Sarah Returned to Pickering

Last night Sarah played a home town show as part of a private black tie function in her home town of Pickering.

The gala went on to support charities for the community that are mentioned in the mayor's message.  Sarah is mentioned as Juno Award winning artist that hasn't quite come true as yet.

Sarah tweeted a photo from the event yesterday of the mayor and herself.

http://twitter.com/#!/sarahslean/status/140635576658440192/photo/1

This week Sarah resumes her tour in Ottawa.

New Art Show in Toronto This Thursday

Sarah is one of three artists to have her work featured at The Fly on The Wall art exhibit this Thursday at Gallery 360 in Toronto.  The other two featured visual artists are Doug Brown and Steven Papadopoulos.

They describe Gallery 360 at the following:

Housed in the offices of the entertainment law firm of Taylor Mitsopulos Klein Oballa, Gallery 360 is a private gallery exhibiting some of the world’s new and most adventurous visual art. Booking by appointment only.

Their website also inidcates RSVP are due today, the 21st.  Aside from Thursday party, I'm uncertain at the time of publishing if Sarah's work will at this galley will be open to the public.  The night before the event Sarah will wrap up her tour dates out West with a concert in Vancouver and then be heading back East.

For more information, visit Gallery360 web site.

Sarah's last known major art show was called Bleak House and came in 2006 at Spin Gallery in Toronto with Louise Upperton.  Her art work has continued since with new pieces being shown on her site.  Lithographs of some her selections are sold on her site and at her concerts.  What appears to be her lastest art work since the 100 hand painted limited edition copies of Land & Sea is the piano skirt being used for this tour.

Land & Sea Tour - 3 Days Deep

The Land & Sea tour kicked off in London ON this week with dates that followed in Peterborough and Hamilton.  Positive reviews have come in so far from each night for the concerts and over the VIP pre-show meet and greets.  There has been a surge of press the last few days that can be found with a quick google news search or via Twitter.  I will post the highlights and for those following Sarah on facebook they have been getting steady updates.

The band members for this tour are,
Lyle, Paul and Derek Downham.  She's also been joined by songwriter Karen Kosowski who been providing back up vocals and shared duties on the keys.

The opening show in London had the following set list provided by user 'nevermind' and full review can be found in Canadian Interviews.

Life
Everybody's on TV
Set It Free
I am a Light
Duncan
Notes from the Underground
The Day We Saved the World

-Intermission-

Everything by the Gallon
My Eyes & Your Eyes
New Pair of Eyes
Girls Hating Girls
Euphoria
Get Home
Sweet Ones
Society Song
Sound of Water

Encore:
Attention Archers
Amen

Euphoria was played as a request so it might pop out of the set list.  The show in Hamilton featured Sarah playing The Right Words.

For those interested in collecting set list and show reviews, the heavily ad supported site SetListFM has been having shows updated and it has some neat tools.  SongKick.com that shows most of Sarah's current concert listing also supports show reviews and set lists.

Here is video that Sarah did with City News yesterday to promote this Saturday's concert in Toronto at The Winter Garden Theatre.  http://www.citytv.com/toronto/citynews/videos/165909

Aside from the concerts and press, Sarah played an early show at PCVS (Peterborough Collegiate and Vocational  School).  The school is currently facing closure for re-purposing.

Emm Gryner Special Guest at Toronto Show?

Did the lovely Emm Gryner just agree to be a special guest at Sarah Slean's November 5th concert via Twitter?  In an exchange of Tweets last night last night it looks like they have come to a loose agreement.

On Saturday November 5th Emm Gryner is playing an early show at the Dakota Tavern in support of her new album Nothern Gospel.  The same day Sarah Slean is playing an 8:00 show at the historic Winter Garden Theatre.  Jim O'Leary pointed out to both girls that it's not the same time they double booked and got the ball rolling.

Emm has been highly supportive of Sarah's releases and they have a long history together.  Emm was a one of the special guest for Sarah's 2008 holiday concert in Toronto.

For those of you who missed the announcement on Sarah's facebook, she was on Canada AM today playing Set it Free.  The video is available here: http://www.ctv.ca/canadaAMPlayer/index.html?video=549668

Land & Sea - The First Day

Today marked the first day of the release for Land & Sea!

Throughout the entire day glowing feedback was being tweeted @sarahslean on twitter with reviews of the album.  Sarah responded back and RT a number of them.  I wasn't able to locate anything other then sharp praise for both Land & Sea on twitter, facebook and forums.  It's not clear which of the 2 discs is preferred the most at this time, but some have found this their favourite work of hers to date.

Although delays were expected with the iTunes release internationally, fans outside of Canada where able to download the album in their local iTunes or Amazon stores.  Sarah's tweets provided an updates that the digital distributor hit a snag that effected international pricing that was being resolved.  When it came to the deluxe edition, questions remained on its availability and the digital booklet.  What did come appearant as the day went on people where going out and buying in stores and Sarah was added to the international streaming services of Spotify and Rdio.

This morning Sarah did a live interview on breakfast television.  A stream of it was under the video section.  http://www.cp24.com/mshow/

Some highlights from the interview was Sarah confirming that the tour will mostly focus on Land and that in the end it should each the East coast of St. John's.  She described the musicians recording on Sea and playing at her Harbourfront concert as exquisite and in a change, the interviewed put his shoes aside and Sarah kept hers on.

