Sabine Maher

Sabine Maher is a singer/songwriter and performer from the South Shore of Montréal. Sabine came here from her native Germany in 1986. She is married and has two young girls.

She sings, writes songs, plays guitar, mandolin and fiddle in a group called FOLKGRASS since1997. With the group she travelled all the way to Nunavik (northern Québec) to perform for the Innu and the Cree First Nation people. She played at the Museum of Civilization in Hull, for the Children's Wish Foundation, at the Yellow Door in Montréal, at the coffee house evenings in Lennoxville and Stanbridge East and many other venues. The group released its first CD entitled THE FIRST TIME in the fall of 1999 and will likely record another CD within the next year.

She is an active member of the TOWNSHIPS BLUEGRASS AND OLD-TYME MUSIC SOCIETY in Waterloo, Qué., has performed there many times and participates every year in their winter concert series with FOLKGRASS.

The EMOTIONS CD is her first solo project and was recorded at a friend's studio in NDG. "We recorded all the songs track by track in a soundproof booth not any bigger than a telephone booth and it was quite tight in there. When it came down to the final mixing and mastering process Raymond and I showed my friend Dac what we were looking for and after that he did a remarkable job with the rest of the songs.

The CD covers everything from country, old-time, bluegrass, folk and swing with a jazzy touch. Included are also six original compositions, here is the song list: 1) The Feeling is here to Stay - 2) Just a few Old Memories 3)Grand-Père - 4) Faded Love 5) Emotions - 6) I still miss Someone 7) Rise and Shine track - 8) Soul Searching 9) Jane's Song 10) I think of You 11) Call it Love 12) Where do We go from here 13) I'll do it all over again

These are songs that the public requested many, many times over the past few years and that with the help of Raymond St.Laurent, one of Québec's number one country music fiddlers, she was finally able to record. Quote: "Raymond has that "magic touch" on the fiddle and always brings out the best in every country, old-time or bluegrass number." He has been playing and performing at country and folk festivals with various groups all over Canada and in France for over 40 years and has had a very busy summer.

Raymond who is also an excellent bass, guitar and mandolin player did all the bass tracks on the CD, except for the song "Call it Love" where we had Perry Beaton (another member of Townships Bluegrass) come in playing the acoustic stand-up bass to match the feel of the song. Raymond is also a long time member of the Townships Bluegrass and Old-Tyme Society and plays in the band (FOLKGRASS) with Sabine. Sabine quotes: "We have had endless fun harmonizing tunes with two fiddles on and off stage and people love it."

The second half of the CD focuses more on the original and jazzy swing tunes. Here Gerry Pucci one of Montréals finest piano players adds his special touch. Gerry was Ginette Reno's main pianist and arranger for many years and is now a studio musician. He also plays at the piano bar of the Queen Elisabeth hotel in Montreal Monday to Saturday afternoons and evenings. Sabine quotes:" We have had so much fun recording these songs and are planning to do much of the same in the future."

This CD is entirely self produced and financed and I hope that everyone will enjoy listening to it. You can get a copy of the CD through Sunnymead Village Records (SVR), look for the "Artists" section or you can contact me by e-mail or telephone: 450-466-8451. Thanks for your support.

Links and Friends
- The Townships Bluegrass & Old-Tyme Music Society : http://www.sunnymead.org/tbotms
- Folkgrass: http://www.sunnymead.org/folkgrass/index.html
- on mp3.com: http://www.mp3.com/folkgrass.html

Musicians Sabine Maher: lead and harmony vocals, acoustic guitar, mandolin Raymond St.Laurent: fiddle, electric bass, lead guitar on track # 7 Gerry Pucci: piano Dac Nguyen: drums Perry Beaton: stand-up bass on track # 11 Credits-Album Produced, recorded, mixed and engineered by Dac Nguyen, Almost Famous Studios, Montréal, Qué. All songs arranged by Sabine Maher Artwork, design and photographie by Sabine Maher Cover picture by Blake Maher This CD is distributed by SVR.