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Biography
Infobox musical artist | | name = Sarah Harmer || image = Sarah_Harmer_Vancouver_Folk_Festival.jpg| caption = Sarah Harmer at the 2010 Vancouver International Folk Music Festival| image_size = ||| background = solo_singer || birth_name = || alias = || birth_date = birth date and age|1970|11|12 || death_date = || origin = Burlington, Ontario , Canada || genre = Folk music|Folk Pop music|Pop / Rock music|Rock || occupation = singer/songwriter | instrument = Singing|vocals , guitar , Bass guitar|bass , Drum kit|drums || years_active = 1987& ndash;present || label = Cold Snap Records || associated_acts = The Saddletramps Weeping Tile (band)|Weeping Tile || website = http://www.sarahharmer.com/ www.sarahharmer.com || current_members = || past_members = | Sarah Harmer (born November 12, 1970) is a Canada|Canadian singer-songwriter and activist .cite news|last=Spalding|first=Derek|title=Indie icon focuses on the planet|url= http://www.canada.com/Indie+icon+focuses+planet/4102220/story.html|accessdate=30 March 2011|newspaper=Nanaimo Daily News|date=13 January 2011
Biography
Born and raised in Burlington, Ontario , Harmer gained her first exposure to the musician's lifestyle as a teenager, when her older sister Mary started taking her to concerts by the well-known The Tragically Hip|Tragically Hip . At the age of 17, she was invited to join a Toronto band, The Saddletramps . For three years, she juggled The Saddletramps with her studies in philosophy and women's studies at Queen's University, Kingston|Queen's University .cite journal|last=Jennings|first=Nicholas|title=Sarah Harmer - Harmer's Charm|journal= Maclean's |date=5 March 2001|url= http://www.nicholasjennings.com/index.php? option=com_content& view=article& id=662:sarah-harmer-harmers-charm& catid=42:magazine-articles|accessdate=30 March 2011
After leaving The Saddletramps, Harmer put together a band of her own with several Kingston, Ontario musicians, and settled on the name Weeping Tile (band)|Weeping Tile . The band released its first independent cassette in 1994. Soon afterward, they signed to a major label, and the cassette was re-released in 1995 as an Extended play|EP . The band quickly became a popular draw on the rock club circuit and on campus radio with their subsequent album s, but never broke through to the mainstream, and broke up in 1998 after being dropped from their label.
Also in 1998, Harmer recorded a set of pop standard s as a Christmas gift for her father. After hearing it, her friends and family convinced her to release it as an album, and in 1999 she released it independently as Songs for Clem . Harmer quickly began working on another album, and in 2000, she released You Were Here .
A poppier, more laid-back effort than her work with Weeping Tile, You Were Here became Harmer's mainstream breakthrough, spawning the hits "Basement Apartment" and "Don't Get Your Back Up". The album also appeared on many critics' year-end lists, including TIME magazine, which called it the year's best debut album. It was eventually certified platinum for sales of 100,000 copies in Canada. Almost half of the album (including both of its major hits) consisted of songs she had previously recorded with Weeping Tile or The Saddletramps.
In 2004, she released All of Our Names . The album included the singles "Almost", which made the top 20 on Canadian pop charts, and "Pendulums".
Her fourth album, '' I'm a Mountain , was released in Canada on November 8, 2005 and in the United States in February 2006. It was nominated for the 2006 Polaris Music Prize , a jury-selected $20,000 cash prize for the Canadian album of the year.
Harmer has also appeared as a guest vocalist on albums by other artists, including Blue Rodeo , Great Big Sea , Rheostatics , Bruce Cockburn , Luther Wright and the Wrongs , Skydiggers , The Weakerthans , Neko Case , Great Lake Swimmers and Bob Wiseman .
In February 2007, Harmer received three Juno Award nominations. '' I'm a Mountain was up for Best Adult Alternative Album and her DVD Escarpment Blues was up for Best Music DVD. Sarah herself was also up for Songwriter of the Year for her work on "I Am Aglow", "Oleander" and "Escarpment Blues".
In 2010, Harmer released a fifth album, Oh Little Fire , which has been nominated for three Juno Awards .