Source: SarahSlean's Twitter Image

The hand made editions of Land & Sea also went into the mail but where first photographed by Sarah and tweeted.  50 album cases where made for both Land & Sea putting the total number at 100 unique covers.  They are similar to how the work was done for the Beauty Lives special edition with the exception of the sides not being labeled.

Lastly, Sarah's website was updated with VIP packages for Nelson, Edmonton and Vancouver.  Most tour dates that are not already on sale will go on sale this Friday.  Some of the shows have pre-sales.

Will keep my eyes and ears out for any media appearances over day 2.  I hope very much that the littleslean readers enjoy their albums of Land & Sea as much as I do.  Thanks for reading and sharing.

Land & Sea - Out Now with iTunes Deluxe Package

Land & Sea has officially been released today. The standard CD comes in a double digi pack with themes representing both "Land" and "Sea." The booklet contains lyrics to all 18 songs and full credits including each member of the 21 piece orchestra. Familiar names from Sarah's band supporting The Baroness that repeat here are Mark Mariash (drums), Chris Banks (bass), Dean Drouilard (guitar) and Royal Wood (guitar/organ/bass).

50 - hand painted editions by Sarah where also sold-out during the pre-order stage that we have yet to see.

No photos additional information is yet available on the vinyl edition, a first for Sarah.

According to Sarah's twitter and facebook the world wide iTunes release is set for early October and will include a digital booklet as did The Baroness when it was released. Other online music retailers like Amazon listed yesterday may have it available for the 27th.

iTunes (Canada) currently has deluxe edition available for sale right now selling instrumental versions of all 9 songs on Sea. It's not clear if those will be available anywhere else or made international at some point.

I will be staying on top of the press to promote the album and will be providing summaries and links.

Listen to Land & Sea! (Audio clips)

Ahead of the album release, streaming MP3s are available in Amazon UK digital music store providing 30 second clips of each track of the double album.

You can listen to it here.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Land-Sea/dp/B005P3YLDE

For those that have not pre-ordered autographed copies of Sarah's album through her store, other retailers have the CD listed.  Here are some Canadian shops that should have it on sale on the 27th

amazon.ca - 17.99
Indigo -  20.26 (Could be lowered to 14.99 as shown on in store system)
ScreamingCD - 17.99
CDPlus.com - 16.24
HMV.ca - 24.99

Some of the stores found internationally seem to be releasing the CD on October 4th.
amazon.co.uk amazon.com amazon.de amazon.fr
Deepdicount.com
FindersRecords

It is highly likely that there are far great number of stores both on and offline that will have the album available for sale on the 27th in both physical and digital forms.

CBC (Radio Canada) TV Appearance Today

Another interview and preview of the new albums is to be shown today on CBC Radio-Canada TV today according  a tweet from CBC's Kevin Sweet. A follow up tweet indicates that it will be shown on Channel 12 (CBLFT) in Toronto at 6:00pm. The following web stream may work for international viewers trying to catch it live. The FAQ says they stream at 300kbs and archive most content for 14 days at 500kbs.  This post will be updated with an archived link if one is able to be found.

Tweets between Sarah and Kevin thought this month have been very positive.

Explore Music Interview (Video)

Sarah's Interview with Explore Music sheds new light on the album, recording with Joel Plakset and tour plans following these dates in November. When it comes to touring, Sarah has announced most dates for her fall tour for Land & Sea with additional dates being released yesterday. In the interview Sarah mentioned how it will be 'Land' focused and has previously stated it will be a bit more of a rock. US dates and a series of concerts to play 'Sea' seem to be the cross hair for next year. Tickets for the concert in Halifax with Symphony NS are currently on sale as mentioned here on littleslean.

Composer's Edition for Land & Sea

This Tuesday Sarah's new double album will released.  Her store continues to sell some unique pre-orders, one which is a composer's edition.  If you can you play the  violin, viola, cello, or double bass this might be the set for you.

More details on the composer edition was posted on Sarah's facebook page in response to a question for further details.  Here is the response for those that may have missed it.

It will be the full orchestral score of either The Right Words or Napoleon - 5-7 pages long (respectively) - showing the first and second violin, viola, cello, double bass, and vocal parts - with lyrics (no piano). This is what the conductor reads as he is conducting. It has all the dynamics, technical notes, articulations, etc. Both of these (The Right Words and Napoleon) were my scores, so you can see exactly what I composed - down to the very last detail. They will be printed on card stock and professionally taped, accordion style - so that the conductor can open it up and lay it flat on the conductor's podium. They look rather beautiful, in my view.

The composer edition is being sold with a set of lithographs from 2009 and only sold previously at that year's holiday show.  One of the bundles have been sold out but a second set with different images and perhaps representing a different score is still for sale in her store.  The lithographs are available in Sarah's gallery.

If you are getting the companion edition and have inspiration to play it, leave a comment her or on twitter.  Perhaps a fan collaboration can be put together among like minded artists.

