SARAH SHAFEY

Starting out in her early years banging on any piano she could get her hands on, Sarah Shafey evolved into the musician you know today. She studied classical piano at the Royal Conservatory for nine years and continued on to take up the guitar, harmonica, vocals, song-writing, engineering, and producing, "the second I downloaded my first demo of Fruity Loops my mind opened up into new dimensions. I was able to finally get all of those sounds and beats that were inside of my head out into a viable electronic/pop form. I was ready to get down to business."

After having moved from place to place Sarah branched out both musically and consciously, "it was quite enriching to live amongst new cultures, religions and languages, I am quite grateful for that because it has shaped the way I march through life.”

Sarah has been noticed in the Toronto music scene and continues to play live shows locally to her ever-growing fan base. In 2006 she was nominated in the Toronto Independent Music Awards for " Best Female Performer", has been a featured artist on CBC's New Music Canada website and www.overhear.com, and has an honourable mention for the 2006 Singer/Songwriter awards at www.wearelistening.org. In August 2007 she was chosen to perform at the renound Honey Jam showcase in her home town of Toronto and was recently named one of the top 10 finalists for the Artist Forum Electronic Music Competition (AF-EMC) www.theartistsforum.org.

Her first self-titled demo was released on Feb 4th/2007. It is an infusion of rich electronic and pop textures with conscious lyrics that stem from her love for politically savvy music and artists such as Ani Difranco, Ben Harper, Cat Stevens, Radiohead, and Zero 7.

What to expect in 2008, a new EP that displays her production and song-writing skills. It truly intertwines sounds from jazz, hip-hop, rock, electronic you name it. "It's been an interesting trip recording this because it first started off as what I thought would be a new demo of sorts. That quickly turned into a new EP. I figured, if Im having this much fun why stop now. A bunch of buddies from around Toronto have been taking a second out to add a bit of what I call "magical superpower dust" to my songs and I can't wait for other fools to have a fun listen." The CD "Tiny Music Box" will be released in Nov 2008.

Sarah also currently helps manage a collective of talented musicians in Toronto called “GoodSoundsGood” who can be seen performing the first Tuesday of every month at The Supermarket in the lovely and comforting Kensington Market. (www.myspace.com/goodsoundsgood). In her free time she instructs "Music Production and Engineering" at a wonderful Toronto Youth Program called "Beatz to da Streetz" who's talented youth are just plain RAD (www.b2ds.ca). Sarah continues to catch peoples ears in all genres so stay tuned, Sarah Shafey is a Canadian musician that you don’t want to miss.

You can also hear more music at www.myspace.com/squeakycleanrecords. Squeaky Clean Records is Shafey's production/recording studio with a focus on soundtrack and the commercial use of mainly instrumental music.

.."Sarah is David Bowie meets R&B. On her self-titled EP, this Egyptian/Torontonian shines brightly. After being nominated in 2006 for a Toronto Independent Music Award for Best Female Performer, Sarah is an artist to support. Shining tracks are: “Vanity” and “Catch Me”...

.. www.umac.ca/newsletter/vol5.1.html