Sarah Harmer

Sarah Harmer, a Canadian singer/songwriter and environmental activist, has drawn widespread admiration from both critics and listeners through her engaging vocals and explorations across indie pop, folk, and bluegrass.

Before launching a thriving solo path in the late 1990s, Harmer anchored the Kingston folk-pop outfit Weeping Tile, opening that chapter with prominent concert appearances shared with Indigo Girls, Great Big Sea, and Moxy Fruvous. Her initial project apart from the band paid tribute to her father under the title Songs for Clem; credited jointly to Harmer and Jason Euringer, the independently issued folksy set later received broader distribution via Universal Canada. Zoe Records brought out her first full-length solo effort, the resonant You Were Here, in mid-2000, revealing a more refined and mature dimension to her sound than her earlier group work.

A four-year interval preceded the 2004 arrival of All of Our Names, after which Harmer delved into country and bluegrass territory on 2006’s I’m a Mountain, an album that earned her three Juno Award nominations. Her fifth release, the more rock-oriented Oh Little Fire, surfaced in 2010 and included contributions from Neko Case, Julie Fader, and James Shaw (Metric); like the record before it, this LP secured another three Juno nods. Harmer then devoted the ensuing years chiefly to environmental causes while maintaining occasional performances and recordings.

She reentered the studio in 2019 after signing with Arts & Crafts, resulting in Are You Gone, which she characterized as “a spiritual successor” to her 2000 debut You Were Here and which appeared in February 2020.