Sarah Slean Played New Songs on CBC

Sarah Slean's interview and live performance from earlier this week was aired today on CBC Radio 1.  Half of the 1 hour show was dedicated to Sarah combing interviews and music from the new album.  The 3 news songs played live by Sarah where done solo on a baby grand piano.

Unfortunately it does appear that this show is podcasted or will repeat but I hope some of the littleslean twitter followers got the live tweet reminders.

• Sarah spoke fondly of her 10 great years with Warner.  
• The origins of her family piano where revealed as belonging to an aunt who deceased died in her mid 40s.  Sarah wouldn't share the name she had given the piano.
• She came back to the "woosh" factor just like in in the Harbourfront interview.

Music

1. Life (Album recording)
2. Attention Archers (live)
3. The Day We Saved the World (live)
4. Your not Alone (live)

FYI - Ticket Sales & Set it Free Video

Just a quick FYI that many of the concerts listed on SarahSlean.com now have general ticket sales available through the vendor and ticketing outlets.  Sarah's tour page has some info and links to VIP packages for some dates and links to some outlets.

November 1, 2011 - London, ON @ Aeolian Hall
November 3, 2011 - Hamilton, ON @ Studio Theatre
November 4, 2011 - Alliston, ON @ Gibson Centre
November 10, 2011 - Winnipeg, MB @ West End Cultural Centre
November 11, 2011 - Regina, SK @ The Exchange
November 15, 2011 - Saskatoon, SK @ Broadway Theatre
November 18, 2011 - Calgary, AB @ University Theatre
November 19, 2011 - Nelson, BC @ The Royal
November 29, 2011 - Ottawa, ON @ NAC - Studio Hall
November 30, 2011 - Ottawa, ON @ NAC - Studio Hall
December 8, 2011 - Montreal, QC @ La Sala Rossa

This is a partial listing of the dates are more to be added.  Follow Sarah on Faecbook to know when those dates do come out.   http://www.facebook.com/SarahSlean

Yesterday that announced the music video for Set it Free.

Sarah Slean in Maclean's (Article)

In the September 12th issue of Maclean's Magazine they have a 3 page feature article on Sarah.Slean by Elio Iannacci.  The cover story is for the late Mr. Jack Layton who's death Sarah had tweeted about.

The article on Sarah touches upon the influences for how the 'Land' side of the albums was inspired by the scores of musicals like The Sounds of Music and Wizard of Oz.

They go into personal struggles that have surfaced as those mentioned in the song Shadowland and with finding her own identity.  In years past she found comparrrisons to Sarah Harmer, Sarah McLachlan and Tori Amos where hard to take as she was discovering herself as an individual.

Talking about her relationship with Royal Wood it is pointed out he did produced one of the songs on the Land album, Everybody's on TV.  This will not be the first time Royal has produced work for Sarah as he was a producer for the Beauty Lives EP.

You can read the full article for yourself online and view more stunning photographs by the photographer Jaime Hogge here.

Next media appearance we know of for Sarah is appearing this Saturday on CBC's Big City, Small World.

Sarah Slean on eTalk: Album, Relationship, Interviews (Video)

On August 15th Sarah Slean was on eTalk.  The segment showed tape from the recording of the Sea side of the album.  The entertainment show went into the personal side of things mentioning Sarah's marriage with fellow musician Royal Wood.  Sarah also talks about her plan for touring the album distinctly but those plans seem to have since transformed.  For those who follow littleslean on twitter, you may have noticed a RT for an upcoming concert in Winnipeg.  Will make a new post as further tour details come up.

View the unlisted video below.



A second interview concerning Land & Sea was done with Harbourfront and Sarah Slean.  It can be read over here.

On Day 2 of the Pre-Order some items have sold out like the Limited Edition hand made versions of Land & Sea.

Land & Sea Pre-Orders

Today marks the day for pre-orders for Sarah Slean's new double album among other bundles and discounts.  Ticket and tour information may also be posted today according to the latest mailing list entry.

For the last few weeks Sarah's official YouTube channel has been showing behind the scenes footage of the creation of the Land portion of the album.  The 30 minutes of footage is in the playlist below is a good sample of the Land portion of the album.





Land Track Listing:

1. Life - First played live July 1st, 2010
2. The Day We Saved The World - Debuted at last Fall's Canwest Music Festival
3. Set It Free - Currently available single
4. Everybody's On TV - Mentioned in this Tweet Dec 16, 2010
5. Amen - Shown in the first making-of video
6. I Am A Light
7. New Pair of Eyes - Sold in a flash sale, making-of video 
8. Girls Hating Girls - making-of video 
9. Society Song

Sea Track Listing:

1. The Cosmic Ballet - Debuted August 6, 2011
2. Everything By The Gallon (Beauty Lives B-Side)
3. The Devil & The Dove
4. Napoleon - Debuted August 6, 2011
5. Attention Archers - Debuted August 6, 2011
6. You're Not Alone - Debuted August 6, 2011
7. The Right Words (First heard on Beauty Lives album, lyrics)
8. The One True Love
9. My Eyes & Your Eyes

The only song that appears that we had speculated could have been on the album and is not is My Song to which Sarah had tweeted about early in the recording process.  That song is available on Beauty Lives.

Bundles include a composer's addition.  If you do create your own covers of Sarah, I would be happy to highlight them here on littleslean.

