Songtress Sarah

Once described as ‘shades of Joni Mitchell in a jam with Karen Carpenter and Lana Del Rey’, it’s clear anyone attending the Sarah McQuaid show next week in the Alley Theatre is in for a treat.

Born in Madrid (to a Spanish father and an American mother), raised in Chicago and holding dual Irish and American citizenship, Sarah has made England her permanent residence since 2007. Her sixth solo album The St Buryan Sessions was recorded and filmed live in the beautiful medieval church of St Buryan, not far from Sarah’s home in rural West Cornwall. It was released in October 2021 and features a stunning solo performances by Sarah on acoustic and electric guitars, piano and floor tom drum, her lush, distinctive vocals echoing through the soaring space.

Sarah was taught piano and guitar at an early age by her folksinging mother, and remembers being inspired by meeting her distant cousin, well-known singer/songwriter/ storyteller Gamble Rogers, at her grandmother’s house in Indiana.

From the age of 12 she was embarking on tours of the US and Canada with the Chicago Children’s Choir, and at 18 she went to France for a year to study philosophy at the University of Strasbourg.

Sarah moved to Ireland in 1994 and lived there for 13 years, working as a music journalist and magazine editor. In 2007, she re-released her 1997 debut solo album When Two Lovers Meet, and launched her solo career. The same year saw her moving to England, and in 2008 she released her second album, I Won’t Go Home ’Til Morning. In contrast to the first album’s focus on Irish traditional songs and instrumentals, the follow-up was a celebration of old-time Appalachian folk, with Sarah’s arrangements punctuated by her own compositions and a cover of Bobbie Gentry’s classic Ode to Billie Joe.

Albums entitled The Plum Tree and The Rose, Walking Into the White and If We Dig Any Deeper It Could Get Dangerous followed,

In 2020, with her spring tour cut short due to the Covid-19 crisis, Sarah mounted a successful crowdfunding campaign to finance the filming and recording of The St Buryan Sessions, a full-length live concert sans audience in the beautiful medieval church of St Buryan, just up the road from the rural cottage where she and her family have been living since 2007.

The first single and video of the series were released in January 2021, with the roll-out of singles and videos continuing throughout the year. The full album, with accompanying concert film, was released to widespread critical acclaim on CD and limited-edition numbered blue vinyl double LP on October 15, 2021.

• Sarah McQuaid will take to the stage at the Alley Theatre next Wednesday (May 4). Tickets available now.