Flashback: Classic Album of the Month
by Robert Tittel

This Month: Sarah Harmer's "You Were Here"

Sarah Harmer burst onto the contemporary folk scene in 2000 with one of the most talked about albums of the year. Hailing from Kingston, Ontario, Harmer introduced her unique pop/folk/jazz stylings on an unsuspecting public, and with little to no promotion managed to grab the attention of national press not only in her homeland of Canada, but in the U.S. as well. "You Were Here", her second full length album was hailed by Time Magazine as the 7th best album of 2000 in their yearly Top Ten. She also caught David Letterman's eye and appeared on the late night talk show performing her hit "Basement Apartment", and she opened for Barenaked Ladies on parts of their U.S. tour. She topped off the year with a cherry by adding Juno nominations (the Canadian equivalent of the Grammy) for Best New Solo Artist and Best Pop Album.

The former lead singer of the Canadian folk rock band Weeping Tile recorded her first album, "Songs for Clem" as a gift to her father. The album featured covers of some of her fathers favorite Bluegrass artists. Somehow the public found out about it and incredible demand led her to release it independently. In 2000 she outdid herself with "You Were Here". Two years later, the album is already a classic piece of songwriting and musicianship. Harmer, rumored to be in the studio working on a follow up, will have to work hard to top this masterpiece. Let's flash back....

Singer/songwriter Sarah Harmer's impressive second release, "You Were Here", will not disappoint the open minded music fan. The album features a great mix of different musical styles. If you asked the casual music fan to categorize her sound, they'd probably call it pop or folk. A closer examination reveals elements of jazz, and rock as well, further underscoring her versatility as a songwriter. Whatever the categorization, it's a breath fo fresh air.

The album kicks off with the upbeat "Around This Corner" which features a basic bounce along chorus flavored with clarinet to give it a New Orleansesque feel to it. The brilliant "Basement Apartment" is full of vivid imagery ("I can smell the bleach that they use in the hall, but it can't clean the dirt off of me") and sad thoughts ("there's nothing like watching TV all night underground, and no one is watching me slide, below street level, barely alive"). You feel like you are in that tiny apartment with her and her laments.

The dreamy "Lodestar" starts off slowly, like a sweet lullaby, with a simple acoustic guitar backed by a dreamy electric guitar behind providing atomosphere. It ultimately builds layers with each verse, adding cello, trumpet, and upright bass to the mix, until the drums join in, building toward the jubilant finish when Harmer croons, "Listen! The Darkness rings, take off your things, and listen!".

"Lodestar" is followed by the urgent "Weakened State" and its driving, sing-along chorus: "All this time / did it pass while you were / looking back waiting?" The album slows down considerably from this point on but is still more than effective, with plaintive ballads like "Uniform Grey", the romantic "Open Window", and the emotional and powerful "Coffee Stain", about good love gone bad.

Sarah Harmer's first solo album is an eclectic mix of different songs, but is very cohesive and smooth in its delivery. It's hard to pick which is stronger, her lyrics, or the musicianship on this album. Each song is a story of its own, but the thing that makes this album a classic-in-the-making is the way the songs flow easily into each other and create a definite mood. Nothing feels out of place here. The album is warm and retains much of the casual feel of its predecessor, "Songs for Clem", which was a Christmas gift to her father. That album was recorded on the back porch of her farmhouse near Kingston through vintage tube amps and microphones that gave it that "down home feel". "You Were Here" loses none of that feel. Harmer establishes herself as a strong new voice in the contemporary folk/rock arena, joining the likes of Shawn Colvin, Jonatha Brooke, Catie Curtis, and Ani DiFranco. "You Were Here" triumphantly announces that Harmer is indeed here -- and here to stay.