| Sarah Siskind | |
|---|---|
| Genres | folk, americana, rock, alternative |
| Instruments | Guitar, Piano |
| Website | http://www.sarahsiskind.com |
Sarah Siskind (born 1978) is a singer and songwriter based in Nashville and grounded in folk and Appalachian roots. Her music has been classified as: rock, folk, americana, and alternative. Alison Krauss has championed Sarah and values her songs so highly that she’s recorded two of them, both of which became singles and videos that received widespread airplay. Bluegrass/Folk legend Tim O'Brien calls her a rare talent.
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Siskind grew up in a music-filled household in North Carolina, surrounded by not only the bluegrass and old-time her parents played at many jam sessions, but a wide slice of other genres. By 4 years old she was singing and playing piano. She wrote songs starting at age 11, and when she was 14, she completed her first album. Over the next few years she won songwriting competitions and appeared on stage with Doc Watson and Maya Angelou. By the time she moved to Nashville at 21, she had released her third recording.
In 2002, Sarah released “Covered." Despite its title, it featured mostly original songs that dealt with love, family and relationships. It included contributions from guest Jennifer Kimball, whose 1990s vocal duo The Story with Jonatha Brooke had been an important influence on Sarah and who supported her development. Sarah invited Bill Frisell, a modern-day giant of jazz guitar, to anchor the studio band.
She continues to achieve new landmarks. In 2006, she made a keepsake double EP featuring intimate performances from her home, co-produced and engineered by her first husband Brian Siskind, titled "Studio.Living Room." She recently collaborated on the first album by Old Black Kettle, a genre-bending band with friends and fellow artists Julie Lee and Jodi Haynes. Her song “Simple Love” became the signature single from Alison Krauss’s “A Hundred Miles or More” compilation album of 2007. The recording earned a Grammy nomination for Best Female Country Performance. In 2006, Sarah signed with Nashville publisher Big Yellow Dog Music, home to such writers as Mindy Smith and Shawn Camp.
Indie-rock act Bon Iver was so taken with Sarah's song “Lovin’s For Fools” that the group closed most of their 2008 tour sets with the song each night, and invited her to join them on their December 2008 European tour. In addition, Ireland's artist, Paul Brady, invited her to join him on-stage for a collaboration in New York City that same year, and had her contribute backing vocals on his new album.
Sarah Siskind’s sixth release, her 2009 album "Say it Louder" is co-produced and engineered by Jason Lehning. The 13-song album narrates a journey through difficult trials, ultimately arriving at a renewed embrace of life. Union Station member Jerry Douglas contributed guitar licks to “Keep Me Alive.” Siskind also enlisted her longtime Old Black Kettle bandmates Julie Lee and Jody Seyfriend to sing harmonies, and her electric band (Joe MacMahan on guitar, Lex Price on bass and Ian Fitchuk on drums) to play on the recording.
In December 2010, Sarah opened several shows for Over the Rhine, during which she featured songs from her EP, All Come Together Now, containing six holiday themed original songs.
| Year | Album |
|---|---|
| 2002 | Covered |
| 2006 | Studio Living Room |
| 2008 | Old Black Kettle (w/Julie Lee and Jodi Haynes) |
| 2009 | Say it Louder |
| 2010 | All Come Together Now (download only EP for Christmas) |
| Song | Artist |
|---|---|
| "Goodbye Is All We Have" | Alison Krauss |
| "Simple Love" | Alison Krauss |