The hand made covers I can imagine might be similar the 100 hand painted Beauty Lives.  The full gallery of the artwork for those covers are on Sarah's site.

Visit Sarah's store to purchase pre-orders.

The Animals are Planning an Intervention - Video

Earlier this year dancer and choreographer Lucy Rupert debuted a new piece titled The Animals are Planning an Intervention and was set to original music by Sarah Slean.  The music titled String Quartet no. 2 is for sale and you can now watch dance's premiere on YouTube.  Watch the playlist below for all 3 pieces.

Video of Sarah covering Queen with the Art of Time Ensemble

The Art of Time's  Ensmble have posted an HD video to their facebook page of Sarah covering Queen's The Show Must Go On.  The video was recorded from the songbook of covers Sarah did with them in May of this year at Toronto's Harbourfront Theatre.

Update: The Art of Time have now posted also posted the video in HD to their YouTube account.
No details have been released if CBC will be playing this concert or a studio recording of the album will be released like some of the past concerts of the ensemble.

Sarah's Concert with Orchestra at Harbroufront

Last night Sarah sat down with a 21 member orchestra at busy Harbourfront stage with new arrangements of past songs and unveiling many new songs from her classical album, "Sea."

In the hot and humid afternoon they rehearsed on stage with a tweet from Sarah indicating they didn't have the music for the bass section that wouldn't print.

Following a comedic set by the Joe Trio, Sarah took to the stage at 9:30pm.  All songs where played with the orchestra with the exception of her new song Attention Archers played during the encore.  In total they would play 5 new songs from her new album for the first time.  Like in Elora, Sarah confirmed that Everything By The Gallon that was recorded on the b-side album for Beauty Lives has now been composed by Jonathan Goldsmith  for the Sea album.  Concluding the set each member of the orchestra was thanked by name.

The Setlist with all new songs in bold.

Modern Man I & II
Lonely Side of the Moon
Duncan
Everything by the Gallon
Cosmic Ballet
The One True Love
Elitot
The Right Words
The Rose
Napoleon
Parasol
-encore-
Attention Archers
You're Not Alone

Free Concert on Toronto's Harbourfront - August 6th

Sarah Slean is returning to the outdoor stage at Harbourfront this summer for a free concert.  The concert takes place Saturday August 6th at 9:30 PM on the newly named West Jet stage.  Sarah played this same stage last year on Canada Day.

The headlining concert is part of an event called "What's Classical" and is curated by the Art of Time Ensemble's Andrew Burashko.

The event page sheds some more details on Sarah's new album.  The Sea album is described as having 4 original orchestrations by Sarah and 3 by Jonathan Goldsmith.

This is only the second known concert date Sarah has planned for this summer.  The first will come at the Elora Festival on July 16th.

More details can be found here:
http://www.harbourfrontcentre.com/summer/festivals.cfm?id=3164

The Sisters of Mercy - Film to String Quartet No. 2

CJ Wallis who directed Last Flowers and music video for The Rose now has a new project in the works featuring Sarah Slean.  Using Sarah's music for String Quartet No. 2 he is creating a film adaptation of Lucy Rupert's The Animals Are Planning An Intervention.  

A short synopsis can be found on the Forty FPS blog.  You can purchase the music on iTunes.

Lucy not only danced in the music video for The Rose but her and CJ worked worked on this music video too:

"The Rose" Named Best Music Video Of 2010

Tonight Sarah Slean's music video for the Rose won best music video of 2010 at Vancouver's Leo Awards.
The video was directed by CJ Wallis and featured dancer Lucy Rupert.  More information on the music video can  be found here and information on the win was posted here.

Sarah sings with the NUMUS Chamber Orchestra

This Fall Sarah has 2 concert dates performing with the NUMUS Chamber Orchestra.  The first date October 6th at the Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto.  This concert was advertised on a flyer in the program at the Art of Time concerts.

The second concert is the following day in Kitchener.  This concert is listed in the PDF program for the NUMUS 2011/2012 Season.  An excerpt of that program is posted below.

"Sarah Slean performs my own Red Sea, a tragic cycle of songs depicting our suffering earth" - Glenn Buhr 

SONG OF EARTH with the NUMUS Chamber Orchestra conducted by Paul Pulford
featuring Sarah Slean, mezzo-soprano
Adam Luther, tenor
Kimberly Barber, mezzo-soprano
The Penderecki String Quartet

Friday, October 7, 2011 - 8pm
Maureen Forrester Recital Hall, Wilfrid Laurier University NUMUS - in association with the Faculty of Music at Wilfrid Laurier University and the Penderecki String Quartet - celebrates Gustav Mahler 100 years after his death.  The turn-of-the-century progressives adored Mahler's music, and 12-tone pioneer Arnold Schönberg created this colourful arrangement of Mahler's masterpiece Das Lied von der Erde for a performance in his own concert series. Glenn Buhr's new work was written to complement Mahler's Song of the Earth, but it takes a different twist. It's a tragic work about our suffering earth. The libretto was written by Margaret Sweatman in 2010 when oil was spewing into the Gulf of Mexico. Many said that the earth was 'bleeding', hence the title of the new work: Red Sea (Song of the Earth). Pop singer Sarah Slean is the soloist.
Tickets:
$38 general / $32 senior / $24 (for patrons under 29) / $10 Student (rush only)

Sarah worked with Glenn Buhr in 2008 when she sang with Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra.


