who is Meryn Cadell?

Meryn Cadell is a Canadian writer and performance artist. He is an assistant professor of song lyrics and libretto writing in the Creative Writing Program at University of British Columbia.

Cadell is a transsexual man who transitioned in 2003. He released most of his recordings between 1988 and 1997.

A graduate of the Ontario College of Art and Design, Cadell re-released an independent cassette titled Mare-In Ka-Dell in 1988 while active as a performance artist in Toronto's Queen Street West scene. As a performance artist, Cadell was particularly known for performing with a heating duct to add reverb.

Cadell soon signed to Intrepid Records, and recorded with Jim Creeggan of Barenaked Ladies, Bob Wiseman and members of Rheostatics. Those sessions were released in 1991 as the album Angel Food for Thought, whose first single "The Sweater" became a surprise Top 40 hit in Canada in 1992. "The Sweater" is a spoken word monologue, with a musical backing track—the first 20 seconds of Syd Dale's "Walk & Talk"—revolving around a girl's thoughts about a boy's sweater.

In 1993, Cadell released a follow-up album, Bombazine, on Sire Records. This album featured guest appearances by Rheostatics, Ben Mink, Tyler Stewart, Anne Bourne and John Alcorn. Following the album, Cadell took a hiatus from music to do human rights work with PEN Canada. Cadell also wrote an independent film, which was never produced.