Sarah Harmer

Biography

Sarah Lois Harmer (born November 12, 1970) is a Canadian singer, songwriter and environmental activist.

Early life

Born and raised in Burlington, Ontario, Harmer gained her first exposure to the musical lifestyle as a teenager, when her older sister started taking her to Tragically Hip concerts.

Career

At the age of 17, Harmer was invited to join a Toronto band, the Saddletramps. For three years, she performed with them while pursuing her studies in philosophy and women's studies at Queen's University.
After leaving the Saddletramps, Harmer put together a band of her own with several Kingston, Ontario musicians, and chose the name Weeping Tile. The band released its first independent cassette in 1994. Soon afterward, they signed to a major label, and the cassette was re-released in 1995 as Eepee. The band performed regularly on the rock club circuit and on campus radio with their subsequent albums, but never broke through to the mainstream, and broke up in 1998 after being dropped from their label.
Also in 1998, Harmer recorded a set of pop standards as a Christmas gift for her father. After hearing it, her friends and family convinced her to release it as an album; in 1999 she released it independently as Songs for Clem×Songs for Clem1999 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Blue Moon of Kentucky2:072Tennessee Waltz2:523Black Coffee2:534Stormy Weather3:005Oh Bury Me Not1:266Just a Closer Walk With Thee3:227Shine On Harvest Moon2:148Trouble in the Fields4:029Your Cheatin’ Heart2:3210Summertime3:4511Sentimental Journey2:4412O, My Beloved Father2:05. Harmer began working on another album; in 2000, she released You Were Here×You Were Here29 August 2000 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Around This Corner3:172Basement Apt.4:083The Hideout4:014Capsized3:585Lodestar5:296Weakened State2:557Don't Get Your Back Up3:548Open Window (The Wedding Song)4:099Uniform Grey3:4410Coffee Stain2:5511You Were Here4:5312Everytime3:12. In 2001, she toured around Canada and the US in support of the album.
A poppier, more laid-back effort than her work with Weeping Tile, You Were Here was a commercial success, and led to the hit singles "Basement Apartment" and "Don't Get Your Back Up×Don't Get Your Back Up2000 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracks1Don’t Get Your Back Up (radio version W/ intro)4:052Don’t Get Your Back Up3:54". The album also appeared on many critics' year-end lists, including Time magazine, which called it the year's best debut album. It was eventually certified platinum for sales of 100,000 copies in Canada. Almost half of the album (including both of its major hits) consisted of songs she had previously recorded with Weeping Tile or the Saddletramps.
In 2002, Harmer's song "Silver Road" was featured as the lead track of the soundtrack of the film Men With Brooms.
In 2004, Harmer released All of Our Names. The album included the singles "Almost×Almost2003 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracks1Almost3:572Pendulums3:26", which made the top 20 on Canadian pop charts, and "Pendulums×Pendulums2004 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Pendulums". All of Our Names won the JUNO Award for Best Adult Alternative Album, a new award category in 2005.
Her fourth album, I'm a Mountain×I'm a Mountain15 November 2005 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1The Ring3:092I Am Aglow2:443Oleander3:284I'm a Mountain3:105Goin' Out4:576Will He Be Waiting for Me?3:367Escarpment Blues4:028The Phoenix3:559Salamandre2:3710Luther's Got the Blues3:5111How Deep in the Valley5:07, was released in Canada in November 2005 and in the United States in February 2006. It was nominated for the 2006 Polaris Music Prize, a jury-selected $20,000 cash prize for the Canadian album of the year. Also in 2005 she had an acting role in Anita Doron's film The End of Silence.
Harmer has also appeared as a guest vocalist on albums by other artists, including Blue Rodeo, Great Big Sea, Rheostatics, Bruce Cockburn, Luther Wright and the Wrongs, Loomer, Skydiggers, The Weakerthans, Neko Case, Great Lake Swimmers, The Tragically Hip, and Bob Wiseman.
In February 2007, Harmer received three Juno Award nominations. I'm a Mountain was nominated for Best Adult Alternative Album and her DVD Escarpment Blues×Escarpment Blues2005 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Escarpment Blues4:00 won the JUNO Award for Best Music DVD. Harmer herself was also nominated for Songwriter of the Year for her work on "I Am Aglow", "Oleander", and "Escarpment Blues".
In 2010, Harmer released a fifth album, Oh Little Fire×Oh Little Fire22 June 2010 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1The Thief3:252Captive2:333New Loneliness3:154One Match3:125Careless3:556Washington3:467Late Bloomer4:098The City2:309Silverado2:4110The Marble In Your Eye2:4311It Will Sail2:01, which was nominated for three Juno Awards. The album signaled a shift toward a more rock-based sound.
In 2011, Harmer participated in the National Parks Project, visiting British Columbia's Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site with Bry Webb, Jim Guthrie, and filmmaker Scott Smith. She was also commissioned by CBC Radio 2 to write an original campfire song for the network.
On August 19, 2016, Harmer and Jim Creeggan appeared on CBC Radio's Q to perform a live cover of The Tragically Hip's "Morning Moon". That year Harmer also performed at the Edmonton Folk Music Festival.
In 2018, Harmer contributed the song "Just Get Here" to the compilation album The Al Purdy Songbook. In the same year, she performed at the Juno Awards of 2018 in a tribute to the late Gord Downie, performing a medley of "Introduce Yerself" and "Bobcaygeon" in collaboration with Dallas Green and Kevin Hearn.
Her newest album, Are You Gone×Are You Gone21 February 2020 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1St. Peter's Bay3:142New Low2:393Just Get Here3:424Take Me Out2:225Squeaking Voices3:526What I Was to You4:157The Lookout4:138Wildlife3:229Cowbirds3:5610Little Frogs2:4611Shoemaker4:0212See Her Wave3:12, was released in February 2020 on Arts & Crafts. It was longlisted for the 2020 Polaris Music Prize, and nominated for Best Adult Alternative Album at the Juno Awards of 2021.

Activism

In 2005, Harmer co-founded PERL (Protecting Escarpment Rural Land), an organization which campaigned to protect the Niagara Escarpment from a proposed gravel development which would see some parts of wilderness near the escarpment removed. To support the organization, she and her acoustic band embarked on a tour of the escarpment, hiking the Bruce Trail and performing at theatres and community halls in towns along the way. A documentary DVD of this tour was released in 2006 as Escarpment Blues. Harmer also coauthored a book about the campaign, The Last Stand: A Journey Through the Ancient Cliff-Face Forest of the Niagara Escarpment, which was published in 2007. In October 2012, PERL won their case against the development.
Harmer has performed and canvassed in support of the NDP and politician Marilyn Churley, who also promoted the protection of the Niagara Escarpment. She has also performed in support of Ontario Green Party Leader and MPP Mike Schreiner.
On March 24, 2018, she joined the demonstration at Kinder Morgan's Burnaby Terminal to protest against the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline.
In February 2019, she spoke against the Ontario government's proposed Bill 66 at a Kingston City Council meeting.
In January 2022, Sarah helped launch the Reform Gravel Mining Coalition with co-chair Graham Flint. The RGMC seeks to reform the gravel mining industry in Ontario.
At the Juno Awards of 2025, Harmer was presented with the Juno Humanitarian Award in honour of her environmental activism.

Family

Her niece Georgia Harmer, the daughter of Sarah's sister Mary with their former Weeping Tile bandmate Gord Tough, is a singer-songwriter whose debut album Stay in Touch was released in April 2022 on Arts & Crafts Productions.

Singles

In 2007, Harmer also reunited with Weeping Tile to record a song, "Public Square", for the Rheostatics tribute album The Secret Sessions.