Update: 2011-07-13
Tickets are now available for the October 6th concert.
http://www.cbc.ca/glenngould/2011/07/song-of-the-earth---music-by-mahler-and-buhr-featuring-vocalist-sarah-slean.html

Sarah's covers with the Art of Time

Sarah's songbook concert with the Art of Time Ensemble have now concluded.  The set list we posted here was fairly accurate with a few notable changes.  Covers of PJ Harvey and Cole Porter that where mentioned in early event promotions where dropped.  They were replaced with a new arrangement of Sarah's "Sound of Water" and a revisit to her Art of Time cover of Martin Tielli's "I'll Never Tear You Apart".  Another additional song added was a cover of "Smile" that was composed by Charlie Chaplin in 1934 and first sang by Nat King Cole in 1954.  This song was not listed performance program.  This was the review from the first of the two nights.

Sarah performance of Ne Me Quitte Pas by Jacques Brel has been tweeted as being divine.  It marks the second time in recent history Sarah has sang in French and the first time to a live audience.

The show was archived on a single video camera at the rear of the theater. It has been unofficially been confirmed that CBC was recording for a Concert on Demand special.  We will let you know when that recording becomes available.

It does not appear that Sarah is listed in any of next season's Art of Time concerts that where just announced.  The program did contain another event that features Sarah which I will post details about in separate post following this one.

Sarah and Royal playing Serve!stock 2011

According to Serve!stock's website, both Sarah and Royal have been added to the intimate backyard benefit concert for this year.  The concert takes places June 15th with early bird tickets coming in under $300.

Serve! is a not profit organization that supports at risk youth in Toronto.

Tickets and information can be found here. http://servestock.ca/

Upcoming Sarah Slean Covers with Art of Time Ensemble Revealed

Sarah has picked 12 of her favourite songs that have been arranged for her to sing with the Art of Time Ensemble. This songbook concert is a follow up to her first songbook she performed with them that would later become the album, Black Flowers.

Below is a the songs that have been mentioned that she will be covering with some added information. Scroll past the list if you choose not to be spoiled and would like other info on the concerts.

1. Ruth Lowe (I’ll Never Smile Again)
Sarah played a cover of this song at the 2003 Inauguration of the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame and on CBC Play.

2. Leonard Cohen (A Thousand Kisses Deep)
Sarah has played songbooks and other shows paying tribute to Leonard Cohen but might be her first time taking on this song. In the first Canadian Songbook Sarah played with the Art of Time Ensemble she played Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye. Other Cohen covers include I'm Your Man, Dress Rehearsal Rag, Everybody Knows and Hallelujah (with Tomi Swick)

3. Joni Mitchell (Little Green)
Like covering Cohen, Sarah has covered Joni Mitchell songs on many occasions but this maybe the first time she is doing this song. In 2007 Phil Dryer who composed arrangements of Joni's songs "Both Sides Now", "Woodstock", "Free Man in Paris" and "All I Want" as part of a concert Sarah did with the CBC Radio Orchestra. Phil Dryer is doing an arrangement for this concert and had made an arrangement for Sarah's first songbook with the Art of Time too. Other covers Sarah has done of Joni include Case Of You (2000) and Magdalene Laundries (2005 with Ron Sexsmith)

4. Blue Rodeo (Bad Timing)
Sarah sang with Jim Cuddy of Blue Rodeo at this year's Junos and she has joined on them on the stage in years past.

5. Björk (Joga)
This was one of the first artists mentioned when this concert was announced over a year ago. This appears to be the first time Sarah has attempted a Björk cover.

6. Kurt Weill (Lost In The Stars)
Sarah played at a songbook series to Kurt Weill at the 2008 Canwest Music Festival.

7. Jacques Brel (Ne Me Quitte Pas)

8. Queen (The Show Must Go On)
Sarah is holding true to her word playing a Queen cover as it was requested on tour back in 2005 and promised to be played someday.

9. David Gray (Shine)
Sarah confirmed this song via Twitter today. She had previously tweeted about attending his concert and Royal Wood has toured opening for him. She also purchased his song Please Forgive Me.

10. Judee Sill (Kiss)
Sarah confirmed via iTunes Ping that she will be playing this song for the concert.

11. PJ Harvey (?)
Early descriptions of the concert had mentioned a PJ Harvey cover. Sarah has mentioned interviews about her collecting PJ Harvey's music and enjoying the rhythm in it.

12. Cole Porter (?)
Cole Porter was another artist mentioned in early announcements of this concert. In the 2005 film Sarah acted in, Black Flowers, she sang Cole Porter's song Love for Sale.

The first 9 songs where mentioned in a recent media release to promote the concert. There is a chance that some the songs selected may have changed and other songs could have been added.

The night also features a new instrumental suite by composer Jonathan Goldsmith who is producing the second half of Sarah's double album Land and Sea.

The Art of Time Ensemble will also be announcing their upcoming season at this show. For the last few season Sarah has been involved in at least one show with them.

