littleslean: sarah slean news

Sarah Returned to Pickering

2011-11-27T12:57:00.001-05:00

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

2011-11-20T18:15:00.001-05:00

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

2011-11-04T12:51:00.001-04:00

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?

2011-10-14T14:29:00.000-04:00

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

2011-09-28T00:26:00.004-04:00

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

2011-09-27T00:25:00.000-04:00

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)

2011-09-26T00:32:00.001-04:00

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

2011-09-23T11:45:00.000-04:00

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)

2011-09-23T11:41:00.003-04:00

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

2011-09-22T15:12:00.000-04:00

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

2011-09-11T22:44:00.001-04:00

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

Life (Album recording)
Attention Archers (live)
The Day We Saved the World (live)
Your not Alone (live)

FYI - Ticket Sales & Set it Free Video

2011-09-09T12:28:00.001-04:00

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)

2011-09-08T15:11:00.000-04:00

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)

2011-09-02T12:42:00.000-04:00

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

2011-09-01T11:39:00.001-04:00

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:

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

Sea Track Listing:

The Cosmic Ballet - Debuted August 6, 2011
Everything By The Gallon (Beauty Lives B-Side)
The Devil & The Dove
Napoleon - Debuted August 6, 2011
Attention Archers - Debuted August 6, 2011
You're Not Alone - Debuted August 6, 2011
The Right Words (First heard on Beauty Lives album, lyrics)
The One True Love
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

2011-08-24T22:17:00.000-04:00

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

2011-08-17T01:26:00.001-04:00

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

2011-08-07T16:46:00.001-04:00

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

2011-07-06T13:32:00.000-04:00

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

2011-06-30T15:42:00.000-04:00

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

2011-06-09T01:14:00.007-04:00

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

2011-05-27T14:28:00.001-04:00

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

2011-05-26T20:19:00.000-04:00

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

2011-05-24T15:54:00.000-04:00

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

2011-05-03T23:55:00.000-04:00

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

2011-05-02T13:38:00.003-04:00

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)

2011-04-26T09:41:00.001-04:00

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

2011-04-21T00:52:00.002-04:00

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

2011-04-12T00:08:00.000-04:00

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

2011-04-05T15:29:00.000-04:00

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)

2011-04-01T00:20:00.000-04:00

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

2011-03-30T16:38:00.001-04:00

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

2011-03-25T00:29:00.000-04:00

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

2011-03-23T10:06:00.000-04:00

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

2011-03-22T11:07:00.000-04:00

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

2011-03-12T01:34:00.002-05:00

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)

2011-03-07T09:55:00.000-05:00

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

2011-02-17T10:19:00.000-05:00

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

2011-02-17T09:54:00.000-05:00

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

2011-02-14T18:41:00.001-05:00

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)

2011-01-31T00:26:00.000-05:00

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

2011-01-30T18:14:00.000-05:00

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

2011-01-21T18:51:00.000-05:00

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

2011-01-13T10:01:00.000-05:00

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

2011-01-10T15:58:00.003-05:00

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.

Beauty Lives is in iTunes

2010-12-30T19:35:00.002-05:00

Sarah's official site announced today that Beauty Lives is now in iTunes among other digital stores. Here is a link to it in the Canadian iTunes store but it looks like it should be available internationally.

http://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/beauty-lives-b-sides/id412635675

iTunes stores internationally this year added Sarah back catalog to their stores as well.

Beauty Lives has not been spotted in alternative online music stores as yet. In the past, hmv.ca, puretracks.com, ~~amazon.com~~ and rhino.com have sold her digital releases.

Update 2011-01-02
Amazon.com has it available for download. Amazon.ca does not.

Beauty Lives - Cover Art, Instrumentation and more.

2010-12-24T12:15:00.000-05:00

Physical copies of Beauty Lives went on sale at the holiday show and mail orders have started to arrive as early as this Tuesday. Here are some of the details on this album that was put together on fan input.

The standard edition that comes in digipak featuring artwork of Sarah's on it. The photo from the cover comes from Day One and like that cover, has been a scene painted over it. The inside of the case also features 2 additional paintings of Sarah, one is simplified onto the CD itself.

The B-side album was recorded over 3 days and 8 of the songs were mixed in 10 hours. Sarah described the result as being like a live album with a few overdubs.

Some of the songs kept similar arrangements to the live versions that had been previewed on littleslean. Others were given new instrumentation and arrangements. Everything by the Gallon captures the intimate creeks of wood in the studio and has the addition of Royal Wood accompanied on a mandolin. Sadie features Sarah on a toy piano, one that Sarah posted this picture of on Twitter. In "My Song" Sarah added a piece in where she hums and drum is played. The liner note printed inside the CD case credits Sarah instrumentation on vocals, timpani, strings, toy piano and mission organ.

The album was produced with Royal Wood and the case says lyrics will be available on SarahSlean.com.

"All in all, Bsides CD is a bit sad and a bit show-tune, scary-intimate and *very* dark."

Sarah Slean (Tweet)

This album was put together at the request of fans and I would love to hear your reviews. Beauty Lives follows The Baroness Redecorates and Black Flowers being Sarah's 3rd album release in 2 years.

The comments on littleslean have been overhauled and there are fan communities on Facebook like The Passioneers.

Did your song request make it? Are you waiting for digital release? Were you lucky enough to get a limited edition copy? Was this your first time hearing one of the songs or did it bring back any memories?

Have a happy and safe holidays.

Passioneer Holiday Project 2010 - Thank You!

2010-12-24T01:28:00.000-05:00

As this year on littleslean draws to a close, here is a final word from the Passioneer Holiday Project. Images again come care of Yen C.

Hello to all who participated in this year's Passioneer Holiday Project. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts, this project would not have been a success without each and every one of you!

Thank you for taking the time to find a way to show Sarah Slean that she has inspired you. We're sure that all of the people who benefited from your acts of kindness are finding their lives to be just a little brighter this year.