In 2011, Harmer participated in the National Parks Project , visiting British Columbia 's Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site with Bry Webb , Jim Guthrie (singer-songwriter)|Jim Guthrie and filmmaker Scott Smith. http://www.cbc.ca/radio2/canadalive/2011/07/14/sarah-harmer-around-the-campfire-around-the-concert-hall/ "Sarah Harmer: from National Parks to Massey Hall". CBC Radio 2 , July 14, 2011. She was also commissioned by CBC Radio 2 to write an original campfire song for the network. http://www.cbc.ca/radio2/r2morning/2011/07/15/sarah-harmer-sings-by-the-fire-new-campfire-song-revealed/ "Sarah Harmer's new campfire song: Hear (and play) it now!". CBC Radio 2, July 15, 2011.
Activism
In 2005, Harmer co-founded PERL (Protecting Escarpment Rural Land), an organization which campaigned to protect the Niagara Escarpment from a proposed gravel development which would see some parts of wilderness near the escarpment removed.cite web|last=Richmond|first=Vanessa|title=Placing Sarah Harmer|url= http://thetyee.ca/Entertainment/2005/07/08/PlacingSarah/|work= The Tyee |accessdate=30 March 2011 To support the organization, she and her acoustic band embarked on a tour of the escarpment, hiking the Bruce Trail and performing at theatres and community halls in towns along the way. A documentary DVD of this tour was released in 2006 as Escarpment Blues .
Harmer has performed and canvassed in support of the New Democratic Party|NDP and Marilyn Churley , her friend in the fight for the protection of the Niagara Escarpment.
Discography
Albums
Year
Album details
Peak positions
Certifications ( List of music recording sales certifications
CAN
US Heat
1999
Songs for Clem
Release date: 1999
Label: Cold Snap Records
—
—
2000
You Were Here
Release date: August 29, 2000
Label: Cold Snap Records
—
—
Canadian Recording Industry Association|CAN : Platinum
2004
All of Our Names
Release date: March 23, 2004
Label: Cold Snap Records
6
43
CAN: Gold
2005
' I'm a Mountain
Release date: November 15, 2005
Label: Cold Snap Records
31
—
CAN: Gold
2010
Oh Little Fire
Release date: June 22, 2010
Label: Cold Snap Records
7
24
align="center"
Singles
Year
Single
Album
2000
"Basement Apartment"
You Were Here
2001
"Don't Get Your Back Up"
"Weakened State"
2003
"Silver Road"
Men with Brooms
2004
"Almost"
All of Our Names
"Pendulums"
2005
"I Am Aglow"
'' I'm a Mountain
2006
"Oleander"
2010
"Captive"
Oh Little Fire
In 2007, Harmer also reunited with Weeping Tile to record a song, "Public Square", for the Rheostatics tribute album The Secret Sessions .
Publications
Peter E. Kelly, Douglas W. Larson, Sarah Harmer, The Last Stand : A Journey Through the Ancient Cliff-Face Forest of the Niagara Escarpment , Natural Heritage Books, 2007, ISBN 978-1897045190 (paperback).
References
reflist
External links
commons category
http://www.sarahharmer.com Sarah Harmer
http://www.perlofburlington.org PERL
Persondata|NAME = Harmer, Sarah |ALTERNATIVE NAMES = |SHORT DESCRIPTION = musician, activist |DATE OF BIRTH = 12 November 1970 |PLACE OF BIRTH = Burlington, Ontario|Burlington , Ontario , Canada |DATE OF DEATH = |PLACE OF DEATH = DEFAULTSORT:Harmer, Sarah Category:1970 births Category:Canadian female guitarists Category:Canadian female singers Category:Canadian alternative country singers Category:Canadian folk guitarists Category:Canadian folk singers Category:Canadian pop guitarists Category:Canadian pop singers Category:Canadian rock guitarists Category:Canadian rock singers Category:Canadian singer-songwriters Category:Female rock singers Category:Juno Award winners Category:Living people Category:People from Burlington, Ontario Category:Queen's University alumni Category:Musicians from Ontario Category:Writers from Ontario Category:Canadian environmentalists
Copyright Citations
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