Over the course of her 12 year career, Canadian songstress Sarah Slean has made six albums, starred in short films and a movie musical, published two volumes of poetry, exhibited original artwork across Canada and shared the stage with four of her nation's leading orchestras. She has been nominated for three Junos (the Canadian Grammy), two Geminis (the Canadian Emmy), and her records have been released in over 10 countries world-wide. Classically trained since the age of 5, she began writing songs at 9, mixing her love of great symphonies, late 60's singer-songwriters and Hollywood musicals. When she first started playing clubs in the downtown Toronto circuit, Slean was enrolled in York University's piano performance Master Class. Her debut recording, 'Universe' (originally released on cassette) was an uncommon indie success story landing the Pickering native a co-venture record deal with Atlantic Records US and Warner Music Canada in 1998. It was the temporary end of her university career in Bach and Beethoven. However, Slean insisted that the record labels allow her a year-long grace period to write and record another independent recording. This was an unconventional move, but it remains an essential part of her philosophy. 'I knew I wasn't ready. I still had so much to learn. To be fluent at my craft and on fire with something to say, there's no substitute for work and life experience. You can't stand over a tomato plant and scream at it to grow faster.' This indie follow-up 'Blue Parade' sold over 10,000 copies and has become quite the collector's item to loyal fans. The experiment proved worthwhile. As Slean started touring into the northeastern States (appearing on celebrated public radio programs like Mountain Stage and World Cafe) and several times across her own country, she quickly acquired a devoted following. When the time came to make an official debut for Atlantic/Warner, she made another unconventional choice - the young, marvelously talented Hawksley Workman as her co-producer. Atlantic went for it, and the two twenty-somethings spent a month with engineer Clif Norrell (No Doubt, Jeff Buckley, Weezer, Rush ) at the world renowned Bearsville Studios in upstate New York where such acts as The Band, Bob Dylan, Jeff Buckley, R.E.M. and Patti Smith have made historic recordings. The result was Slean's official debut - the theatrical, cabaret-tinged, critically acclaimed 'Night Bugs'. The album spawned a bona fide radio hit in Canada ('Sweet Ones'), earning Slean coveted opening slots (Rufus Wainwright, Blue Rodeo, Indigo Girls, Sarah Harmer) performances at the Genies, the GG awards (with the National Arts Centre Orchestra, sparking a Gemini nomination), Idea City, Sonic Bloom (with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra), as well as several coveted spots on the popular 'Women & Songs' compilations. In 2002, her efforts were rewarded with a Juno nomination for 'Best New Artist'. After such a whirlwind three years, an artist would typically take time out to gather new material and begin the cycle again. But by then, at 25 years old, Sarah found herself in deep philosophical trouble. 'Meaning collapsed,' she describes. 'I was lost. Everything I had been living up until that point felt unreal. It was Sartre's 'Nausea'. The only way out was by drastic subtraction. Trying to heal the discord by constant input and adding to existence had left me frantic and totally numb...' Not one for half-measures, Slean sold or gave up her apartment, gave away almost all of her belongings, rented a truck to carry her antique grand piano, and moved into a small cabin in the forest about five hours north east of Toronto. In Slean's mind at the time, the move was indefinite. 'I didn't know if I would return to music, if I would live in the city again, if I would even continue the life of the 'person' I had become. My soul was commanding me to remove all false skins - it had been doing so for a while. I had just gotten to the point where I couldn't ignore the command any longer.' These evocations of Thoreau may sound a t