This year after the show Sarah let us know that this yearly project inspired her to donated some of the profits from this year's Harbourfornt show to a local organization which she supports year round! How awesome is that? She inspired us, we all did something good, and now she's inspired by us. You're all part of full circle of inspiration that is making the world a better place a bit at a time.

To those who signed up but who weren't able to participate this year we still appreciate your support. It's a busy time of year and sometimes it's tough to get everything done. Never fear, we're hoping to go for a seventh year so there will be lots of opportunity to take part again.

Thank you all, have a great holiday season.

From Andrea, Cameron and Elizabeth

Holiday Concert Wrap Up

2010-12-20T01:20:00.001-05:00

For this year's 6th annual holiday concert, Sarah was accompanied by The Baroness band featuring Chris Banks (bass), Royal Wood (organ/guitar), Mark Mariash (drums) and Dean Drouillard. (guitar).

Some of the song selection came from the requests of those who purchased VIP ticket packages. Duncan for example was played for a request sent in from a couple from Edmonton celebrating a 10 year wedding anniversary.

The special guest opener was Jesse Labelle who played a short set followed by an intermission.

Sarah went back to the past playing songs she hadn't played since 2000 with Before Your Time and her cover of Over The Rainbow. Me & Jerome took on a new jazz sound as it was taken on with this band.

For new songs, Sarah played The Day We Saved the World from her upcoming album and The Right Words from her newly released album Beauty Lives. More details on Beauty Lives will posted very shortly and another post thanking those for participating in a successful Passioneer Holiday Project.

The full set list is posted below:

Hopeful Hearts
Duncan
Me & Jerome
Before Your Time
The Day We Saved the World
Blue Parade
John 23rd
So Many Miles
Parasol
Notes From the Underground
Euphoria
Sound of Water
Lucky Me
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas >> Over the Rainbow >> Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
Edelweiss
-Encore 1-
The Right Words
Day One
-Encore 2-
Little Drummer Boy

Final Reminder: Passioneer Holiday Project

2010-12-09T14:49:00.000-05:00

There is still time to participate in this year's Passioneer Holiday Project and become a card carrying member of the Passioneers. The dead line is this Saturday, December 11th.

Image from Limited Edition Beauty Lives cover, Batch 5. SarahSlean.com

Thanks to those who have supported the project on Facebook and already emailed in their contribution. To participate please email slean_holiday@yahoo.ca. you name, screen name, city and contribution.

The Right Words - Lyrics

2010-12-07T01:23:00.002-05:00

There has been some curiousity surrounding the song The Right Words since it was considered and made it onto Sarah's bside album, Beauty Lives.

Last Friday was the first known time where Sarah has played the song publically. For those who where fortunate enough to hear it on CBC Drive or be there, the lyrics might look familiar.

The words are from The Prologue shown in the booklet accompanying The Baroness.

You will find the right words just you wait and see

they'll be falling from the rooftops on a blossom covered breeze

and the song you need to hear will be singing through the trees

are you listening? don't you see?

you are on the right path you will realize

that the tears will always leave you with a brighter pair of eyes

and the pain that you've been fighting

is an angel in disguise

it is love and love, love is wise

there's still time to notice

still time to believe that a door at last will open

where the darkness used to be

and the paradise you long for is underneath your feet

what are you running for? where you've been?

throw your heart into the ocean, throw your heart into the sea

you will find that all the right words

will come out naturally

Sarah and Royal playing CBC's Sounds of the Season (radio)

2010-11-29T00:06:00.001-05:00

Sarah Slean and Royal Wood are both part of this year's CBC's Sounds of the Season this Friday December 3rd. The tapping takes place at 12:30 - 1:00 PM for the CBC radio show titled Drive hosted by Buck 65.

A full list of performers, schedule and donor information can be found here. CBC does stream their content international online and may have the program available via a podcast (mp3) at a later date.

Update: 2010-12-03
In a few minutes, 3:30 CBC Radio Drive will start to air on the CBC and end at 7:00. I was able to attend the half hour taping today and it's worth staying in for. By the way the piece went, it seems that they will keep this part as one segment. If you catch this post a bit later, you can try time shifting online or record it on a PVR.

Sound's of the Season is CBC fund raiser for the Daily Bread Food Bank. Your contribution to it could be included in this year's Passioneer Holiday Project.

Spoiler Alert....

Sarah played the following songs.
The debut of her Beauty Live's b-side, The Right Words. The song is beautiful and it reminded me on that first listen to Looking for Someone.
Sarah and Royal Wood then joined each other for a rendition of Baby, It's Cold Outside. They have done this song together at the annual holiday concert and this time the lyrics stayed in hand for a great performance.
Sarah closed off the show with a tradional cover on the piano of Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas.

Sarah plays @ Cavalcade of Lights 2010

2010-11-16T00:53:00.000-05:00

Sarah is playing the 2010 Cavalcade of Lights opening celebration at Natahan Phillips Square on Saturday November 27th. The free concert starts at 8:00pm and also features performances by Shawn Desman and Divine Brown.

In 2007 Sarah played this event playing What Child Is This? (Available on Women and Songs Christmas album) and Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. She also took part in a group number for Walking in a Winter Wonderland. Other songs that Sarah has played in recent years at her holiday concerts include Silent Night and Baby, It's Cold Outside.

Holiday Shows and Beauty Lives album on Sale Now!

2010-11-11T14:44:00.001-05:00

Within this hour Sarah tweeted with regards to announcing this year's Holiday Shows and the B-Side albums on sale in various packages.

Before reading on, it might be best to order your ticket package as seats are on a first come first serve basis and limited edition B-side albums only have a quantity of 50 available online. Click here to order.

The B-Side album titled, Beauty Lives, track listing are:

I Do
Sadie
Count Me Out
Everything By the Gallon
Closer
Glenn Gould Song
Hooligans
Ogoni Star
The Right Words
My Song

The biggest surprise is seeing The Right Words make the list. This song title has only been known through littleslean from this set list I collected. Rockstar and Oh Man! are two songs that might have been close to making it but don't really seem to fit into this album that Sarah has described on twitter as sounding "a bit sad and a bit show-tune, scary-intimate and *very* dark."

