Sarah Jarosz

Wikipedia:

Sarah Jarosz ( /dʒəˈoʊ/ jə-ROHZ) 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. Jarosz started writing songs on the guitar, later learning to play mandolin, clawhammer banjo, and octave mandolin. She also sings, and wrote eleven of the thirteen tracks on her album. Jarosz began attending the New England Conservatory of Music in the fall of 2009.

Song Up In Her Head

During her senior year of high school, Jarosz signed with Sugar Hill Records and released her debut album “Song Up In Her Head” on June 16, 2009, produced by Gary Paczosa. Her collaborators include her teenaged peers and well-known veterans of the acoustic scene including Chris Thile, Darrell Scott, Stuart Duncan, and Jerry Douglas.

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".

Follow Me Down

In the Summer of 2010, after her freshman year of college, Jarosz began recording her next album, "Follow Me Down". Jarosz again co-produced the album with Gary Paczosa (Alison Krauss, John Prine, Chris Thile), but she had college scheduled for the fall and high-profile gigs to work around. The album was recorded in Nashville with Bela Fleck, Jerry Douglas, Stuart Duncan, Viktor Krauss, Dan Tyminski, Shawn Colvin and Darrell Scott, and also in Boston with her young trio mates Alex Hargreaves and Nathaniel Smith. A special session with Punch Brothers in New York produced a cover of Radiohead's "The Tourist"

Of 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?’”. 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 opines that Jarosz is “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.” 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.”