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Sarah McLachlan – Wintersong
At its best, the venerable pop music tradition known as
“the holiday album” can capture all the
sentiments of the season: the warm glow of friendship
and family, the bittersweet reflections on the year gone
by, the hopeful anticipation of the new year ahead.
Sarah McLachlan has created a true holiday classic with
Wintersong. The Arista recording artist imbues this
splendid twelve-song collection—the first holiday
album of her multi-platinum career—with peerless
interpretive skill and exquisite musicianship. Set for
nationwide release on October 17, 2006, Wintersong is
Sarah’s first new studio album since Afterglow,
released November 2003. Afterglow is certified double
platinum for US sales of over two million and has sold
more than four million copies worldwide, bringing
Sarah’s worldwide career sales to more than 26
million albums.
Working with producer Pierre Marchand at her home
studio in Vancouver, British Columbia, Sarah McLachlan
has reinvented her chosen repertoire in ways that
transform even the most familiar songs into special
gifts. Like the soundtrack for a winter day that passes
from snowy dawn to sunny afternoon to the chill of
twilight, Wintersong creates its own flow of moods from
start to finish.
“When I think about Christmas and everything it
means to me,” says Sarah, “I picked songs to
best represent the moods and great sense of nostalgia
that I feel about the season. These are all songs I grew
up listening to every Christmas.”
Wintersong begins with Sarah’s version of
“Happy Xmas (War is Over).” John Lennon,
Yoko Ono, and the Plastic Ono Band first recorded this
timeless declaration of peace in 1971, with the added
voices of the Harlem Community Choir. For her recording,
Sarah is joined by a children's choir of students from
the music school she personally funds and oversees in
Vancouver.
(The Sarah McLachlan Music Outreach Program was founded
in September 2003 to provide free music education
classes to inner city youths whose school music programs
have been hit by budget cuts. "As a kid,"
Sarah recalls, "music saved my life; having that
one thing that I knew I was good at made all the
difference. It feels so good to be able to see their
lives impacted. There's hardly any joy comparable.")
Sarah pays tribute to two leading Canadian
singer-songwriters on Wintersong. “River”
comes from Joni Mitchell’s 1971 album Blue, with
the memorable lyrics “It’s coming on
Christmas, they’re cutting down trees…”
“Song For A Winter's Night” was written by
Gordon Lightfoot and originally recorded in 1967 for his
second album, The Way I Feel. From the Great American
Songbook, Sarah chose “I'll Be Home For
Christmas,” previously recorded by Elvis Presley
and the Beach Boys, among others; and “Have
Yourself A Merry Little Christmas,” made famous by
Judy Garland in the 1944 film, Meet Me in St. Louis.
Sarah explains: “I leaned towards the more
melancholy, contemplative songs like ‘I'll Be Home
for Christmas,’ ‘River,’ and
‘Song for a Winter’s Night’ by Gordon
Lightfoot because they are all very sad and bittersweet
songs I've always loved to sing.
“I am not into the commercial elements of
Christmas at all. But I love the tradition of family and
friends gathering together and the memories that the
holidays create.”
No holiday album would be complete without its share of
traditional Christmas songs. For Wintersong, Sarah
selected “What Child Is This (Greensleeves),”
“O Little Town of Bethlehem,” “Silent
Night,” the classically flavored “In A Bleak
Mid Winter,” and a medley of “The First
Noel/ Mary Mary.” The shimmering piano-based
ballad “Wintersong,” was written by Sarah
specifically for this album and was the result of her
close working relationship with producer Pierre Marchand.
“Pierre and I have collaborated many times on
songs, and here I was really struggling to finish the
lyrics,” the singer admits with a bit of
self-mocking humor. “We went off to our separate
corners and wrote out all sorts of stuff. Then we came
together to hash out the details of the story, without
bashing people over the head with obvious
suffering—as I am prone to do! Pierre is great at
getting the point of the song across subtly.”