I have not been able to see these concerts listed on Harbourfront or any other ticketing sites as yet but they may wait for the ticketed packages to sell out first.

JUNO Sole: Sarah's shoes at the Beta Shoe Musuem (Update)

2010-11-10T23:40:00.001-05:00

As part of an event celebrating 40 years of the Juno's, Sarah Slean's shoes have been included at the Juno Sole exhibit The one of kind shoes are on display for until the end of the month and is free with admission to the Beta Shoe Museum. Sarah attended the opening event in a stunning black dress designed by Lauren Bagliore (pictures) . Other guests in attendance were Fred Penner, July Black, and Hawksley Workman. Penner had attended one of Sarah's concerts in 2005, Black was special guest performer at last year's holiday show and Workman ties to Sarah include producing her album Night Bugs.

BlogTO mentions that the exhibit also includes videos and sounds from past Juno's. Over the years Sarah has been nominated 3 times for Juno awards and has taken part in many events surrounding the show.

Another Juno event to keep an eye out are the Juno Decade shows scheduled at the Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto. No indications that Sarah is playing them but on March 5th there is MapleMusic and Pheremone Records (Black Flowers) show. As those concert dates come closer many of the participating artists names are mentioned and we will let you know if Sarah's name ever comes up.

Update 2010-12-24:
Fashion Television interviewed Sarah and showed a picture of the shoes she wore at the 2009 Junos.

Video: http://watch.fashiontelevision.com/#clip380891

The 2010 Passioneer Holiday Project

2010-11-03T00:54:00.003-04:00

The 2010 Passioneer Holiday Project has now started.

The dates for this year's holiday concerts have not been officially announced as yet, but it was pointed out in the last official mailing list post that they will be taking place. Sarah is treating her fans this year with a B-side album and the Passioneer Holdiay Card is one way for fans to return a thank you back to her and do something good for others.

All the information on how to participate is posted on Facebook here. You can 'Like' the page below to help spread the word and RSVP on the event page for reminders. This fan-run project is now in its sixth year. Many thanks to those who have contributed over those years and to Yen for taking the photos used in the above collage.

A brief version of the details are:

You can be a part of the Passioneer Holiday Project by donating time, goods or money to a local or international charity, or by helping out a friend, neighbour or stranger.
Once you've participated, please send your information to slean_holiday@yahoo.ca by December 11th.

What we need to see is:

- your name
- your screen name
- your city
- how you participated

All of this information will be compiled in a card which will then be given to Sarah after her annual holiday concerts in Toronto.

- The Passioneer Holiday Project, Facebook

B-Side Project - Vote Reminder

2010-10-29T16:35:00.000-04:00

The time to vote on 3 songs you would like to hear on Sarah's upcoming B-side album draws to a close tomorrow.

According to Sarah's Tweets, early results placed Count Me Out in the lead and I Do in the top 10. Songs in the 5th and 6th position are really close to each other in votes.

If the B-Side playlist of videos posted by littleslean is any indication on popularity, here are songs listed with the highest amount of views. The Alphabetical order the playlist was in seems to have had some influence on the view counts.

Count Me Out -192
Everything By The Gallon - 100
I Do - 90
Hooligans -87
Glenn Gould Song -83
My Song - 73
Sadie - 69
Oh Man! - 58
Rock Star - 52

After the 30th these videos will be heading back to the vault. Remember to make your vote count so you can have a recording your favorite b-side. Top 3 votes should be submitted to thebaronessinc(AT)gmail.com.

A list of other known b-side titles can be found in our earlier post.

Sarah playing the black tie Dream Gala

2010-10-20T21:30:00.000-04:00

Sarah Slean will be playing a special gala event for the the Abilities Centre on October 28th. The event is being held at Deer Creek Golf & Banquet Facility and also features Rick Hansen as a special guest.

Entry single level tickets are $250. More information on the black tie event can be found here.

Currently there are no tour dates scheduled for Sarah on her site but as indicated with the b-side project, the tradition of the holiday concerts in Toronto will continue. Sarah also recently tweeted about plans to return to Europe in a year.

The Sarah Slean B-Side Project! (audio / videos)

2010-10-15T12:15:00.003-04:00

If you have been over to SarahSlean.com lately you might have noticed Sarah has announced a b-side project on recording some of her unrecorded songs. She has asked for help from her fans to send her three unrecorded songs of hers that you would like to see recorded and made into limited edition 10 track album for this year's Holiday concert. Lyrics or any live recordings would also be helpful so please submit those to myself or her.
To help jog your memory and introduce you to some Sarah's unrecorded songs, here is an updated list from Nicole's littleslean.com archives. With Sarah's permission I have uploaded live audio and video from a few of these songs and linked them below for the duration of this project.

Written pre-2000	2000 - 2003	after 2003
All I Want	Count Me Out	Baroness
Closer	Hooligans	My Song
Close Your Eyes	Everything by the Gallon	The Right Words
Dana's Song	Oh Man!
Elaine
Empty the Cup
Glenn Gould Song
Hey Little Girl
Hunter
I Do
I Fell
I Love his Lower Lip
Memory Don't Fade
Ogoni Star
Rock Star
Sadie
Seven Tornadoes
Soldiers
Song for Jeff

Submission of requests must be sent to thebaronessinc(AT)gmail.com before October 30th. If you want to know when this page has been update, please be sure to follow littleslean news via e-mail subscription, twitter and other syndication options shown in the right side panel. Thank you!

Sarah's New Arrangement for Dance (Video)

2010-10-12T15:51:00.001-04:00

Earlier today Sarah tweeted about arranging a string quartet for The Blue Ceiling Dance Co. The dance event that will host this new arrangement of Sarah's is to take place April 7-9th 2011 at Harbourfront.

Tickets and information for this event can be found here.

Last year we told you about an early look at this project where Lucy Rupert danced to The Disarm Suite found on The Baroness Redecorates. A video of that dance has been uploaded in promotion of the new season.

