Post by merg on Mar 25, 2004 11:03:59 GMT -5
source Canoe
Harmer album a DIY effort
Sarah Harmer says recording her new CD at home gave it a special energy.
JANE STEVENSON, Special to The Free Press 2004-03-24 03:42:38
TORONTO -- It took a looming deadline for Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah Harmer to come up with the direction for All of Our Names, her new solo collection of roots-pop-folk that hit record stores yesterday. Harmer had just two days to write a tune about greed for a CBC radio show about the seven deadly sins. That song, recorded in the basement of the Toronto home of her boyfriend/keyboardist /soundman Marty Kinack, became the new tune Took It All.
"I was cruising down the highway listening to the song and it was pretty brand-new to me and I thought, 'Marty and I can do this! We know what we're doing! We're adults now!' " said Harmer, 33, onetime lead for Kingston rockers Weeping Tile.
"So I called him and was like, 'Let's make the whole record. I'll get a bunch of gear. We'll set up in my house.' "
Sure enough, Names -- the followup to Harmer's highly praised 2000 major-label solo debut, You Were Here -- was mostly recorded at her farm house in Quaker Valley, north of Kingston.
"I have cables all over the place, down through the staircase, into the living room," Harmer said this week.
"But they're pretty much tucked away. They're kind of running along the ceilings and the floors. . . . But I'm really glad we did it the way we did. There's a certain energy when you're recording at home."
In addition to being excited about yesterday's release of Names, Harmer was feeling bolstered by a successful stint at South by Southwest in Austin, Tex., from which she returned on Sunday.
"All my clothes smell like beer, so it went really well," she said with a laugh. "It was great. We played three shows and saw lots of great music. I was just thinking, 'You never get to go to a city where you know (so many people).' It was like a mini-Toronto."
Harmer is touring with four musicians who'll be performing with her in Toronto at the Winter Garden Theatre -- an unusual venue choice for a musician -- April 26 and 27.
"It was my manager Patrick's idea and I haven't been there in about seven years," she said. "So he was just like, 'Sarah, it's so beautiful. We've got to do it.' "
Her latest trek will also include five weeks of shows in the U.S., where You Were Here sold 80,000 copies (compared to 100,000 in Canada) and was called the best debut of 2000 by Time magazine.
"I do feel like I have a fan base now, that's for sure," said Harmer of her U.S. profile.
Harmer's solo career began in earnest in 1999 with the release of an indie disc, Songs for Clem.
The collection of country and jazz standards was lovingly recorded for her father, who is also vocally gifted.
Soon to come, hopefully, is Songs With Clem, a sequel recorded at Harmer's parents' farm north of Burlington last October with her dad singing accompaniment on six songs.
The album is half originals, half country-crooner classics.
"It's been fun," Harmer said of working with her father.
"He's got a beautiful voice. He sounds like Johnny Cash or something. He's really sweet. He's got pitch so on. And he's going to be 75 next month, so he's got a real-world quality to his voice. It's very, very charming. I love it."