Sarana VerLin

Sarana VerLin (born September 19, 1953) is a violinist, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. She was the vocalist/violinist of the bands Natasha and Dark Carnival and violinist for numerous bands. VerLin was classically trained on violin starting at age 10 and performed in The International Youth Symphony which was founded by Windsor Symphony Orchestra conductor Matti Holli. After high school, she played guitar and rock violin with other musicians for many years. In 1979 after a feature article about women in rock appeared in the Detroit News, she decided to front her own band called Natasha which won an award for Best New Talent. They were active until 1985 and during that time she also worked on projects with Grammy Award winner Don Was, Grammy Award winner Eminem producer Steve King and Marilyn Manson/Debbie Harry producer Ben Grosse. They toured extensively throughout the midwest and Canada.

She is in the Detroit Metro Times Hall of Fame (alongside Patti Smith, Iggy Pop and Aretha Franklin) after winning best instrumentalist 3 years running for the Detroit Metro Times Music Awards (a.k.a. the Detroit Music Awards). She has been featured in numerous articles in the Detroit Free Press, Goldmine, Trouser Press, Metro Times, and the Detroit News as well as television and radio appearances.

Sarana was one of the original members of the supergroup Dark Carnival, which was a rotating group of superstars from the Detroit Area...most notably Niagara, Ron Asheton, Scott Asheton, Cheetah Chrome of the Dead Boys and poet Jim Carroll.

In 2004 she switched her talents from rock to Celtic, performing at midwestern renaissance and pirate festivals such as the Michigan Renaissance Festival for the next 4 years. Her most well known and popular song written during that time is St. Brendan's Reel, a song about St. Brendan.

After reappearing on the Detroit music circuit in 2009, she won Detroit Music Awards Outstanding Instrumentalist in the Acoustic category. In 2010 she won Detroit Music Awards Outstanding Folk Act as a duo with Billy Brandt and received several other nominations in various categories. Her music has been heard worldwide from Australia to Japan and her song "Knock On Wood" was featured on Taxi Talk video in 2010. VerLin's recording of 'Kyrie' was featured in a 2012 Haiti Rescue film soundtrack for Maryland's Fire & Rescue team.

She has also appeared in two films which were shot in Michigan. She is credited with playing the part of a renaissance fiddler in All's Faire in Love and also appeared in Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story where she was a journalist photographer.

A voting member of the Grammy Awards, she currently splits her time between Detroit and Stroud when not touring.