Polaris Cover Sessions To Feature Sarah Harmer, Whitehorse, Great Lake Swimmers, More

Sarah Harmer, Whitehorse and Great Lake Swimmers are the first three artists announced to participate in Polaris Music Prize’s new project, Polaris Cover Sessions.

The idea for the Cover Sessions is to send past Polaris Short List nominees into Revolution Recording Studios (the best room Rush’s Neil Peart has ever recorded in), and get them to cover songs by other past Polaris Short List nominees. Our friends AUX TV will record these explorations and turn them into video releases on their YouTube channel. Polaris is also going to have these Cover Sessions pressed into seven-inch singles and available for sale next year on Record Store Day.

Sarah Harmer will cover Caribou’s “Odessa” from the band’s 2010 Short-Listed album Swim, Whitehorse will cover The New Pornographers’ “Bones Of An Idol” from the band’s 2006 Short-Listed album Twin Cinema and Great Lake Swimmers will cover Sarah Harmer’s “I’m A Mountain” from her 2006 Short-Listed album of the same name.

AUX will release a video for Harmer’s Caribou cover on August 19. They’ll air the next two videos on August 26 and September 2.

Steve Jordan, Polaris Founder and Executive Director, hopes this is the start of many new and intriguing musical partnerships.

“As much as Polaris is a prize that picks lists and winners, it’s a community of artists who greatly respect each other’s work. Like our recent Banff Sessions with Shad and Holy Fuck, we hope this kind of mutual love manifests itself on an annual basis,” said Jordan.