Wintersong features guest appearances by Diana
Krall, playing piano on “Christmas Time
Is Here” (from the 1965 animated TV
special A Charlie Brown Christmas); and Jim
Creeggan of Barenaked Ladies, who plays double
bass throughout the album. Wintersong was
produced, engineered, and mixed by Pierre
Marchand and mastered by Bob Ludwig.
Celebrating three years of renewed growth and
self-realization for its creator, the music of Sarah
McLachlan takes a joyous and festive turn on Wintersong.
It’s a timely gift to her universe of fans, both
new and old.
About The Artist
Since signing with Nettwerk nearly two decades ago,
every one of Sarah McLachlan's studio and live albums
and videos have been certified gold, platinum,
multi-platinum, or diamond by the CRIA, starting with
Touch (1988) and Solace (1991), both platinum sellers.
Her 1994 breakthrough, Fumbling Towards Ecstasy (3x
platinum) was followed by the digitally enhanced
multimedia version of The Freedom Sessions (1995, gold).
Sarah's landmark fourth album, the Diamond certified
Surfacing (1997), contained two Grammy Award-winning
tracks, as "Building a Mystery" won for Best
Female Pop Vocal, and "Last Dance" was voted
Best Pop Instrumental. 1999's quadruple-platinum
Mirrorball, and its platinum long-form video
counterpart, were both culled from that year's Lilith
Fair tour, and spun off Sarah's third Grammy-winning
performance, as "I Will Remember You" won for
Best Female Pop Vocal.
The 5 times platinum Afterglow followed in 2003, and
received a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Vocal Album,
while its opening track, "Fallen" was
nominated for Best Female Pop Vocal.
In September 2004, Sarah McLachlan released the
socially charged video "World On Fire,"
directed by Sophie Muller. The video made what Jon
Pareles, writing in the New York Times, called “a
modestly brilliant gesture: it stacks up budget items
for a typical clip against what the same $150,000 budget
would buy as relief efforts—cattle, bicycles,
housing, education, medicine…The contrast between
show-business splurges and practical aid is startling.”
“World On Fire,” a Grammy nominee for Best
Short Form Music Video, cost only $15 to make—the
price of a Sony mini DV tape. The remainder of the
$150,000 video budget was distributed among eleven
charitable organizations around the world including
CARE, Engineers Without Borders, Help The Aged,
Warchild, and Heifer International.
Sarah McLachlan’s Afterglow tour opened March 12,
2005 in Wellington, New Zealand and continued with dates
throughout Australia, Canada, and the US—including
a May 24 concert at New York’s Madison Square
Garden The tour concluded June 12, 2005 with a gala
perform¬ance in Sarah’s hometown of Vancouver.
Noteworthy Facts:
- Sarah McLachlan has sold over 26 million records
worldwide since her recording career began in 1988 with
her debut album Touch.
- Sarah is an eight-time Juno Award winner (Canada) and
a three-time Grammy Award winner:
Grammy Award 1999 "I Will Remember You"
-
Best
Female
Pop
Vocal
Performance
Grammy Award 1998 "Last Dance" - Best
Pop
Instrumental
Performance
Grammy Award 1998 "Building a Mystery"
- Best
Female
Pop
Vocal
Performance
- The touring festival called Lilith Fair, founded by
Sarah McLachlan, brought together two million
people over its three-year history (1997-1999) and
raised more than $7 million for charities. Indigo Girls,
Sheryl Crow, Nelly Furtado, Queen Latifah, Emmylou
Harris, and Christina Aguilera were among the many
artists who participated in Lilith Fair.
- Sarah has been profiled in cover stories for Rolling
Stone, Time and Entertainment Weekly.
- Sarah was awarded the Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Visionary Award in 1998 for advancing the careers of
women in music.
Music Outreach - An Arts Umbrella Project
"The success in this project
lies in seeing the smiles on the
kids' faces, and seeing how proud
they feel, singing and doing so well."
- Sarah McLachlan
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