I'm a Mountain (Dig)

Sarah Harmer | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 7, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Zoe Records
• ASIN: B000CBCWI0
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #61,054 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

With the kind of rootsy charm normally reserved for summer campfires and folk festivals, Sarah Harmer has managed to capture a wonderfully organic feeling in the grooves of I'm a Mountain, her third solo effort to date. Inspired by Harmer's Kingston country abode, much of this collection--which reflects her love of bluegrass music--brings forth the same earthiness as Michelle Shocked's heralded debut, The Texas Campfire Tapes. In Harmer's case, however, this is far from a solo effort: the acoustic jam--recorded over a week in a Toronto studio--is awash in gorgeous instrumentation. From stand-up bass and fierce finger picking (courtesy of Harmer and guitarist Joey Wright) to bluesman Willie P. Bennett's harmonica and Luther Wright's banjo licks, this disc is less "unplugged" and more "mightily picked" in tone. Harmer’s relaxed voice and positive lyrics on tracks like "I Am Aglow," "The Ring," and "The Phoenix" can bring a sense of calm to even the most ruffled listener. A noteworthy highlight is "Escarpment Blues," a song that Harmer originally released as a single earlier this year. The sparse, yet lyrically-poignant track was first put out to raise money and awareness to help save an area of land near Harmer's home known as the Niagara Escarpment. If you love Dolly Parton's The Grass Is Blue (Harmer lovingly covers her "Will He Be Waiting"), the aforementioned Shocked, or the rootsy intimacy of Gillian Welch, this disc will be a perfect addition to the folk section of your music library. --Denise Sheppard

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars wonderful music again from genius songwriter, February 20, 2006

By 

euripidesgirl (New Zealand) - See all my reviews

This review is from: I'm a Mountain (Dig) (Audio CD)

Sarah Harmer does it AGAIN!!!!! This fantastic Canadian musician has consistently impressed me with every album she has put out. I think each one i have bought mainly on the strength of rave reviews from select places...and I have never, ever been let down.

Sarah's three previous albums (Songs for Clem, You Were Here and All of Our Names) all have a slightly different feel - you can never accuse her of sounding same-y the way you could with many modern acts. This album feels different again in a very refreshing and joyous way.

There's a bluegrass-country feel to this album BUT if that's not normally your kind of music, DO NOT let that put you off. This is the kind of bluegrass that could turn you onto the genre for life. The songs are a riotous blend of twilit campfire tunes, yearning ballads, upbeat little gems and brilliantly worded poetry. Sarah's voice is showcased by the music, particularly on 'Oleander' and 'Luther's Blues'. The voice has a quality about it that makes you feel she is there in the room with you, singing you a tune she just thought up...it is a warmth of tone that gives the songs an extra quality which is hard to find every day.

My particular faves are 'Oleander', and 'I am Aglow', and although it's not a Harmer tune, 'Will He Be Waiting For Me'. 'Escarpment Blues', a track written to raise money to fight attempts to destroy the natural wonder of the Escarpment in Ontario, is a protest song in the finest way possible.

The musicians playing on this album are also impressive - there is some astounding finger picking, banjo playing, and fiddle playing on these tunes. I do admit some bias as the acoustic nature of this album is by far the kind of thing I prefer to listen to, particularly on a clear evening just on dusk.

However I firmly believe if you take the time to listen to this album, buy it, and take it home, you will be better for it. Corniness aside, a quote to end:
'who was that Phoenix, anyway? Just some bird who flew away..'

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Same lovely, tripping, sing-song melodies; new rootsy sound, April 3, 2006

By 

Frank Camm (Northern Virginia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: I'm a Mountain (Dig) (Audio CD)

Years ago, our eyes locked in the drifting fog during a brief concert she gave on a Santa Monica street; it still seems like yesterday. This CD brings more of her quintessential sound-simple, sing-song melodies and flows of articulate lyrics. She has a warm voice with rough edges-a combination of slow-flowing honey and whiney after-taste, with a glow that makes itself known more like an aura emanating from masses of golden pollen (think Wolfgang Laib) than like direct light.
As always, her vocals give character to bright-simple sing-songs. But the crack slackers who accompanied her then are gone, replaced by discrete bluegrass virtuosi who bring only what each song calls for. By turns, the music offers country, western, folk, blues, and even a touch of gospel. Dominant result: I don't feel even a hint of the cool, pomo irony that locked me in place on that Santa Monica street. She is always light-footed and deft here, but she respects this roots music and makes it fresh. I am refreshed and intoxicated again, for completely different reasons.

Standouts: tr 6-Will he be waiting for me? (as pure Bleecker St. meets Dolly Parton, rivers of words ripple out-confident in their fluidity and simple elegance, but full of doubt and vulnerability). tr 8-The phoenix. (high-energy, acoustic choogle of folk song about an emotionally charged memory. Lyric: "We see the light of Venus shining high over the Midwestern plains.... Your heart's been burning way too slow and needs some firing up again."). [40:31]

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Heartwarming, March 28, 2006

By 

Thomas B Goodloe "Berkeley Goodloe" (Richmond, VA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: I'm a Mountain (Dig) (Audio CD)

This is the first album I've ever heard of Sarah Harmer and I'm really impressed. Tender, warm and delicate bluegrass melodies coupled with her thoughtful vocals make for a happy and carefree experience. Whenever I listen to this is I think of sunny summer days out on my porch with my cat and a beer.

The first track "The Ring" is my favorite. I don't know what a like more: the strings or her voice.