Tickets for these shows is limited but seats are still available in the front rows. More information can be found here including a listing of musicians and arranges for this concert.  There has been no word yet if CBC will be recording this Art of Time concert or if the concert will be produced into an album like it has been the last 2 seasons.

Sarah Slean and Jorane Create New Music Together

On April 2nd Sarah Slean and Jorane played together for a CBC special that airs May 10th. Jorane who plays chello toured across Canada sharing headling roles with Sarah in 2005. On the day of this recording Sarah tweeted "Created melancholy music on-the-fly today with the wonderful @Jorane chez Maison Radio-Canada. How I love Montreal..."

The following information comes from CBC's Rendez-Vous who have a video trailer and pictures of the event up. After May 10th they will be adding videos, songs and interviews.

"Sarah Slean and Jorane seem to have a mutual artistic connection. They both create very expressive, evocative and sometimes theatrical songs. So it is no surprise that when we hear them performing together it feels so natural.

For this session, the wonderful Jorane delivers new versions of her songs, accompanied by a string quartet and piano, in arrangements created especially for this recording.

The very talented Sarah Slean was also quite courageous to accept to perform some of Jorane's songs and to go where no other singer has dared gone before! And this is where Sarah Slean's passion for French culture pays off as we hear her sing in French for the first time ever.

Together, Jorane and Sarah create a brand new song, inspired by one of Sarah's personal experiences in Paris. The result is extremely touching.

Let yourself be carried away by this dreamy, friendly, wondrous and luminous Rendez-Vous session.

Check back after 4 p.m. ET on May 10th to enjoy videos, songs and interviews from this episode."

Elora Festival Date - July 16 (confirmed)

A summer festival date has been added to Sarah's tour page. Sarah will be playing the Elora Festival on July 16th.

Tickets are $40. More information can be found on:

http://www.elorafestival.com/index.cfm?page=2011WeekTwo

Sarah's New Song only Available until 10am

As announced on Sarah's official sites, she has donated a previously unreleased song from her upcoming album in support of relief efforts in Japan.

"She has chosen a song called “New Pair of Eyes” which she describes as an “ode to the shocking wonder of existence”. Typically mundane… ;)

Yes – before the single is released, before a video is made, before the world gets to hear the entirety of her giant double-disc 18-song creation, get yourself a taste of the magnificent work to come and send your love to a part of the world that desperately needs it!" 

- SarahSlean.com

Sarah's single is currently being sold in the final block of 20 songs for $20. It is also still being sold in the full 100 song list. The sale ends at 10am on Thursday so for those wanting to hear this song they must act fast.

The song appears to be from the "Land" album as it has a pop sound more kin to Sweet Ones, Out in the Park and Luck Me.

Land and Sea comes out on September 27th. The double album features 18 songs to which the following track titles are known:

• "New Pair of Eyes" - Released exclusively Song of Love for Japan
• "Set It Free" is the first single to be  released May 2nd
• "The Day We Saved the World" played at the Canwest Music Festival and again at the holiday show.
• "Life" debuted live July 1st 2010 in Toronto
• "My Song" played live in 2005, released on the Beauty Lives bside album in 2010 and to be recorded on the "Sea" album.

Sarah Playing a Fundraiser in June for Sistering

On June 11th it appears that Sarah will be playing the Sistering fundraiser in Toronto.

Sistering’s signature fundraiser the 9th Annual Funny Girls and Dynamic Divas

Funny Girls and Dynamic Divas present a cabaret of Toronto’s top comedians & musicians. Elvira Kurt hosts & headlined by Sarah Slean, with performances by other prominent artists backed by The HotHouse Band. Show will also feature a silent auction & raffle.

Location: Jane Mallet Theatre, St.Lawrence Centre for the Arts - Toronto
Date: Thurs. June 2, 2011
Time: 6:00 pm
Tickets: $75
- STLC box office (27 Front Street East)
In-person; 416.366.7723/1.800.708.6754; www.stlc.com

More information on this event and organization can be found here:
http://www.sistering.org/events/funnygirls.php


Yesterday Sarah played a private concert at the The Fairmont Waterfront Hotel in Vancouver for an event hosted by the Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers. The event was listed on their web site http://www.cfig.ca/page.asp?id=8 .


Lastly, an unconfirmed show for Sarah has appeared to some concert listings showing Sarah opening for YouTube sensation David Choi this week in LA. Sarah will not be playing that show based on everything I can tell you. Sarah last played in LA this January.

Land and Sea features Dean Drouillard and mixed by Gordie Johnson

Dean Drouillard who played guitar for Sarah Slean on her Baroness tour has recorded with her on the "Land" half of the double album during the Fall of 2010. In one of his blog posts he described the process and noted that Gordie Johnson of Big Sugar mixed the recording. Gordie Johnson has worked with Joel Plaskett who produced the "Land" album.

"I spent a few days playing guitar on the first half of Sarah Slean‘s forthcoming bouncy and poppy release Land and Sea. The second half of the double album consists of voice, piano and orchestra. The band sessions were energetically conducted by Joel Plaskett with sarah and her regular live band playing in the live room. Gordie Johnson (Big Sugar) mixed the band recordings and it is scheduled to be released sometime in 2011."

