sarah harmer is one of those artists that i have no idea how i got into. if i didnt know any better i would say that it was song silver road which also featured gordon downie, but i know i was into her way before that pairing. there was a time when i would walk into a record store on a tuesday and just pick up any new release that looked interesting. that very well may be the case here. man, i miss those days.

regardless, sarah has a lovely new record out called oh little fire which was released last month, i believe, on zoe records. one thing i truly appreciate about ms harmer and her music, is that none of her records sound the same. sure, its the same lovely voice, but musically they vary from folky/pop, bluegrass, and with her latest more of a rocking vibe, or at least as “rocking” as a sarah harmer can be. her lovely voice, great lyrics are all still intact, just the music has changed. i like it quite a bit, although i may prefer her bluegrass stuff more, surprisingly, which can be heard on i’m a mountain. either way, you cannot go wrong with any harmer release.

Captive

i dont listen to sarah harmer nearly as much as i should. now that i think about it, up until i saw this show i havent listened to any of her stuff in more than a year or two. ouch! all four of her releases are great and really vary in styles, ranging from folk to bluegrass to pop. well, it would seem that this may be the first time that weather is going to come into play in submitting a post, but there’s a tornado warning in my area and i am getting out of this building – a really big fancy garage, and over into the more stable concrete and brick building across the parking lot.

here she is at the berkeley church, toronto sometime in 06.

1. i am aglow
2. the ring
3. oleander
4. almost
5. open window
6. escarpment blues
7. uniform grey
8. danelions and bullet holes
9. the phoenix
10. im a mountain
11. how deep in the valley