ARTIST

Sarah McLachlan

Whatever it is about Canada -- cold climate, spacious plains -- something has made it a haven for emerging songwriters. From Gordon Lightfoot to Leonard Cohen to Joni Mitchell to Neil Young to Bruce Cockburn to Ron Sexsmith to Sarah McLachlan, the land has given us more than its share of top flight singer-songwriters.

McLachlan was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1968 but wasn't discovered by record executives until fronting a new wave band in Vancouver in 1985. She signed to Nettwerk Records in 1985 and lost the band, pronto! Her first album, Touch, was released in 1988 and went gold in Canada, establishing her as a sensitive young singer-songwriter with an affecting voice and a down-to-earth, shy genuineness that immediately struck a chord with her ever-expanding audience.

Solace, her second album, appeared in 1991 and brought her additional attention, including a buzz in the States. It was her third album, Fumbling Towards Ecstasy, however, which finally broke her open to mainstream America, selling over five million copies and spawning three hits: "Hold On," "Possession," and "Good Enough."

Sales and hits have always been beside-the-point for McLachlan, a happy byproduct of dedicated musicianship. If anything, the success of Fumbling helped McLachlan overcome much of her shyness and truly take charge of her artistic affairs. To coincide with the release of her fourth full American album, Surfacing, in 1997 McLachlan conceived and organized Lilith Fair, a two-stage, multi-artist bill featuring female-led and directed acts in response to industry antipathy towards putting several female artists on the same bill.

The Fair's success was so brisk a second Lilth took place in 1998 and Lilith became a virtual cottage industry, spawning a live compilation album, a book, and for better or worse, a rush among A&R execs to sign female folk singers. McLachlan was more than vindicated for offering an underdog substitute to summer's predictable male-bonding mosh pit party tents.

Written by Rob O'Connor