Sarah
Latheron: Biography
There
are times in life when you can't express in words
how you feel. Luckily, there are people who have
been given a rare gift to speak for us and to us
through music. Loving The Journey is an album that
penetrates even the darkest soul. With a powerful
weave of musical simplicity and strikingly personal
lyrics of life and love, the new recordings of Sarah
Latheron prove once again that music, unaffected
and stripped to its raw core, is a universal and
powerful force.
Sarah is unassuming, has a warm smile, and is refreshingly
herself ' a rarity. The 25-year-old speaks from
the heart and expresses herself with a wisdom and
wit that far exceeds her age.
'It's been almost six years since my last recording,
and it has been a journey. I've done a lot of growing
up'what emerged from that time are songs that I
am proud of. I know I still have a lot more to learn,
but this journey has taught me to capture each moment
and make sure that it counts for something'.
Sarah, through her music, makes this journey accessible.
Her journey began in November 1977 in St. Albert,
Alberta, Canada. Her parents encouraged her creatively
from an early age. Sarah was a dancer for most of
her childhood; her love of music came later. 'I
don't remember being passionate about music until
I was about 14, when I took guitar lessons in school.
When I wrote my first song two years later, I was
hooked.'
Sarah's first song, 'Always Together,' was borne
out of her experience working at a kid's camp. 'I
had just had an amazing summer at camp and I was
feeling so incredibly desperate about leaving behind
all of the people I had grown to love. The words
for that song came so naturally. The camp asked
me to record it for an album they were putting together.
That's when I met Rick Colhoun (owner of Soundcastle
Studios), and that's where my love of the studio
developed.'
She would join forces again with Colhoun, who is
also the drummer for Vancouver band Hokus Pick,
during the fall of 1996. He suggested getting together
with himself, fellow Hokus Picker Russ Smith, and
the very talented Adrian Walther. The band was called
Lather and together they recorded "Breathe,"
Sarah's first EP. Hokus Pick and Lather set out
on a cross Canada tour, hitting 23 venues in six
weeks'loving every minute of it.
Throughout the years, Sarah and Colhoun collaborated
on various other projects. Sarah also supported
friends and local artists with backing vocals on
their albums and at live performances. But she knew
it was time to get back to her own music. She had
matured considerably, as a person and as a songwriter,
and was eager to share her music.
'Just living life does a lot to a person, some good
stuff, and some bad stuff'and I am learning to write
about it all. I used to write what I thought I should
write. Now I write what I want to write. When you
strip everything away, it's a simple melody or a
gut wrenching lyric that will speak to your soul...if
those things aren't there then your music won't
have a voice.'
In 2002 Sarah headed back into the studio to sculpt
the words and music now found on Loving the Journey.
The 6 song EP was completed in the spring of 2003
and the material marks a dramatic departure from
her earlier work. Sarah makes no apologies for who
she is and what she believes in on this album. From
the haunting and ethereal melodies heard on Deepness,
to the unabashed sarcasm in You Don't Do It, the
album proves that Sarah is an accomplished songwriter
to be watched very closely.' The songs I write now
are a labor of love...they are very raw and passionate.
This is always a challenge, but I think it is so
important to always be honest and true to what you
are feeling''
Listeners will be pleasantly surprised by Sarah's
superb rendition of Radiohead's High and Dry, which
she included on the EP.
Loving the Journey was recorded at Soundcastle Studios
and mixed at Greenhouse Studios by Colhoun. It was
mastered by Jamie Sitar at Suite Sound Labs in Vancouver.
Now together with bandmates, Steve Reimer, Jonathan
Perkins, Trevor Meier and Jay Duncan, Sarah is taking
the world by storm (well at least like a summer
breeze) and looking forward to a lot more music
' and learning a little bit more about loving the
journey.
'We're all wired differently, and I'm wired to make
music.'
Simply put'and we're glad for that.
