Sarah Harmer

Biography

Growing up as the youngest of six children on a farm near Burlington, Ontario, Sarah Harmer was exposed to a beauty in the natural landscape of her surrounds. This is surely reflected in her large, frank and serious eyes as well as her relaxed and uncontrived pure vocals and superlative guitar playing. With a voice that can be airy and serene set against lyrics that are often wry and incisive social commentaries, Sarah incorporates a rich texture of roots, pop and folk sensibilities into her music. Numerous awards and accolades both at home and south of the border, have proven her to be one of the strongest solo artists Canada has to offer.

The driving force behind numerous musical projects, Sarah was first recognized when she stepped into the Toronto-based Saddletramps as a singer and co-songwriter at the tender age of seventeen. She then moved on to create Weeping Tile, whose popularity across Canada and in pockets of the U.S. allowed them to release three very well received CD's: Eepee (1994), Cold Snap (1995) and Valentino (1997).

On sabbatical from her post as front-woman for the band Weeping Tile, Sarah released a collection of old favourites, entitled Songs For Clem. It was meant to be a Christmas gift for her father and was never intended for release, but at the insistence of her friends, she distributed the CD to much praise.

In 2000, she released her second solo CD, You Were Here to rave reviews, including a slot on Time magazine's Ten Best CDs of 2000. Time also named her Best Debut Artist of 2000.

In 2001, The Tragically Hip asked Sarah to contribute the closing song, "Silver Road," to the Men With Brooms soundtrack, and they acted as Sarah's backing band for this number.

In 2004, Sarah released All of Our Names, a freely structured album which rewards an attentive and sensitive ear. The rhythms and texture of the sweetly sung lyrics belie a sharp intelligence that simmers sensitively in between the lines on tracks like Greeting Card Aisle and Almost. This album received a well-deserved 2005 Juno for Adult Alternative Album of the Year.

The year 2006 saw continued success for Sarah with the release of I Am a Mountain which has been nominated for two 2007 Juno awards: Adult Alternative Album of the Year and Songwriter of the Year, categories which will see her in competition with the likes of Jim Cuddy and Ron Sexsmith no less!

In addition, Sarah released a DVD which features footage from her 2005 tour to support fundraising for legal efforts to protect the Niagara Escarpment from excessive and continued commercial gravel quarrying. The quarrying has threatened to drop the water table which potentially threatens rare plant and animal species such as the Butternut tree and the Jefferson Salamander. The DVD, entitled Escarpment Blues is also nominated for a Juno this year.

The issue of environmental disruption to a vital area of Ontario's watershed near the family farm at Mount Nemo, Ontario, led Sarah to co-found PERL (Protecting Escarpment Rural Lands). This group aims to lobby for legal protection to sensitive escarpment lands which have been designated a World Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO.

These concerns formed the backdrop of her "I Love the Escarpment" tour that saw concert dates in the small halls of towns along the Bruce Trail which travels the length of the Escarpment. In between shows, Sarah and her band hiked sections of the trail and incorporated footage of these hikes into the Juno nominated DVD as well.

As you will see in any of her pictures, there is a certain amount of determination in Sarah's eyes. With her gaze set firmly on environmental stewardship and the making of good music, her focus can only mean good things for all of us.

Relationship to Blue Rodeo

Sarah Harmer and Blue Rodeo are longtime friends and collaborators. Some examples of their work together include:

Sarah contributed vocals to the charity song "The Streets Where You Live," which features Blue Rodeo's Jim Cuddy, and numerous other Canadian artists including Gord Downie, Ron Sexsmith, Sarah Slean, Steven Page, and Colin James.
Sarah's drummer, John Obercian, was one of two drummers backing Luke Doucet in a March 2003 performance in Toronto - Blue Rodeo's Glenn Milchem was the other drummer!
Sarah sang a beautiful rendition of "5 Days in May" on the "Blue Rodeo & Friends" CMT special, which aired in October 2002.
She also sings back up vocals on "Bitter Fruit," from Blue Rodeo's CD, The Days in Between.
# Sarah lends back up vocals to "Making My Way To You" on Jim Cuddy's solo CD, All in Time. # At one time, Sarah's touring band included Gavin Brown on both drums and guitar. Gavin was also the drummer on Jim Cuddy's solo CD, All in Time.
Sarah, on her own as well as with Weeping Tile, has enjoyed opening slots for Blue Rodeo on the road many times. She has also participated in the Stardust Picnics.

Quotes

"Listening to somebody like that whose voice you count on for a certain amount of emotion, sing your own lyrics, I thought she brought a lot more out of that song than I did. She brought out a lot of the sadness of the song." - Jim Cuddy (on Sarah performing "5 Days in May")

Last Update

Febuary 2007

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