- Dean Drouillard

Sarah Slean on going to U of T (Video)

Univerisity of Toronto has put out a video of Sarah Slean speaking as an alumni of the school on how it shaped her music and challenged here.  Sarah graduated in 2009 studying Music, Philosophy and English.

Set it Free - New Single from Land and Sea

The first single off Sarah's new double album Land and Sea is "Set It Free." The single is due for rotation on May 2nd according to recent article in Chart in which they met up with Sarah on the red carpet of the Junos.

At this time these is no other information on this song other then it coming from the Land album.

The interview also confirmed the exact album release date of Land and Sea being September 27, 2011.




Update: Dose.ca has put up a short red carpet interview of Sarah at the Junos talking about her performance and the new album.

Sarah playing at the Junos

As you may have heard Sarah will be playing at the Juno music awards this Sunday.  Details of the performance have now been released.

Sarah Slean and Jim Cuddy perform “If You Could Read My Mind” by Gordon Lightfoot.  The song is part of tribute titled Love Letter to Toronto.

More details can be found in this release:
http://ctvmedia.ca/ctv/releases/release.asp?id=13615&yyyy=2011

Sarah's New Quartet piece for Lucy Rupert

Yesterday was the first time Sarah's new string quartet piece for dancer Lucy Rupert was heard.  The free concert at The Canadian Opera Company's Richard Bradshaw theare was packed with an audience made up of both the young and old.

15 minute excerpt of the 30 minute piece was performed.  The title of the dance that will be shown at the Enwave Theatre is titled 'The animals are planning an intervention.'  The music that was was very well received was most closely comparable with The Disarm Suite.  In the Q&A session following the dance Lucy advised the first time she heard the song being played in rehersal she had a connection with it.

The song has been recorded by some familiar names of Sarah's past albums with  Drew Jurecka (The Baroness), Karen Graves  (Day One/Orphan Music/Blue Spruce) Kathleen Kajioka and Amy Laing (Art of Time).

Danceworks performance of the entire piece on April 7-9 at the Enwave Theatre.

Past Concerts at Hugh's Room

It appears that Sarah may have played in a tribute concert to Burt Bacharach last month at Hugh's Room in Toronto.

Sarah's name is not listed on the event flyer but is listed on the Hugh's Room event page.

"Singers Lori Cullen, Serafin, Coco Love Alcorn, Kathryn Rose, Kurt Swinghammer, and David Matheson join forces for one night to celebrate this rich sonic world. They’ll be interpreting timeless classics such as Close To You, I Say A Little Prayer, The Look Of Love, and Always Something There To Remind Me, and they’ll be backed up by an accomplished band comprised of Jann Arden, Ron Sexmith, and Sarah Slean alumni."

Last time Sarah played Hugh's Room was a benefit concert for Green Peace.  It happened to fall around the same time of the G20 summit in Toronto.  A review of that concert has been posted here:

Sarah covered Joni Mitchell's Woodstock once again.  Sarah also accompanied a 7 year old girl in what was described as very moving performance.  There was some indication that Greenpeace Canada may post a video of the act at some point.

Sarah to play with Symphony NS in 2012

On Friday April 13, 2012 Sarah returns to the Rebecca Cohn in Halifax for her debut performance with Symphony Nova Scotia.  The concert is part of their Maritime Fusion Concerts and tickets are currently available to season ticket holders.  General ticket sale starts on August 2nd of this year according to their program that got released today.

Symphony Nova Scotia's collaborations with other song writers in the past including Buck65 and Jenn Grant have been recorded by the CBC and the same might hold true for this concert.

At the time of the concert Sarah's double album 'Land and Sea' will be out and feature orchestrated arrangements for the Sea portion.  Not much else is known about this show at this time but I will post updates closer to key dates as the information comes available.

Sarah has had a history of playing with Orchestras across the country.  In 2004  she played a few of her songs from Day One with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.  Months later she would play the song The Score with National Arts Centre Orchestra at the Govenor General Awards.  In 2007 Sarah payed tribute to Joni Mitchell's music with the CBC Radio Orchestra and a year later she would play with Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra.  Over the last few years Sarah has played a multiple of different shows and put out an album with The Art of Time Ensemble.  In May this year she will play with them again and in June she will do a live recording for album 'Sea' with Orchestra London (ON).

Sarah Slean covers Metric, Plaskett, Harmer (Video)

Last Saturday was the Juno Decades concert celebrating Canadian music of the 00s at the Horseshoe Tavern.  The sold out show featured a long list of Juno nominees and winners.

Sarah came on stage at various points in the night taking lead vocals to do covers of Sarah Harmer's "Basement Apartment", Joel Plaskett "Nowhere With You" and Metric's "Combat Baby."  In addition Sarah and Royal Wood supported Justin Rutledge on his cover of Arcade Fire's song "Wake Up."

Here is a video we can share of Sarah channeling her inner Emily Haines with Metric's Combat Baby.



Sarah Slean, Royal Wood and Darcy Yates (Great Lake Swimmers) did a Q&A last week with the National Post covering how the Canadian Music industry has changed from the 90s into 00.  You can read the article here.  http://arts.nationalpost.com/2011/03/02/road-to-the-junos-what-the-aughts-meant-for-canadian-music/

Sarah playing at the Horseshoe - Juno Decades

Sarah is part of a line up of artists to play at the Horseshoe Tavern on March 5th as part of the Juno Decades show representing 2000's.  Sarah's music has had some direct ties to many of the listed artists.

