Sisters in song
Sara and Kamila grow together for their second CD

By STEPHANIE PORTER -- The Express -- St. John's, NL -- September 10, 2003

Although sisters Sara and Kamila Nasr say they don't do everything together, their sisterly bond seems tighter than most. Only a year apart in age - Sara is the elder, at 24. The siblings have been writing songs together for seven years. They've toured the country side-by-side, and released their first CD as Sara and Kamila four years ago.

When Kamila moved from Nova Scotia to St. John's in January 2000, it didn't take long for Sara to follow."I came here to play music and study music," says Kamila. "As soon as I got here, I called Sara and said, `OK, I'm booking us a tour, you have to come.'"That mini-tour hit "pretty much every bar" in the St. John's area in three weeks. During that time, Sara, like her sister, realized she wanted to stay. "I even went to the airport to leave, but I was flying standby," she says. "And when I didn't get on the plane, I thought it was fate and I had to stay."

The songwriters have been based here ever since. That said, they've hardly confined themselves to the province. In fact, though they say they couldn't have recorded their new CD anywhere else, it is in traveling - touring the country, playing folk festivals, their own trips - that they find their inspiration. "We've always written about our experiences, things we see going on," Sara says. "If we just stay still, especially if we're really happy, we don't write as much. "If you write a song on the road, it has to be a quick song. Those are the ones I like better."

Kamila nods in agreement, as she does frequently. The sisters seem to see eye-to-eye on most things, at least when it comes to their music careers. They're both delighted with their forthcoming second recording, Chasing Fireflies. It proves the sisters have grown together as musicians, adding more flavours of jazz and blues - and a host of instruments - to their acoustic folk sound.

'THE ONLY PLACE'

The pair grew up in a musical family, encouraged and inspired by their mother, a music teacher. "We've always performed together, and did a lot of classical music when we were kids," says Kamila. "Then we started writing folk songs and original material. "We have a pretty major commitment to each other musically. We can say, `OK, we're going to do this in a year.' And we'll stick to that. Whereas we might not stick to another job." "We always write with the other in mind," chimes in Sara. "If I try to sing a song without her, it feels like half the show. It's hard to perform these songs solo, and we can't sing each other's songs. "It seems kind of silly, but (Kamila's) always there to do it." It's a successful combination. Sara and Kamila have performed at many of the major folk festivals in Canada. They've won accolades, not only for their songs and music, but also their engaging stage presence.

The duo says much has changed between their first CD, recorded in their sister's home in Argenta, B.C., and their second disc. "This is the only place we could have done this," says Kamila. "It's the only place we know so many musicians, and so many incredible musicians." Although the sisters usually play as a duo or, recently, a trio (with saxophone player Terry Stone), the sisters lined up an impressive list of guest musicians for the CD. Wayne Hynes, Gayle Tapper, Jason Whelan, Adrian Doyle, Neil Rosenberg, Aneiran Thomas, Ed Sutherby, Chris Batstone and more are featured. Most will take part in the CD release party. "We wanted to give people something different on the CD than our usual live show," says Kamila, a multi-instrumentalist (harp, piano, flute, guitar, theramin ). "We layered and really built up the sound. I love it."

Sara and Kamila are already getting ready for their next ventures on the road. They're planning another fall tour as far as Toronto. Then they hope to head to Europe. After that, the sisters say they might start a rock band. "We have to keep changing it up or we'll get bored." Sara smiles, looking at her sister. "It's not like we have any huge dreams of being famous, but we always know that we're going to keep writing. Sometimes we need a break from each other, so we take a break to do different things. "But we both kind of want to be in a dance band."