Rogan Mei (pronounced “May”) is an indie folk artist based in Barrie whose music is defined by contrast—grit and vulnerability, movement and stillness, control and surrender.
He is currently wrapping up Dickies Green Plaid Jacket (June 2026), a project rooted in transition and personal reinvention. Recorded in the house he grew up in, the project received funding support from the Canada Council for the Arts.
Before committing fully to music, Mei spent seven years working as a wildland firefighter and smokejumper in some of the most remote regions of Canada, including Northeastern British Columbia, Northern Ontario, and the Yukon Territory.
“The experience of dropping out of airplanes was a combination of risk, endurance, and focus,” says Mei. “Equal parts isolation and purpose, it left a lasting imprint on my identity and sits at the core of my songwriting.”
After leaving that path, he studied songwriting and production at Seneca College and began building a live project centered around storytelling, tension, humor, and release. He has since headlined venues including Horseshoe Tavern, performed with the Canadian Musicians Co-Operative’s “Barns to Beaches Tour,” and completed Canada's Music Incubator’s Artist Entrepreneur Program in 2026.
He is now developing Mid July, a project centered on memories that refuse to fade, set against the blurred edges of summer, distance, and time.