Sarah Slean playing Angel with Moxy Früvous (Audio)

2010-10-08T19:43:00.000-04:00

A decade old recording of Sarah Slean playing her song Angel with Moxy Früvous providing the groove has been posted on the Internet Music Live Archive. The song is from her album Universe and is rarely played live especially with a band.

The recording is from February 21st 1999 at Lee's Palace. The second track on the embedded player contains Sarah's comical introduction to the stage by Moxy Früvous around the 3 minute mark. A reference is made to Kevin who might be referring to Kevin Fox. The full Moxy Früvous concert and all the details can be found here.

Sarah Slean Rootstock concert Online (audio)

2010-09-28T20:32:00.001-04:00

CBC has now put up their recording of Sarah Slean, Joel Plaskett, Steven Page and Hawksley Workmen from their Rootstock concert. The show was recorded one month ago. According to post on Twitter, Sarah and Joel are currently in the studio this week following Sarah's marathon this weekend. Sarah is very familiar with the other artists sharing the stage with her. Hawksley Workman produced her album Night Bugs. Sarah and Steven Page will be doing an encore of their Art of Time Ensemble tribute to the Beatles Abbey Road album on October 21st.

You can play the entire show or pick individual songs here:
http://www.cbc.ca/radio2/cod/concerts/20100827roots

A mp3 of the show will likely also be made available from CBC Radio 2 podcast.

The Baroness Redecorates - CD on Sale Again

2010-09-13T10:46:00.001-04:00

It appears that the previously sold out EP for The Baroness Redecorates is currently for sale online at sarahslean.com.

The limited edition EP sold out in less then a day and extended sale on a restock also sold out just as rapidly back in December of 2008. Since then, the only way to get a physical copy of the EP was at one of Sarah's concerts.

You can find a link to purchase it through their store that is connected with Maple Music. There is no "Buy Now" link on her site when viewing the album details unlike all her other albums. If you want to add this album to your collection, it is best to act quickly as the quantity is likely limited.

Hopefully with this EP available the music video for the song The Rose that is featured on this album will be soon to follow.

The only album they appear not to be selling is Sarah's self titled EP which can be found on other sites.

2 New Concerts - Global Cabaret Festival in Toronto

2010-09-02T12:58:00.002-04:00

Sarah is returning back to the Global Cabaret festival this year after playing the festival in 2008.

Tickets for the Friday October 1st and Saturday October 2nd concerts are currently availble here:

http://www.globalcabaret.ca/information.aspx?concert=sarah_slean

It does not appear that Sarah is currently schedualed to play any of the festival workshops at this year's festival. The Saturday's concert falls on the same day as the dusk to dawn city wide arts festival Nuit Blanche.

New Concert @ Jackson-Triggs Niagara Estate Winery

2010-07-29T21:59:00.001-04:00

On August 27, 2010 Sarah Slean will be playing a Songwriters Circle at Jackson-Triggs Niagara Estate Winery. An official statement should be fourthcoming about this year's festival according to a post on their Facebook a few hours ago but these details have been posted by a user to their page.

For ONE NIGHT ONLY, the Jackson Triggs Niagara Estate open-air amphitheatre will play host to the second wine country Canadian Songwriters’ Circle, ROOTSTOCK! The evening will be an intimate and interactive experience with four of Canada’s top musical artists: Steven Page, Joel Plaskett, Sarah Slean, and Hawksley Workman. Call the Jackson Triggs Box Office at 1-866-589-4637 x 2 for tickets and more information.

August 27, 2010 5:30pm

Steven Page also posted that Sarah would be playing this festival with this event page on Facebook.

Details such as prices have not been posted online yet, but the event info from last year is available here. I will update this post when more details on this year's festival. This concert has not been confirmed on Sarah's official site at the time of publishing.

Update: 2010-08-04
Wines in Niagara have posted the details for this year's event here.

Sarah Slean & Damhnait Doyle's - Not for Sale (HD Video)

2010-06-29T12:04:00.000-04:00

On June 14th, Sarah Slean returned to Canada AM in promotion of Rwanda Rises Up! Sarah and Damhnait Doyle performed the song written by Sarah, Not for Sale. The album is currently availble on iTunes.

To view video in full HD, visit YouTube. There is a sync issue with the first half of the video.

This is the first video uploaded by littleslean. The video is not searchable on YouTube but can be found through here and as posted to social media networks by Song for Africa.

New Sarah Slean official site launched with BIG News

2010-06-17T18:45:00.001-04:00

Sarah's new official site that we spotted being tested a few weeks ago has now welcomed visitors and offered some huge news in one short sentence:

Coming soon – digital scores for download, the digital release of indies and back catalogue world-wide, and more!

-gtavegan.com

Sheet music has been desired by fans for many years. A few years ago sheet music fans submitted their favourite songs to see included in a sheet music book to Sarah's site. The book was never released but the demand shown and input of fans may be included in this release. Most of Sarah's catalog is still available for sale through MapleMusic and online through the Canadian iTunes store. It will be interesting to see what other releases they plan to put forward and exciting to see her digital catalog go on sale globally.

In another entry of news Sarah has an update on her new album and officially hints at the working album title, Land and Sea. Land portion of the double album with Joel has been recorded.

Other news entries posted on the site confirm previous posts to littleslean like tonight's Song For Africa release party tonight and the Free Canada Day concert.

A widget has been added to littlelsean news side bar to show new posts to Sarah's new site.

Update 2010-06-18 :
http://www.sarahslean.com/ has now been updated to with the format and content that was available on gtavegan.com

Song for Africa - Premiere - Concert featuring Sarah Slean

2010-06-08T21:12:00.000-04:00

Some of the details for the Song for Africa premiere event have now been announced. According to the concert listing on Now Magazine, the following is stated.

