Sarah Slean's Gone Green

06/09/09 4:28pm

by Shannon Webb-Campbell (CHARTattack)

Sarah Slean won't be wearing a dress rehearsal rag.

Slean is in the midst of an environmentally conscious cross-country trip she's dubbed the Recessionista tour. She's teamed up with Canadian fashion designers, purchased carbon offsets and ditched her band.

"I've mixed worlds with fashion a few times," says Slean, calling on her cell en route to Kingston, Ont. "I've met a lot of people in the fashion industry. People have shared gowns for shows and events.

"I love to meet other creative people, but I had this fear of fashion — how it makes you ultra aware of your body; the psychology of the body. When you are wearing a certain dress, it brings out a character in you, personality traits of something that's beyond. In that sense, it's a costume; it's a part of getting on stage."

With the help of some of Toronto's finest fashionistas, Slean put out a call for designers to create unique threads constructed entirely from recycled materials, tailored to her petite frame. At each show she premiers a new dress.

Slean charmed audiences in Saskatoon in a backless ensemble created by Charmaine Bertram of Integrity Designs. Vancouver saw two stunning custom gowns (one peacock blue, the other cherry red) that were each accessorized with shoulder shrugs by Kat O'Shaughnessy of Magdelina Designs.

Annie Thompson's nod to the bygone era turned Montrealers heads with a black and white gown that was once a bed sheet, wedding gown and a sweater. Joyce Gunhouse and Judy Cornish of Comrags concocted a slim-fitting number to show Slean's Canadian pride — the dress is a patchwork of hockey jerseys.

Slean plans to auction the entire wardrobe via eBay when she returns home. All the proceeds will go to the David Suzuki Foundation.

Slean's still flexing her academic muscles despite having just finished her music and philosophy classes at University Of Toronto. She wrote detailed profiles on each designer to share with her devout fans on her official website.

"I love to write. I have such respect for writers and reporters," she says. "It's a really Canadian thing to do, and put it in an essay format.

"Maybe because I'm finished school, I desperately need to write essays. Meeting these designers and confronting these radically different personalities. What makes a person go into that world, being intrigued to understand."

Slean officially celebrates her university graduation before she flees east for the final leg of her tour.

"I convocate on June 15. Ridiculous, hey?" she says. "I'm not so worried about that dress, what with that ugly robe we have to wear.

"But I loved my private academic life. My classes were this little section of the universe devoted to my ignorance. Exploring different philosophies and ideas is so satisfying."

Slean is always seeking knowledge and opportunity, and recently cut strings from her major label, Warner Music Canada. She's thrilled to return to her roots as an independent artist.

"I've got nothing bad to say about that," she says. "They gave me ample creative room. It's just a function of the times. The whole industry as a structure is crumbling; it's being reformed. The music industry has to downsize and be more efficient.

"I just feel like the only relationship that really matters is between the people who make music and those who want to hear it. It's the reason for the whole other structure. Artists and music lovers still have the goods; we'll still be able to make the exchange with a lot less middle men. It's a good time to be a musician."

In other Slean news, the Art Of Time Ensemble invited Slean to accompany their Songbook series in 2007. There was talk of recording after they performed two sold out shows at Toronto's Harbourfront Centre.

The results arrived last Tuesday, as the nine-track Black Flowers collection, produced by Jonathan Goldsmith at Puck's Farm, came out. Black Flowers features stunning renditions of Ron Sexsmith's "Dandelion Wine," Feist's "Monarch," Leonard Cohen's "Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye," and "Dress Rehearsal Rag," Sarah Harmer's "Lodestar," among many others.

"A lot of these songwriters I met when I was just growing up in the Toronto scene and was still trying to understand what I meant to be a writer," she says. "There is nothing that I like more than artists sharing and inspiring. That has made me who I am.

Slean will play these dates:

June 10 Toronto, ON @ Massey Hall
June 25 Moncton, NB @ The Empress Theatre
June 26 Dartmouth, NS @ Alderney Landing
June 27-28 Halifax, NS @ Sonic Temple
June 29 St. John's, NL @ Delta Ballroom