Sarah Jarosz
Encyclopedia
Sarah Jarosz is a bluegrass
multi-instrumentalist
, singer and songwriter
whose first CD, Song Up in Her Head, was released by Sugar Hill Records
on June 16, 2009. She was nominated for a Grammy Award
in the category of Best Country Instrumental Performance for the track "Mansinneedof" from that album. Her second album, Follow Me Down, was released by Sugar Hill Records on May 17, 2011.
Jarosz was born in Austin
, Texas
on May 23, 1991, but was raised in Wimberley
, Texas
. She picked up the mandolin
at age 10 and has been called "a songwriter of uncommon wisdom" by the Austin Chronicle
. Fourteen year old Sarah Jarosz emerged on the scene around 2005 as someone to watch. Jamming onstage with bluegrass icons David Grisman and Ricky Skaggs, she played her mandolin with a sure touch and real joy. It looked and sounded comfortable in her then twelve-year-old hands. She started writing songs on the guitar and took up the banjo. While her instrumental talents are formidable, "Sarah is a singer. She's just flat got it" -Tim O'Brien. She also plays clawhammer banjo and guitar
and wrote all but two of the thirteen tracks on her album. Jarosz began attending the New England Conservatory of Music
in the fall of 2009.
Sarah Jarosz has been interviewed by NPR
, where she discussed her life, music, and influences. In 2009. Jarosz was interviewed by Rolling Stone
magazine, who conveyed the interviewer's opinion that Jarosz' debut was "impressive," and compared her to Gillian Welch
, saying that Jarosz could easily be mistaken for "Welch's long lost daughter." The interviewer goes on to refer to her as a contemporary-bluegrass prodigy
, gives a high opinion of her performance on claw-hammer banjo alongside "dobro
king Jerry Douglas
," and was won over by two cover songs: Tom Waits
' "Come On Up to the House" and The Decemberists
' murder ballad "Shankill Butchers," which the interviewer felt was better than the original.
Jarosz’s growth can be felt throughout the resulting eleven tracks. The grooves are more adventurous, for starters on the first single “Come Around”. She comments, “I know for some purists out there, it’s like, ‘Why do you have to have drums?’ For me, it’s like, ‘Why not?’” And she has explored alternative ways of using her already-strong voice (see her Radiohead cover “The Tourist” and Radiohead-inspired original “My Muse”; Bob Dylan’s folk hymn “Ring Them Bells” is the album’s other cover). The album was released on May 17 to rave reviews, with USA Today giving the album 3 and half stars out of 4. The New York Times spoke about Sarah as “widely regarded as one of acoustic music’s most promising young talents: a singer-songwriter and mandolin and banjo prodigy with the taste and poise to strike that rare balance of commercial and critical success.” And American Songwriter wrote, “Follow Me Down is an invitation. Sarah Jarosz invites us along with her into a growing sonic space of collaboration and artistry at this the second step in what will surely be a long and productive musical journey.”
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
multi-instrumentalist
Multi-instrumentalist
A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays a number of different instruments.The Bachelor of Music degree usually requires a second instrument to be learned , but people who double on another instrument are not usually seen as multi-instrumentalists.-Classical music:Music written for Symphony...
, singer and songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
whose first CD, Song Up in Her Head, was released by Sugar Hill Records
Sugar Hill Records
Sugar Hill Records may refer to:*Sugar Hill Records , specializing in rap music*Sugar Hill Records , specializing in bluegrass and country music...
on June 16, 2009. She was nominated for a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
in the category of Best Country Instrumental Performance for the track "Mansinneedof" from that album. Her second album, Follow Me Down, was released by Sugar Hill Records on May 17, 2011.
Jarosz was born in Austin
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
on May 23, 1991, but was raised in Wimberley
Wimberley, Texas
Wimberley is a small town in Hays County, Texas, United States. Prior to its incorporation in May 2000, it was a census-designated place . The population was 2,626 at the 2010 census.-History:...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. She picked up the mandolin
Mandolin
A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
at age 10 and has been called "a songwriter of uncommon wisdom" by the Austin Chronicle
Austin Chronicle
The Austin Chronicle is an alternative weekly, tabloid-style newspaper published every Thursday in Austin, Texas, United States. The paper is distributed through free news-stands, often at local eateries or coffee houses frequented by its targeted demographic...
. Fourteen year old Sarah Jarosz emerged on the scene around 2005 as someone to watch. Jamming onstage with bluegrass icons David Grisman and Ricky Skaggs, she played her mandolin with a sure touch and real joy. It looked and sounded comfortable in her then twelve-year-old hands. She started writing songs on the guitar and took up the banjo. While her instrumental talents are formidable, "Sarah is a singer. She's just flat got it" -Tim O'Brien. She also plays clawhammer banjo and guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
and wrote all but two of the thirteen tracks on her album. Jarosz began attending the New England Conservatory of Music
New England Conservatory of Music
The New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, is the oldest independent school of music in the United States.The conservatory is home each year to 750 students pursuing undergraduate and graduate studies along with 1400 more in its Preparatory School as well as the School of...
in the fall of 2009.
