From the Promoter

More than thirty years after her first musical release, Toronto native Jane Siberry is renowned as one of contemporary music’s most creative, innovative artists – with eleven major recordings, her own independent label, and the acclaim of fans and peers alike.

The New York Times named When I Was A Boy one of the top ten recordings of 1993. The Edinburgh Press said she “fills the hall with astonishing, spiritually-charged music” and “had the audience breathless, in simple awe.” Interview Magazine called her a “superstar of the imagination with a passion for the truth.” In a word, The London Times said Siberry is “Spellbinding” and Melody Maker a “Genius.”

Jane Siberry’s songs have been covered by numerous artists, with particular success by k.d lang. She has collaborated with Brian Eno, Peter Gabriel, Emmylou Harris, The Indigo Girls and others. Wim Wenders included her “Calling All Angels” in the film Until the End of the World, and the song has since been used in Pay It Forward, Six Feet Under, Deadwood and more.

Siberry learned piano from the age of four, predominantly teaching herself and developing her own concepts of notation and structure. She studied music at the University of Guelph, later switching to the Sciences and earning a degree when she found freshman music courses to be stifling.

An early album went gold and established her as a Canadian pop star and Siberry began to receive awards and international attention. Her unique musical vision caught the ear of Eno in 1993 and he produced tracks on her album When I Was A Boy. The song “Calling All Angels” (a duet with k.d. lang) became her biggest commercial success and garnered her worldwide acclaim.

In 1996, Siberry formed her own label, the internet-based Sheeba Records, and has released numerous albums including a live trilogy at the Bottom Line in New York; Hush, a collection of American and Celtic folk songs and spirituals; and City, collaborations with Peter Gabriel, Hector Zazou, Joe Jackson, Nigel Kennedy and others. Her label continues to this day as a much-watched purveyor of ‘new consciousness’ transactions where the customer takes more responsibility for the pricing of downloads.
In 2002, Rhino Records produced Love Is Everything, an anthology and tribute to Siberry’s work.

She was honored by the Canada Council as outstanding artist in the field of music with the 2005 Victor Martyn Lynch-Staunton Award.
In 2006 she had her debut concert at Carnegie Hall as part of the Zankel series.

Early in 2006, Jane Siberry closed her Sheeba office and sold or gave away nearly all of her possessions – including her Toronto home and her musical instruments. She changed her name to “Issa” and retained one traveling guitar. “I felt I had to change or die.”

Three years of spartan living later, she began using the name “Jane Siberry” again and resumed international touring and recording in 2009.

Her disinclination to follow fads, trends and fashions has been Siberry’s signature from the earliest days of her musical career. Her unending desire to find and describe the essence of human experience has led her through numerous musical inventions in a multitude of forms, earning her the passionate loyalty of music-lovers world-wide.
Jane Siberry is known for her original, adventurous musical vision and her independent journey has contributed to new models for operating as a musician.
She is currently finished a long-awaited studio recording tentatively titled ‘Consider The Lily’ which is expected to be released early 2016.

Laura Barrett is a Toronto-based artist with a diverse history of solo work and collaborations across the mediums of music, film, and theatre. She scored and co-wrote original music for Sarah Goodman’s feature Porch Stories (2015) and the 2011 short film Paahtomahsikimii (Peter Lynch, director). Barrett was the musical director for live theatre productions The Rat King (Maggie MacDonald, director; Harbourfront Centre and NYC Fringe Festival) and Wayward (Becky Johnson, director). She is one of three songwriters in the 2014 Slaight Music Residency at the Canadian Film Centre.

Barrett is signed to Paper Bag Records for her solo material, including her Earth Sciences EP and debut album Victory Garden. Her performance career highlights include a North American tour supporting The Magnetic Fields, the Klondike Institute of Arts and Culture’s songwriting residency (Dawson City, YK), and showcases at South by Southwest (Austin, TX) and Canadian Blast (London, UK). She has shared the stage with acclaimed artists Owen Pallett, Patrick Watson and Basia Bulat, and her music has earned praise from the CBC, the National Post and Exclaim!, who calls Barrett “one of the most interesting musicians to call Toronto home.”