Sara K
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| Sara K. | ||
|---|---|---|
| Background information | ||
| Origin | Dallas, TX | |
| Genre(s) | Folk, blues, jazz, pop | |
| Occupation(s) | Songwriter, singer, musician | |
| Instrument(s) | 4-(bass)-string acoustic guitar | |
| Years active | 1970s-present | |
| Label(s) | Mesa/Blue Moon, Chesky, Stockfisch | |
| Website | sarak.com | |
Sara K. is an American musician based in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Contents |
[edit] Childhood and early career
Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in a family surrounded by music: her mother sang in a church choir, her father in a barbershop quartet, her brother played in a band, and her sister also played the guitar. However, Sara's wish to become a singer wasn't taken too seriously, because in her family, music was considered something you did as a hobby, not for a living.
In 1972, at the age of 15, she started playing the guitar, using one her sister had left behind. She took this flamenco guitar, took off the remaining regular strings, and put four bass strings on instead (tuned to an open A). This gave it a fuller tone than a conventional acoustic guitar while not sounding as deep as a bass.[1] The sound of her four-string guitar became one of her trademarks and she has been playing this type of custom guitar throughout her musical career.
When she started to play in local clubs and bars at the age of 17, she noticed that her audience responded positively to her music - which strengthened her belief that a career in music was the right choice for her. And although the era of acoustic solo performers was on the decline in the late 1970s, she stayed on that course. After graduating and moving out, she spent a few years playing whenever and wherever possible, be it "happy hours", back-up vocals for country music and jingles, or her own demo tapes. When realizing that she didn't entirely fit the contemporary scene in Dallas, she moved to New Mexico.
[edit] The "Sara K. and the Boys Without Sleep" and other touring years
After having moved to the small mountain town Ruidoso, New Mexico, she became leader of the band Sara K. and the Boys Without Sleep. From 1978 to 1983, they toured mainly New Mexico and Los Angeles. She also toured with country musician Gary Nunn for two years.
[edit] Move to New Mexico, first album
She noticed while touring that her heart was more in performing and writing her own songs, so after she moved to Santa Fe, she teamed up with several musicians and put out her debut album, Gypsy Alley (1989) with Mesa/Bluemoon. Many of its songs' topics come from the almost fifteen years when she lived a somewhat nomadic lifestyle, moving around a lot. These years had ended when she rented a place on that very same Gypsy Alley (off of Canyon Road, Santa Fe), won a goldfish on a country fair, and got her dog Bebe (who himself is mentioned numerous times in her songs).
For many people, already her debut album put Sara K.'s music close to Joni Mitchell's, especially concerning the effectiveness of subtlety in expression. Furthermore, also Sara K. comes across as authentic, she "has lived these stories, is right in the middle of them and relates them from the heart – warm, personal and moving."[2] The album won her immediately the New Mexico Music Industry Coalition's Best Album Award.[3]
[edit] The Chesky years
One of the musicians she worked with on Gypsy Alley was guitarist Bruce Dunlap, who himselves was signed to New York-based Chesky Records, a record label aimed mainly at audiophiles. He helped to bring her to the label and she remained signed to Chesky for more than ten years, up to 2001. For Sara K. herself, this opened up a whole new era marked by contrasts - between her southwestern homebase Santa Fe and Chesky's hectic New York, between the familiar analogue recording equipment and the new digital/audiophile one, and between the dream of fame and wealth and the realities of the record industry.
With Chesky, Sara K. recorded six critically acclaimed albums, Closer Than They Appear, Play On Words, Tell Me I'm Not Dreamin', Hobo, the live album No Cover, and What Matters. Her mix of her special style of guitar-playing along with the warmth of her versatile voice plus her impressive lyrics caught the attention of what would become a small but devoted fan-base.
In the meantime, she toured Europe and had planned to move to San Franscisco which never came through. At the end of her contract obligations with Chesky, Sara got the feeling that she had "been ripped off in many directions by labels and touring companies"[4], probably also because she was not making any money despite the fact that her CDs sold rather well.
[edit] Work with Stockfisch and Chris Jones
On her last tour through Germany under the Chesky contract, Günter Pauler was her sound technician and also owner of the label Stockfisch Records. He took the opportunity to give her a tour of his studio and offer her a record contract along with the prospect of having guitarist Chris Jones as guest musician. Jones' superb guitar skills and the refreshing simplicity of Pauler's one-page (!) record contract (which was nevertheless more lucrative for her than the ones before)[5] convinced her to sign.
The cooperation with Chris Jones proved to be congenial. Her first Stockfisch release, Water Falls (2001), was followed by a very successful tour that year, which in turn provided material for both a live DVD and the live album Live in Concert (2003).
In 2006, the third album with Stockfisch was released, Hell or High Water. It features ten new tracks, again with Chris Jones on guitar and dobro. Tragically, Jones died of cancer just shortly after recording and before the release of the album.
[edit] Personal life
Sara still lives in the Santa Fe area, has one daughter, Seana (*1994), and married her husband Tiego in Scotland, October 2000.
[edit] Discography
- Gypsy Alley (CD, Mesa/Bluemoon, 1989)
- Closer Than They Appear (CD, Chesky, 1990)
- Play On Words (CD, Chesky, 1993)
- Tell Me I'm Not Dreamin' (CD, Chesky, 1995)
- Hobo (CD, Chesky, 1997)
- No Cover (CD & DVD, Chesky, 1999)
- What Matters (CD, Chesky, 2001)
- Water Falls (CD, Stockfisch, 2002)
- Nautilus Tour (DVD, in-akustik, 2003)
- The Chesky Collection (CD, Chesky, 2003)
- Live in Concert (CD, Stockfisch, 2003)
- Hell or High Water (CD, Stockfisch, 2006)