STEVE BAYS, SARAH SLEAN, TIM EDWARDS, JOHN-ANGUS MACDONALD, DAMHNAIT DOYLE
ADMISSION: $20 suggested donation
WHERE: Tattoo Rock Parlour, 567 Queen W, Toronto, M5V 2B6, 416-703-5488, tattoorockparlour.com
WHEN: Jun 17
TICKET INFO: 416-703-5488

Details for the premiere event in Calgary have still not been announced. I have not found any secondary confirmations of this line outside of the Song For Africa facebook page confirming the date.

Reminder that the film will be shown on City TV June 19th.

Beautiful Noise (TV - Brazil)

2010-06-08T00:49:00.001-04:00

In 2008 Sarah Slean performed a filmed concert in Toronto's Berkley's Church. Bravo aired a 30 minute of the program under the title, The Berkley Sessions that featured a handful of the live songs.

This past Saturday Sun TV aired a 1 hour program of this concert under the title Beautiful Noise. The broadcast on SunTV was in high definition and featured all songs of the concert with the exception of No Place at All. Fortunately 'No Place at All' was one of the songs that had been shown in The Berkley Sessions broadcast on Bravo.

It appears that the full hour program may be airing in Brazil on June 8th. The guide information can be found here. Multishow also has it listed here.

For those in Canada who missed it. The one hour concert for the Berkley Session may be picked up on repeat again on Sun TV or CBC Bold.

Song for Africa - Album Track Listing

2010-06-05T20:15:00.000-04:00

The track listing for Rwanda: Rises Up album is now out which features Sarah on a number of songs.
The full details can be found here.

Here’s the track list for the Rwanda: Rises Up! album:

“100 Bananas” — Steve Bays featuring Holy Jah Doves (co-wrote by Sarah Slean)
“Beautiful” — Tim Edwards featuring Holy Jah Doves (feat Sarah according to the single release)
“Komera” — Damhnait Doyle
“Not For Sale” — Sarah Slean
“Canada To Kigali” — Damhnait Doyle, Tim Edwards, Sarah Slean, Steve Bays and Grand Analog, featuring Rafiki, K8 and Miss Jojo
“Trying To Make It Work” — Classified with Mike Boyd and White Mic, featuring Itorero
“Land Of A Thousand Hills” — Ian D’Sa with Noble Blood
“Carry You” — Luke McMaster featuring Itorero
“We Stand” — Operation MD featuring Itorero
“Yearning (Instrumental)” — John-Angus MacDonald featuring Itorero
“Amazing Grace” — Damhnait Doyle, Tim Edwards, Sarah Slean and Steve Bays, featuring Queen Gaga And The Heaveners

Sarah Slean's on Canada AM, June 14th

2010-06-05T20:00:00.001-04:00

Sarah Slean and Damhnait Doyle will be on Canada AM Monday June 14th according to a Tweet from Song for Africa. They are there in promotion for the film Rwanda: Rises Up. There is no indication if they will also be the musical guests.

The Song For Africa also drops some hints that musicians are lining up for the release events for Rwanda Rises Up in both Toronto and Calgary. Toronto's is on June 17th. I post if I find more details and any confirmation of Sarah playing.

Update 2010-06-11

Sarah Slean will be playing "Not for Sale" on Canada AM according to Esther Garnick PR

Sarah's New Concerts with The Art of Time Ensemble

2010-06-02T00:53:00.002-04:00

Sarah is set to cover the songs of Björk PJ Harvey, Kurt Weill, Jacques Brel, Cole Porter, Leonard Cohen and more in this year's Art of Time concert series, The Songbook 5. The songs will be arranged by Canadian musicians and Sarah will be joined by The Art of Time Ensemble.

This concert is May 24th and 25th 2011 and tickets are likely to sell out fast.

In 2007 Sarah played the second Songbook concert in the Art of Time's history. The group of Canadian covers was later played by the CBC, recorded as the album Black Flowers and would spur a tour.

Last fall Sarah was one of the artists to tribute The Beatles Abbey Road with the Art of Time Ensemble. That concert was also made available on demand by CBC and will have an encore performance. Sarah and the Art of Time Ensemble return to KoernerHall October 21, 2011.

Ticket and details for the concerts can be found on web site for The Art of Time Ensemble. These concerts have not been confirmed on Sarah's official site at the time of publishing.

Sarah to play Hugh's Room for Greenpeace

2010-06-01T19:52:00.000-04:00

A few days prior to playing her Canada Day concert at Harboufront, Sarah will be one of the performers at a special concert at Hugh's Room on June 28th. The concert starts at 8:30 with tickets being $22 advanced and $25 at door.

"Greenpeace Canada is proud to announce that Hugh's Room is the preferred venue for the Toronto release of Amchitka, the 1970 concert that launched Greenpeace, Margo and Michael Timmins, Sarah Slean, Barbara Lynch, Jory Nash and others, including special guests, will join host Mia Sheard, Monday, June 28, to celebrate this seminal concert by Joni Mitchell, James Taylor and Phil Ochs that raised funds to float the first Greenpeace mission to Amchitka. This beautifully remastered two-disc live CD recording with a 48-page booklet is available exclusively through Greenpeace at www.amchitka-concert.com and will be tabled at the show.

All funds from the CD sales will go to Greenpeace.
http://www.amchitka-concert.com/blog/"

Information taken from the Facebook event page and Hugh's Room official calender. This appearance has not been confirmed on Sarah's official site at the time of publishing.

This event takes place on the Monday following the G-20 summit.

Rwanda Rises Up (Video, 8:42)

2010-05-30T23:30:00.001-04:00

An 8 minute segment from Rwanda Rises Up was posted online today. The video depicts many of the scenes Sarah expressed in her journal.

Sarah hums a mournful tune with Damhnait Doyle to many of tragic and sad scenes. Short interview pieces with all the artists are stitched in through the documentary.

The televised airing of the full film has been changed to 8:00, June 19th on CityTV with the album following on the 22nd. A premiere event in Toronto is on the 17th to which I do not currently have further information on.

