Prism Prize Eligible Video: Sarah Harmer - St. Peter’s Bay

By External Source

The 2019 Prism Prize for Best Canadian Music Video was awarded to Kevan Funk, for his clip for Belle Game’s Low. We will continue to profile noteworthy Canadian videos, including this one from a renowned and platinum-plated folk-rock songsmith. 

Sarah Harmer - St. Peter’s Bay

Sarah Harmer, a singer/songwriter from Burlington, Ontario, has been surrounded by music her entire life. Initially only picking up a guitar to learn three-chord Neil Young songs, her passion and talent flourished. As the youngest of six children, Harmer took inspiration for the music she creates from the artists her family would play; including the works of the Tragically Hip, Bruce Springsteen, and other classic '70s and '80s rock music. 

She has gone on to win international acclaim, Juno awards, and platinum sales for her 2000 album You Were Here.

Her song and video for St. Peter’s Bay is featured on the album Are You Gone?, released 10 years after her last. Harmer explains the video as “a cinematic love letter to the wilderness and the depth of human feeling” which is exactly what you get when watching this video. Filled with picturesque views of St. Peter’s Bay in Prince Edward Island, it features scenes of the singer skating around and building campfires on the frozen bay. 

"I wrote St. Peter's Bay on the plane to Prince Edward Island for a Hockey Day In Canada theatre show, but the hockey part is only a prompt," Harmer adds. "The song is about the end of a relationship, set against the frozen shoreline of Lake Ontario. I thought what better way to start the record than with black and white pioneer-era sound, and a tale of love burning down to its final ember.”

Filmed by Josh Lyon. Edited by Sarah Harmer.