MEMBERS OF BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE, THE STILLS, PLUS SARAH SLEAN...
CANADA'S FAVORITE INDIE ROCKERS AND SINGER-SONGWRITERS
TAKE THE STAGE!

FINAL INSTALLMENT OF THE HUGELY POPULAR
JUNO DECADES CONCERT SERIES
@ THE HORSESHOE TAVERN
WHAT: This is the last chance for music lovers to be part of the final installment of the JUNO Decades: 40th Anniversary Concert Series, proudly presented by the Ontario Media Development Corporation (OMDC). The 2000 series celebrates the hits that ushered in the new millennium from some of the finest singer-songwriters of the decade - Sarah Slean, Royal Wood, Justin Rutledge, as well as members of notable rock groups, Broken Social Scene, NQ Arbuckle, The Stills and Zeus. The Songs of the '00s, is produced by Pheromone Recordings.

WHEN: Saturday, March 5, 2011

TIME: Performances start at 9:30pm

VENUE: The Horseshoe Tavern, 370 Queen Street W.

PERFORMING: 

Broken Social Scene (Brendan Canning and Kevin Drew)
Justin Rutledge
NQ Arbuckle
Royal Wood
Sarah Slean
The Order of Good Cheer
The Stills (Dave Hamelin)
Zeus (Neil Quinn)

PLUS -- More artists to be announced
Tickets ($20 each) can be purchased in advance at ticketmaster.ca or by phoning (416) 870-8000; or in person at The Horseshoe Tavern (370 Queen St. W), Soundscapes (572 College St. W) and Rotate This (801 Queen St. W); or online at Maplemusic.com. Proceeds will go to MusiCounts, Canada's music education charity associated with CARAS.

The full media release from the Juno website can be found here.

Sarah's New Album 'Sea' - Live Recording

Sarah's interview with CBC this week mostly focused on how running has effected her life and music.  Towards the end of the segment more information was revealed about the new album.

Sarah confirmed again it will be done with a 23 piece orchestra and the targeted release date is in September.

They also advised that a live recording of Sea may take place this June.  No other information is available about that show at this moment.

Sarah's co-hosting on CBC Radio 2 - Feb 15th

Sarah will be co-hosting on CBC Radio 2 tomorrow morning . The show is scheduled from 6:00am to 9:00am and streamed online.

Tuesday February 15th on R2 Morning -- Exercise: We've got lots of interviews and great music to fill out the show, but there's a special treat coming your way in the second hour of the show. Sarah Slean -- the Baroness herself -- will be co-hosting the middle hour of the program with Bob! Amazing, right? A dedicated runner, Sarah's passionate about pounding the pavement and staying healthy. Tune in to hear Bob and Sarah chat about health, how she's been inspired by her running regime, and her advice for Bob now that he's decided to start training! We'll also be taking suggestions from you about what songs to exercise to... so send them in!

- CBC

Update:
For those who missed it, the CBC has a stream of the segment available here:

http://www.cbc.ca/radio2/r2morning/2011/02/15/live-right-now---exercise---sarah-sleans-co-hosts-with-bob/

The Rose - Music Video (Online)

Good to word of FortyFPS, The Rose music video is now online.  Please be sure to share and comment on it.



The making of video is here:

making sarah slean's 'the rose' from jeffrey zablotny on Vimeo.

The Rose - Music Video launches at Midnight

The Rose music video will be made available online at midnight today (PST?) today following its release on Bravo.  We first started talking about this music video back in early 2009 and have seen pictures and storyboard images for the video on FortyFPS project page for the video.

A behind the scenes video is also set to be released at the same time.

Leading up to the launch, CJ Wallis has posted on his blog some kind words to how he to meet Sarah.  A media release was launched on Facebook that references that music video ties to an almost tragic event that occurred on the set of Last Flowers in which Sarah acted in.

This music video features Lucy Rupert who have mentioned many times before here.  Sarah is currently writing a new string quartet piece for Lucy to dance to in April.  Tickets are available here.

Sarah wishes the Shaw Festival Happy 50th

The Shaw Festival uploaded a short video today of Sarah Slean and other Canadian celebrities wishing the festival a happy 50th birthday.

Sarah Slean - New Album Release Date

CBC Radio 3 has compiled a list of Canadian artist release dates for 2010.  Sarah's new album, Land and Sea is slated for September 2011 with distribution by Pheromone.

Sarah, concert in LA this Sunday

As hinted at by Sarah's recent Tweets, she is in LA and will be doing a concert this Sudany at the Hotel Cafe.

Other artists on the line up gathered from this posting include:
Mai Bloomfield, Tim Matson, Lindsey Harper, Parker Ainsworth, Lara Kincanon, Dom Liberati & Lohio


The Hotel Cafe
1623 1/2 N. Cahuenga Blvd.; L.A. CA

Songwriter Sunday's 9pm- 12.  http://www.hotelcafe.com/calendar.html

Update 2011-01-14
Sarah's short set starts at 11 according to one of her recent tweets.