Sarah is a proud Texan, living on St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. As a singer-songwriter, she draws proudly on folk, country and Americana musical traditions. Her voice is earthy and textured, yet capable of a powerful belt, garnering comparison to Margo Timmins, Linda Ronstadt and June Carter Cash. Sarah is also classically trained, with a full and flexible lyric soprano which she brings out at weddings, fundraising events and in musical theatre on St. Thomas. She studied both Music and English Literature at Colorado College. Sarah accompanies herself on guitar, which she began teaching herself at age 16, and with the piano, which she has played since beginning musical training at age 6. Says Sarah of songwriting, the words come first, sometimes in a rhythm, with a tune if I'm lucky. Her voice is haunting, and captures an authentic feeling of longing. She makes mournful observations about love, including If you find you seek another I'll be waiting in the wings/You may love the way she flutters but you haven't heard me sing (So Many Mockingbirds) I can see the end coming- that don't mean I believe/I just line up the shot- I don't consider the leave (You Can't Do No Better Than Me); Let's just see if this won't light-I never once burned a bridge before/We don't need this one anymore-We don't even cross at night (Let's Burn This Bridge Tonight). The daughter of two English majors who love to write, Sarah grew up with a love of language, great songwriting, playing and listening to music. Her mother, Ann, has played drums, piano, and a nylon-string guitar. She played the first folk songs Sarah ever heard, by John Denver, Peter Paul and Mary, and Judy Collins. Her father demonstrates an encyclopedic knowledge of folk and country lyrics, and a notable economy with words. He introduced Sarah to Gordon Lightfoot, Don Williams and the Kingston Trio on long weekend drives to Lake Texoma. Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, and Kris Kristofferson were always playing on the stereo at home. I just want to get close to the mark like them. Sarah began piano training at 6, showing raw talent and musicianship. She regularly won piano competitions growing up, gaining superior ratings at classical and jazz performance contests and exhibitions, as well as theory and ear-training contests. At age 8, she began writing poetry. One day, she says, I just wrote a poem that looked more like a song. At fourteen, Sarah began vocal training with Teresa Bledsoe and Deborah Skinner. Throughout her years at Highland Park High School, she sang in choirs directed by Frank Sargent, including the Concert Girls' Choir and the varsity choir, Lads and Lassies. Sarah began to appreciate and understand her powerful instrument at age 15, and began competing and winning choral and individual competitions at interscholastic statewide contests. She especially enjoyed learning Mozart's Requiem. At Colorado College, Sarah sang in every choir [she] could, including The College Choir and Chamber Chorus, directed by Don Jenkins. She studied guitar with Dale Miller, who introduced her to the Merle Travis fingerpicking style which continues to inform many of her songs. Sarah continued her study of piano with Dan Brink, and studied voice with Ann Brink and Martile Rowland. She performed in the Collegium Musicum with Michael Grace, in a West African Drumming ensemble led by Stuart Dinwoodie, and in the Balinese Gamelan with I Made Lasmawan. She was especially fond of her Composition studies with adviser Ofer Ben-Amots. She arranged pieces and sang with Ellement alongside singer-songwriter and banjo picker Abigail Washburn. Sarah's versions of Sweet Jane (L. Reed), It's a Heartache (B. Tyler), When Will I Be Loved (P. Everly), were particular favorites. She wrote chiefly for piano during college, and was inspired by Stephen Scott's Bowed Piano Ensemble to experiment with novel ways to play the instrument. She especially enjoyed experimenting with Indian ragas plucked on the strings of a grand piano over a sustained drone played on the lower keys, or on an open-t