New Website - Updated again

2010-05-29T01:21:00.000-04:00

As previously posted, Sarah's new website is currently being tested out. Since last night a it has gone through another overhaul. The split screen style has been removed among many other layout changes. The site is more easy to navigate and the changes do leave more space for the content. I do miss some those great new graphics being hidden but it is nice having the 'news page' as the home page and their is the the nice 'most recent' widget.

The names of Sarah's artwork is contained in the file name for anyone curious to know the title of any of the pieces.

Take a look @ www.gtavegan.com

Free Concert - Canada Day @ Harbourfront, Toronto

2010-05-18T20:32:00.000-04:00

Sarah Slean will be playing this year's free Canada Day concert at the Harbourfront Centre in Toronto on July 1st. Sarah's last public concert was this holiday at Harbourfront. In recent years, Harboufront has had acts like Owen Pallet and Feist play their Canada Day concerts.

The Sadies will follow Sarah's set this year. A full list of the day's activities and details can be found on the Harbourfront site. This free event at the time of publishing has not been confirmed on Sarah's official site. A last.fm event page has also been dedicated to this concert.

Thanks to Neal for tweeting about this one.

New: Official Site, Art Work and Album from Sarah Slean!

2010-05-10T23:52:00.002-04:00

A beta version of Sarah Slean's new official website has gone online. Still in its testing mode, it is a great glimpse into what we can expect from Sarah in the very near future.

The Web Site; www.gtavegan.com

Most notable difference in the update is the simplified menu and the creative reworking of some Sarah's promotional photos taken for the Baroness. A new stylized font for Sarah's name sits top centre of the site and appears that might be a new logo/branding. Hard to say if domain name gtavegan.com will continue to host the site or if it will be ported over to sarahslean.com. As the site is in test stage all data on that site should be considered temporary.

What might be most exciting is the new content...

New Artwork

This year's holiday shows in Toronto featured new sets of art prints for sale. These images have not been seen since that show but have been added to the new site's art gallery. Information like the art work title and other details have not been included but it one of the biggest updates to her art work collection since Ravens (2005). The new online store is being run through Maple Music does not have these items for sale at this time but this year's holiday shows sold these lithographs in various sizes.

New Album

The final paragraph of Sarah's new biography is a wealth of information.

Slean envisions a double-album - two different producers, two different approaches. Also twice the work, the budget, and the songs, but Slean isn't skittish. Not even after parting ways with Warner Canada in February. Rumour has it that her co-conspirators may be beloved Canadian songwriter Joel Plaskett, film composer Jonathan Goldmsith, a symphony orchestra and a drummer classified as "clunky funky", among others. Slean expects to commence recording in May.

It was previously confirmed that Joel Plaskett would be working on Sarah's new album. This is the first public confirmation stating that she would like double album and Jonathan Goldsmith's commitment to it. Jonathan arranged Martin Tiellie's I'll Never Tear You Apart that Sarah recorded on for Black Flowers with the Art of Time Ensemble.

There are many other observations that can be made about the new site design and you're welcome to share your thoughts in the comments. Sarah's official site was asking for suggestions on the overhaul to be emailed to help@sarahslean.com. For those that have not been by littleslean, it has also gone through an recent update and is continuing to grow.

Song For Africa: Video Intro

2010-05-07T12:09:00.001-04:00

A first look at the intro for Song For Africa, Rwanda Rises Up that features Sarah Slean.

Beautiful featuring Sarah on iTunes

2010-05-05T00:36:00.000-04:00

The Song for Africa track that Sarah recorded on in Africa is available currently on iTunes.

The song information is:
Beautiful (feat. Holy Jadoves) - Single by Timothy Edwards

iTunes link to the song can be found here:
http://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/id368242397

Sarah on Murder in Small Town X (Video)

2010-03-29T01:45:00.000-04:00

Footage from Sarah's guest appearance on the 2001 Fox TV show Murder in Small Town X has surfaced.

Acting as a performer at the "Sunset Club", Sarah is seen playing Sweet Ones at 4:30 mark and Everything by the Gallon at 6:38 .

YouTube - Video of Sarah Slean on Murder in Small Town X

Sarah was quoted as not being a fan of the show but this is the only official recording of Everything By The Gallon.

Sarah and Joel Plaskett on the New Album

2010-03-25T13:07:00.000-04:00

If you missed the headline posted not so long on Sarah's site, Joel Plaskett is working on Sarah's new independent album. He currently has a few couple of tours coming up so it might take a little time before they get together.

Hallifax's The Coast had the following quotes from Joel about about working with Sarah saying "it's cool that she thought of me" and "Stylistically we're different, but it will be fun."

Canoe's article states "he is writing new songs for Sarah Slean." Sarah's official site says they are "melding creative worlds." These quotes tend to point out that Joel may have more active role then just a producer of the album and may take an unusual path for Sarah collaborating on the lyrics.
YourMediaPass asked about his future "I am going to see if I can produce some records for Sarah Slean" indicating that more then one album might be in the works.

Sarah's article on Arranging Strings

2010-03-12T19:04:00.004-05:00

Sarah wrote an article for Canadian Musicians on arranging strings. The full page goes into great detail relating what she hears in the scores of others and in her own work. I am uncertain of the date of this article but recently Sarah was in Paris scoring strings for a Paris Orchestra.

Strings, glorious, strings. Who can
resist them? In my view, their
power to manipulate emotion is
unsurpassed. The timbre of the
violin is closest to that of the human
voice – and perhaps this is why we find
it so irresistibly, painfully beautiful...

- Sarah Slean, Canadian Musician

An image of this article is posted on Sarah's official site here, but you can view the entire PDF on Canadian Musician. The file also contains articles from fellow artists Sarah has shared the stage with like Ron Sexsmith and Emm Gryner.

Sarah covers The Right Thing (audio preview)

2010-03-11T00:10:00.008-05:00

At 2008's Canwest Cabaret Festival Sarah was involved in multiple work shops including Toronto Sings Breithaupt Brother Songbook. In the fall of 2009 that concert was put out as a live album with Sarah singing the lead track, The Right Thing.