Song Up In Her Head
During her senior year of high school, Sarah signed with Sugar Hill Records and released her debut album “Song Up In Her Head” on June 16, 2009. The project, produced by Gary Paczosa, features a mix of her new-old-timey ballads, and some rocking covers. Her collaborators include her teenaged peers and well-known veterans of the acoustic scene including Chris Thile, Darrell Scott, Stuart Duncan, and Jerry Douglas.Sarah Jarosz has been interviewed by NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
, where she discussed her life, music, and influences. In 2009. Jarosz was interviewed by Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine, who conveyed the interviewer's opinion that Jarosz' debut was "impressive," and compared her to Gillian Welch
Gillian Welch
Gillian Welch is an American singer-songwriter. She performs with her musical partner, guitarist David Rawlings. Their sparse and dark musical style, which combines elements of Appalachian music, Bluegrass, and Americana, is described by The New Yorker as "at once innovative and obliquely...
, saying that Jarosz could easily be mistaken for "Welch's long lost daughter." The interviewer goes on to refer to her as a contemporary-bluegrass prodigy
Child prodigy
A child prodigy is someone who, at an early age, masters one or more skills far beyond his or her level of maturity. One criterion for classifying prodigies is: a prodigy is a child, typically younger than 18 years old, who is performing at the level of a highly trained adult in a very demanding...
, gives a high opinion of her performance on claw-hammer banjo alongside "dobro
Dobro
Dobro is a registered trademark, now owned by Gibson Guitar Corporation and used for a particular design of resonator guitar.The name has a long and involved history, interwoven with that of the resonator guitar...
king Jerry Douglas
Jerry Douglas
Jerry Douglas may refer to:*Jerry Douglas , actor, who was on The Young and the Restless for 25 years*Jerry Douglas, country/bluegrass musician*Jerry Douglas , director and writer of adult films such as, Score...
," and was won over by two cover songs: Tom Waits
Tom Waits
Thomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...
' "Come On Up to the House" and The Decemberists
The Decemberists
The Decemberists are an indie folk rock band from Portland, Oregon, United States, fronted by singer/songwriter Colin Meloy. The other members of the band are Chris Funk , Jenny Conlee , Nate Query , and John Moen .The band's...
' murder ballad "Shankill Butchers," which the interviewer felt was better than the original.
Follow Me Down
In the Summer of 2010, after Sarah's freshman year of college, she began recording her follow-up to "Song Up In Her Head" entitled "Follow Me Down". Like her first album, Jarosz co-produced Follow Me Down with Gary Paczosa (Alison Krauss, John Prine, Chris Thile). Only this time, they had a college course schedule coming in the fall and high profile gigs to work around. The album was recorded in Nashville with some of the acoustic world’s finest pickers and singers, including Bela Fleck, Jerry Douglas, Stuart Duncan, Viktor Krauss, Dan Tyminski, Shawn Colvin and Darrell Scott, and in Boston with her talented young trio mates Alex Hargreaves and Nathaniel Smith. A very special session with Punch Brothers in New York produced one of the albums most surprising tracks, a beautiful cover of Radiohead's "The Tourist"Jarosz’s growth can be felt throughout the resulting eleven tracks. The grooves are more adventurous, for starters on the first single “Come Around”. She comments, “I know for some purists out there, it’s like, ‘Why do you have to have drums?’ For me, it’s like, ‘Why not?’” And she has explored alternative ways of using her already-strong voice (see her Radiohead cover “The Tourist” and Radiohead-inspired original “My Muse”; Bob Dylan’s folk hymn “Ring Them Bells” is the album’s other cover). The album was released on May 17 to rave reviews, with USA Today giving the album 3 and half stars out of 4. The New York Times spoke about Sarah as “widely regarded as one of acoustic music’s most promising young talents: a singer-songwriter and mandolin and banjo prodigy with the taste and poise to strike that rare balance of commercial and critical success.” And American Songwriter wrote, “Follow Me Down is an invitation. Sarah Jarosz invites us along with her into a growing sonic space of collaboration and artistry at this the second step in what will surely be a long and productive musical journey.”
Studio albums
| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Grass |
US Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
US Heat Top Heatseekers Top Heatseekers refers to either of two separate "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by Billboard Magazine: the Heatseekers Albums chart or the Heatseekers Songs chart. They were introduced by Billboard in 1993 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new and developing musical... |
US Indie Independent Albums The Billboard Independent Albums is a chart of the highest-selling independent music albums and extended plays in the United States, compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is used to list artists who are not signed to major labels... |
US Folk Folk Albums Folk Albums is a music chart published weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks the top selling "current releases by traditional folk artists, as well as appropriate titles by acoustic-based singer-songwriters" in the United States. The chart debuted on the issue dated December 5, 2009... |
US Rock |
||
| Song Up in Her Head |
|
1 | 158 | 3 | 21 | – | – |
| Follow Me Down |
|
2 | 98 | – | 16 | 4 | 26 |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||||||
Music videos
| Year | Title | Director |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | "Run Away" | Adam Hall |
| "Broussard's Lament" (live) | Bruce Keen |