Noah Zacharin

Noah Zacharin was born in Montreal and resides in a forest north of Madoc.
He was given his first guitar at age 9, wrote his first song at 13, began performing at 14, and is happy to say he still loves playing music.
He has been called "a stunning guitarist...no stylistic boundaries" (Holger Peterson, CBC, CKUA), "a wonderful songwriter and performer" (Paul Mills, Borealis Records), a "wonderful, adventurous guitarist" (Blues Bytes), "a poet, a songwriter, a singer we have been waiting for" (Penny Lang), "a great guitarist/singer/songwriter...a wonderfully musical player" (Randy Finney, Founder TFGA), "in a league of his own" (Brian Gladstone, Founder and AD Winterfolk Festival), "one of the best songwriters this country has produced" (the late great Rick Fielding, recording artist, radio host), and "deserving to be mentioned in the same breath with names such as James Taylor and David Wilcox" (Minor 7th).
Zacharin's recordings have garnered praise from fans and critics alike. silence spoken here (1997) was called "an understated classic...musical versatility and lyrical depth" (Xpress-Ottawa); Scene Roots and Blues dubbed aLIVE! (2000) "a real gem"; and a review of crow dark wind (2001) in Minor 7th elicited the following: "like Bruce Cockburn, Ry Cooder, and Bonnie Raitt, Noah Zacharin possesses a virtuoso command of the guitar...world-wise songwriting."
Noah Zacharin's most recent solo CD, "Waiting on Your Love", continues his tradition of literate well-crafted songs, while marking a significant departure in production. Heavy on horns and Hammond, Zacharin enlisted the best of Toronto's pop and jazz players, as well as long-time Tom Waits alum Ralph Carney, to create a recording of richness and variety. Where previous CD's have essentially been solo recordings (while often utilizing Zacharin's own overdubbed guitars, bass, voice, etc.), on "Waiting", instruments from tin whistle to tuba add just the right touch as Zacharin makes his trademark leap between blues and jazz, folk and country, bluegrass and pop. In a feature article, The Globe and Mail reported that the disc "wrests an improbable sense of order from a chaos of genres...built around his usual and unusual acoustic guitar style and literate lyrics." Since release it has received national airplay on the CBC and its French partner Radio-Canada, and early reviews have said: "Highly recommended" (Kerry Doole, Tandem Online); "One of the best singer/songwriter CD's I have ever heard" (Randy Finney, TFGA newsletter); "The heart of a poet, the mind of a lyricist, the skill of a composer, the fingers of a musician..." (Minor 7th).
In 2012 Zacharin released "Somethin' Like This" with long-time friend and musical partner Jeff Barnes. Comprised of covers--alongside one reprise of a tune off his eponymous debut recording, a.k.a. "The Green Album"-- "Somethin'" is a re-creation of a typical Barnes & Zacharin gig where show-tunes are shoved up against blues, with a segue into country territory before swerving into the path of pop. Currently Noah Zacharin is working on two new recordings. One, with producer/songwriter Douglas September, will be with full-band production; the other, with master engineer Taras Petryk, is a collection of recently unearthed material that Zacharin had forgotten about or abandoned. Release is expected by Spring of 2014. Work has also begun on a DVD of a sold-out performance that took place March 2013 at Montreal's renowned Upstairs Jazz Bar.
Much sought after as a guitarist, he has recorded and performed with some of Canada's finest writers, including Penny Lang, Bruce Murdoch (with whom he has also co-written), Lucien Francoeur, Rick Fielding, Laura Fernandez, Tony Quarrington, Lynn Harrison, Lori Cullen, etc. As a soloist he has opened shows for the likes of Odetta, David Lindley, Dave Van Ronk, Jesse Winchester, Alex de Grassi, and Fairport Convention, and performed internationally in 100's of venues from club to concert hall. As a producer and instrumentalist he has appeared on some 40 recordings in Canada and the US, and as a writer his songs have been recorded and released by Laura Fernandez (who translated it into Spanish) and by double-slide master Brian Cober.
In 2008 he was an official showcase artist at BC Contact, as well as a nominee for best singer at the Ontario Independent Music Awards. He has thrice been runner-up in the OCFF Songs From the Heart Contest, and has consistently short-listed in the competition.
Zacharin has also been a popular radio and open stage host. Through a four year tenure (until the venue closed) his Liberty Wednesdays was acknowledged by many as "the best" of its kind--eclectic, energetic, and embracing, with Noah (and a constantly evolving band) providing a stage and accompaniment to a vast array of musicians of all ages. He is also a prize-winning poet (with "a remarkable ability to articulate efficient, powerfully condensed ideas": What 18/19) and translator. While at McGill he was a winner of the Chester-Macnuaghten poetry prize, and the Matrix Magazine translation prize. He has published hundreds of poems, translations, and reviews in periodicals and anthologies worldwide, and is currently at work on several volumes of poetry and a number of children's books.