You can find the song on Amazon.com and iTune's Canadian store.

Thanks to reader Sean for giving me this tip sometime ago.

If you're able to visit the Canadian iTunes Store, they do have an 8 minute long video interview with Sarah likely recorded on 2006-12-11 where Sarah played live on MTV Overdrive. The interview discuses why she did Orphan Music as a live album/bside album, how she ended up cover Pink Floyd and what she thinks of blogging. You can download it free from iTunes here.

PS- Sarah's official site has been lively with news the last few days.

Rwanda Rises Up - June 12th (TV)

2010-03-10T20:40:00.005-05:00

Song for Africa, Rwanda Rises Up documentary featuring Sarah Slean will air June 12th on City TV. Pushed back slightly from date in May, the exact dates and times for the release were published in today's Song For Africa newsletter.

SFA Documentary #2 Filming in Rwanda
Production on the second SFA Documentary entitled Rwanda: Rises Up
successfully wrapped shooting in Rwanda last November. Director Derek
Horn once again took the helm and music producer David Bottrill (Tool,
Muse, Silverchair…) handled the recording aspect for the accompanying
album, with artists Damhnait Doyle, Steve Bay from Hot Hot Heat, Sarah
Slean and Tim Edwards from Crash Parallel along for the journey. Watch
for the documentary to be aired on City TV on Saturday, June 12th at
8pm. The accompanying album will be released on Sony Music on June
15th!

Source, Song for Africa Newsletter

The Rose - Music Video details

2010-03-04T15:58:00.004-05:00

Tomorrow the music video for The Rose will be shot in Toronto. CJ Wallis who is directing the video has published some of the details to the shoot on his site.

Some details include:

Sarah on E.T. Canada Tomorrow

2010-03-03T20:53:00.004-05:00

Sarah will be on Entertainment Tonight Canada tomorrow in promotion of CARE Canada. Sarah's visit to Rwanda for the Song for Africa project was put on by CARE. The news of this comes from Darcy Ataman's from SFA's Tweet.

CARE is currently promoting the film adaptation Half the Sky which has one night showing in Toronto tomorrow. Sarah will be attending and she has details of that event on her site.

Update 2010-3-04:

It was not on today's episode. Perhaps it will air on Friday's or on a later date.

New Concert for Stream (audio)

2010-02-03T21:44:00.006-05:00

Sarah Slean played a private gala concert for the volunteers of the Regina Folk Festival on December 5th. Sarah had played the festival back in 2007 and 2005. The show was under pretty tight wraps but you can hear every track and see pictures on CBC's recent Concert on Demand! Alternative links to the files can be found here.

The recording is very unique as it's a rare solo show that features new covers and new arrangements including songs like So Many Miles and Leonard Cohen's Suzzane.

Also on CBC Concert's on Demand is the recording of Sarah and the Art of Time Ensemble playing the Abbey Road concert.

Update: 2010-2-20

This concert will be played live on CBC 2 This Monday.

"Monday, February 22, 2010

concert 1: Sarah Slean
recorded at the CBC Regina Galleria
Sarah Slean is one of Canada's great creative visionaries. She's been nominated for two Juno awards and two Gemini awards and is a true Renaissance woman in her artistic expression. Trained as a classical pianist, Sarah's performances continue to be informed by that musical sensibility, especially in her collaborations with many of Canada's finest classical orchestras and ensembles. A gifted songwriter, Sarah is also a poet, and books of her poetry have even accompanied album releases. She's also a visual artist. Given her diverse forms of creative expression, it's not surprising her list of influences is equally eclectic including Glenn Gould, Tom Waits, PJ Harvey and even Irving Berlin. This private concert was put together by the Regina Folk Festival as a special thank you to their volunteers in celebration of the organization's 40th anniversary."

Song for Africa - Album and Doc in May

2010-01-20T12:48:00.004-05:00

The Song for Africa documentary that Sarah's journal entries from Rwanda have been referring to will be shown on City TV followed by the album release in May.

"Production on the second SFA Documentary entitled, Rwanda: Rising Up
successful wrapped shooting in Rwanda last month. Director Derek Horn once again
took the helm and producer David Bottrill handled the recording aspect for the
accompanying album with artists Damhnait Doyle, Steve Bay from Hot Hot Heat, Sarah Slean and Tim Edwards from Crash Parallel along for the
journey. Watch for the documentary to be aired on City TV and the
accompanying album on Sony Music in May!" - Song For Africa

The documentary will likely be made available for sale at a later date.

London Concert Cancelled

2010-01-15T00:27:00.005-05:00

Sarah is no longer listed on the ticket page as playing at the February 2nd concert with the Bittersweets at the Boarderline. Royal Wood is currently listed as one of the guests. This show was never announced on Sarah's official sites but some third party sites still have her on the line up.

A cached result of February 7th concert promoted by WagonWheelMedia have removed Sarah's name from a concert featuring Royal Wood and Joe Armitage.

Sheet Music and Paris string orchestra

2009-12-07T12:43:00.007-05:00

As this year comes to a close, Sarah already has her hands tied into projects that will take her into the new year. This summer, Skipster aka Scott did a great interview with Sarah that touched on some projects new and old.

There are a few points that I have been following and wish to highlight.

We might be seeing the long awaited sheet music of Sarah's made available at this week's holiday shows. Fans had submitted requests for what sheet music they would like to see in 2007. The entries touched on all of Sarah's work prior to The Baroness. Since it has not been confirmed outside this interview, this item may not yet be available. Other merchandise to look out for are upcycled items from the Resession-ista tour of this year and limited copies of The Baroness Redecorates.

Another large announcement that has only been mentioned so far in this interview is Sarah receiving a Canadian Council 2010 grant to score strings for Paris orchestra. Not much else is known about this project at this time. Sarah has not played any concerts in Paris since the recording of The Baroness.

