Gordon Lightfoot Book, Music and More!

Sarah McLachlan was lounging in her air-conditioned trailer, exhausted but exhilarated after a day spent fielding media questions and a night spent singing, strumming and strutting on stage. Mountain View, Calif., an hour's drive south of San Francisco, was the third stop on the Lilith Fair tour, the all-women's rock festival she conceived that features top female musicians and a travelling New Age caravan of booths and boutiques (see below). McLachlan was settling into the rhythm of a schedule that has her both headlining the 35-stop tour and acting as its chief spokeswoman. Kicking off her sandals and curling up on a couch, the 29-year-old Canadian performer reflected on the high profile t...

Six years is an eternity in pop music. Hits come and go. Superstars quickly fade, only to be supplanted by a new round of pop royalty. An artist who falls out of the limelight runs the risk of being quickly forgotten. Such is the transitory nature of the music world that keeping one’s hat in the ring is essential for any pop performer looking at career longevity. Sarah McLachlan needn’t worry. Although it’s been half a dozen years been since her last album, Surfacing, the Vancouver diva’s profile has remained high through remixes, charity work and her role as brainchild and den mother of the hugely successful Lilith Fair festivals. There are also good reasons why it’s taken McLachlan so long...

McLachlan’s enjoyed many milestones, winning three Grammys, eight Junos and selling over 40 million albums. She created Lilith Fair, an outreach program for inner-city kids and is mother to two daughters, Taja and India. Now Sarah, 46, is ready for a change. Her eighth album, she says, “is about moving through the second half of my life in a more mindful and meaningful way.” Many of its songs are inspired by her father’s death three years ago. “I had to find my footing again without the anchor of his unconditional love,” she explains. On “Song for My Father,” McLachlan pays touching tribute to him. “You were the place I could always rest my head when my world came undone,” she sings over gui...