Sarah Harmer
& Weeping Tile
We love Sarah Harmer around here. A lot.
Long before the solo records, activism, and reputation as one of Canada’s most quietly brilliant songwriters, Harmer was a teenager in Toronto playing with a band called The Saddletramps. She joined them at just 17 and spent a few years gigging while studying at Queens University here in Kingston… which if you ask me, feels like a pretty solid way to spend your late teens.
After moving on from the Saddletramps in the early ‘90s, Harmer assembled a new group with fellow Kingston musicians and christened it Weeping Tile. The band’s very first performance was a stripped-down duo set in Ottawa, with Harmer joined by bassist Joe Chithalen (of The Mahones) at a show headlined by Thomas Trio and the Red Albino. Not a bad way to get things rolling.
Before long the lineup filled out with Gord Tough on guitar and Chris Smirnios on drums, and Weeping Tile began carving out their place in the Canadian indie scene.
Like many great bands, the lineup evolved over time. By the mid-’90s most of the original members had rotated out, leaving Harmer as the lone constant. Chithalen’s bass duties were eventually taken over by Harmer’s sister Mary Harmer, Tough’s spot went to Luther Wright, and Cam Giroux stepped in behind the drums.
When Mary Harmer moved on, bassist Rebecca Henderson, better known around Kingston as Sticky (of Spin the Susan) joined the fold. Sticky’s arrival also gave birth to one of the more delightfully chaotic side projects of the era: The Wadds. After Weeping Tile finished their set, the band would sometimes reappear under this alter-ego, swapping instruments and generally causing musical mischief. It also gave Harmer a chance to hop behind the drum kit while Sticky took the lead mic.
After releasing their final independent cassette, This Great Black Night, in 1998, Weeping Tile went their separate ways.
Of course, musicians rarely sit still for long.
Sticky later teamed up with Merrill Nisker in a live project called The Shit, before forming the gloriously named Ass Machine, a band remembered locally for their high-energy live shows. She would also go on to play bass with Music Maul and Velvet Claws.
Meanwhile, Harmer launched the solo career many people now know her for, and Luther Wright formed Luther Wright and the Wrongs, whose 2001 album Rebuild the Wall re-imagined Pink Floyd’s The Wall as a full-blown country record… a concept so strange it somehow works perfectly.
Even though Weeping Tile hasn’t released a new album since the late 90’s, the band members still cross paths musically from time to time around Kingston, occasionally sharing stages or popping up on each other’s recordings.
Over the years, Harmer’s unmistakable voice has also appeared as a guest on albums by a long list of Canadian heavyweights, including Blue Rodeo, Great Big Sea, Rheostatics, Bruce Cockburn, Skydiggers, The Weakerthans, Neko Case, Great Lake Swimmers, The Tragically Hip, Bob Wiseman, and more.
This poster collection highlights Sarah Harmer and the extended Weeping Tile orbit, including projects and collaborators like Joe Chithalen, Luther Wright, The Wadds, The Shit, Assmachine, Music Maul, and Velvet Claws.
Venues represented in this collection include: Ale House, Clark Hall Pub, Crystal Palace, The Grad Club, The Grand Theatre, Iron Horse Saloon, Lake Ontario Park, The Mansion, The Merchant, Modern Fuel Gallery, The Royal Tavern, The Scherzo, Skeleton Park, Sydenham Street United Church, The Trasheteria, The Wellington and White’s Barn.
If you’re looking specifically for Weeping Tile posters, or more appearances from Sarah Harmer and friends, be sure to check out the Holiday Rock Show collection elsewhere in the poster archive.
Looking for more on Joe Chithalen? Visit our Mahones collection, and use the tags at the bottom of this page to explore other artists featured here.
Artists featured in this poster collection: 70 Whore, Ass Machine, Bagfeed, Betablokka, Bill and Joel Plaskett, Black Spades, Bloom, Blue Monday, Boag and The Braveyard Whips, Brian Flynn, Buck Jones, Bullmoose, Chris Brown, Chris Koster, Cobra Noir Lords, Doug Reansbury, Eric Schenkman, Eric Turnbull, Fred Penner, Fucked Up, Grass, Greg MacPherson, The Gutter Snipes, The Hidden Cameras, Horses, Hot Piss, Jab, Jack Grace Band, James McKenty and The Spades, Jenny Whiteley, Jim Tidman, Kris and Dee, The Laws, Little Betty, Luther Wright and The Wrongs, Maya Thau-Eleff, Metis Fiddler Quartet, Mike O’Neill, Minotaurs, Moon Sugar, The Mystic Caravan, Open Heart Society, Pelt, Reuben DeGroot, The Reverend Horton Heat, Roger James, Ronnie Hawkins & The Hawks, Sarah Harmer, The Shit, Snod, Terra Lightfoot, Thorax, The Thugees, Van Allen Belt, Velvet Claws, The Wadds, The Weather Station, The Wild West, and Yuka.