Updates on these projects and others will be fourth coming. If you still plan on participating in this year's Passioneer Holiday Project, please do so ASAP. The full interview with Sarah can be read here:

http://www.skipster.us/2009/07/interview-sarah-slean/

2009 Holiday Project

2009-11-24T23:00:00.004-05:00

slean_harboufront_dec2006_2
Originally uploaded by YenC

The 5th Passioneer Holiday Project is now in full swing! It is a way for fans to give back to Sarah for all she has given us this past year. For more information and how to contribute and pictures, please see the facebook group page.

For those unfamiliar with this project, it has been a tradition since 2005. Fans do a good deed for an organization of their choice and then have their name and contribution included in a card. The card is then given to Sarah as a gift after her annual holiday shows in Toronto. This is a completely fan-run endeavor and has drawn participation of fans from around the globe.

A big thank you to all of those have participated in the project in the past. Please RSVP on Facebook and feel free to contact myself with regards to any questions or your contribution.

New Interview - Riveting Riffs Magazine

2009-11-23T09:30:00.004-05:00

A new interview with Sarah has been published online by Riveting Riffs. The piece touches on many of Sarah's different artistic projects over the years. It is also one of the rare interviews where she has spoken about the Baroness Redecorates and Warner.

The 2 Page interview can be found here: http://www.rivetingriffs.com/sarah_slean_%2709.htm

London England concert in 2010

2009-11-19T09:15:00.004-05:00

Last week tweets and WearsTheTrousers both pointed out that Sarah Slean and Royal Wood both have concert tickets for sale in Europe. The concert has not been officially announced or posted on Sarah's (or Roayl's) site at the time of publishing.

2010-02-02 - The Borderline, London. Tickets

At this time I have been unable to locate any other pending concert dates. The annual holiday show may still be in the works. Stay tuned.

US Tour Dates Postponed

2009-11-03T12:28:00.003-05:00

I recently updated the post regarding Sarah's Joe's Pub concert in New York. Although I'm not certain regards to tonight's concert, an annoucement was made on Sarah's page today stated the following.

We’re excited to announce that Sarah has been invited to participate in a documentary for Song For Africa, a non-profit organization that aims to inspire change and raise awareness about humanitarian issues in Africa. This project will take Sarah to Africa from mid-November to early December.

Unfortunately, this means that the small US tour that was being planned for November has been pushed to next year. Check back for tour updates or sign up for our mailing list to have this information sent to you directly.

We will continue to look up more information on Songs for Africa and any further news on upcomming concert dates. The official site also posted a new joural entry of Sarah's as well.

Radio Interview - Star93.3 (mp3)

2009-10-22T18:27:00.005-04:00

Sarah did a 10 minute interview with radio station Star 93.3 in promotion of her upcoming Art of Time concert in Peterborough.

The interview is available for download on the Star 93.3 site.

Topics covered included the songwriting process, The Art of Time Ensemble and what Sarah appreciates about her achievements over the last 10 years.

Update 2009-10-23:

Lucid Forge did a print interview that covers many of the same topics. You can read it here.

Additional US Concert - Philadelphia

2009-10-14T00:27:00.003-04:00

Another US concert date has been found. A few days after Sarah hits Joe's Pub in NY, she will be heading to Philadelphia.

Friday November 6th, World Cafe, Philadelphia.

Patrick Park will also be playing that night. This concert has not been officially announced on Sarah's website at the time of publishing.

Sarah Slean's Abbey Road Beatles Tribute

2009-10-09T11:59:00.006-04:00

The radio broadcast of CBC Radio 2's recording of Sarah Slean and the Art of Time Ensemble Abbey Road show will take place on Thursday, November 12th at 10pm. It will play on the show the Signal and is also streamed live online and in various time zones. The concert will likely be be made available at a later date in their online concert archive and as a podcast.

Sarah sang on the following three Beatles songs:

Something
Because
Sun King
Carry the Weight

The radio date was mentioned in recent Art of Time email news letters. The photo is credited to myself.

New Concert - Joe's Pub (NY)

2009-10-06T10:54:00.003-04:00

Sarah is heading south of the boarder and returning once again to Joe's Pub in NY. The date is listed on their website but has not been confirmed on Sarah's official site at the time of publishing.

The concert is November 3, 2009. Tickets and information can be found here.

I noticed this show via a tweet from Sarah Slean fan, Woj. I have not been able to find any additional dates.

Update 2009-11-1 ~ Private?

Thanks to woj again who pointed out that the concert details have now been removed from the Joe's pub site and replaced with information that a private event is occuring that night. I would suggest contacting the venue if you have plans attending that night. I will also attempt to update this thread again if more details surface.

Dancing to The Disarm Suite - Jan 29/30

2009-09-23T10:39:00.007-04:00

Lucy Rupert will be choreographing to Sarah Slean's music again. We have previously mentioned Lucy as she had danced to Sarah's poem, the Abecedarian and as the choreographer for the music video of The Rose.

At the end of January a new choreographed piece will be shown.

I have been able to confirm that the composed song for this performance will be a recording of The Disarm Suite from The Baroness Redecorates. A new compostion by Sarah is in the works for a dance at a later date.

Jan. 29 – Jan 30, 2010
Blue Ceiling Dance - The Sneak
in association
with Rebecca Carney
& Caroline Niklas-Gordon

Choreographers:
Lucy Rupert, Rebecca Carney, Caroline Niklas-Gordon
Performers: Rebecca
Carney, Caroline Niklas-Gordon, Lucy Rupert
Composer: Sarah Slean

A sleek, minimalist production of new dance-theatre works by three of Toronto’s
most accomplished indie artists. Rebecca Carney offers two short works drawing
on her vast experience with the extraordinarily inventive Circus Orange;
Caroline Niklas-Gordon delves into the abyss of human emotion with A-VOID: a
solo; and Lucy Rupert collaborates with lauded Juno-nominated singer-songwriter
Sarah Slean on square inch, a solo that draws on Rupert’s passionate
expressivity and Slean’s lush orchestration for string quartet and piano.

- Dance Works

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2009-09-19T18:10:00.005-04:00

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