Track Listing

1. Song Up In Her Head
2. Edge Of A Dream
3. Tell Me True
4. Mansinneedof
5. I Can't Love You Now
6. Broussard's Lament
7. Fischer Store Road
8. Left Home
9. Shankill Butchers
10. Can't Hide
11. Long Journey
12. Come On Up To The House
13. Little Song

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #601 in Music
• Brand: JAROSZ,SARAH
• Released on: 2009-06-16
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .21 pounds

Album Description
Seventeen-year-old Texas native Sarah Jarosz emerged on the scene about five years ago as someone to watch. Jamming onstage with bluegrass icons David Grisman and Ricky Skaggs, she played her mandolin with a sure touch and real joy. It looked and sounded comfortable in her then twelve-year-old hands. She started writing songs on the guitar and took up the banjo. While her instrumental talents are formidable, let's make one thing clear: Sarah is a singer. Her voice is velvety smooth, agile, and powerful, occasionally reminiscent of such disparate artists as Natalie Maines and Patty Griffin.

Chris Thile (Nickel Creek, Punch Brothers)
I could tell you what a tremendous musician, natural singer, and precocious writer she is, or I could simply tell you that I and everyone I know in this tight-knit community can't wait to play some more music with Sarah Jarosz.

Abigail Washburn
Proof that the future of music itself is certain to be full of virtuosity, passion, integrity, deep beauty, and soul.

Customer Reviews

Simply amazing.
I heard Sarah Jarosz interviewed in NPR and couldn't wait until I could download her album today. Somewhere I heard her referred to as a "wunderkind" -- and I hope and believe she achieve great commercial success with her albums. I think her talent and ambition reflects a huge success already achieved.

Her mastery of musical instruments is amazing -- I can't wait to see how she grows as her skills evolve. But then her voice! It's kind of understated, mature yet not overly sophisticated, so it complements and is complemented by the mandolin/banjo/guitar. Her voice also surprises. You will just have to listen to see what I mean.

I haven't been this excited about an artist in a long time! Sarah is someone very special.

Sarah Jarosz is curing my Nickel Creek withdrawal
I found out about this album by being on the Sugar Hill Records mailing list and bought it three days ago. The songs have been "up in my head" ever since. This is a post-newgrass album, with acoustic instruments paying tribute to but never being constrained by bluegrass and folk/roots tradition. The album is as musically complex and precise as Nickel Creek was, which makes it a really smart record to listen to and stands in tribute to Jarosz' skills as a songwriter.

But what has the album stuck in my head and on repeat on my mp3 player is her beautiful singing voice. Such amazing control of her pitch, with almost no trace of vibrato, and somehow she makes it seem effortless. It's a deep, rich alto that reminds me at various moments of Fiona Apple, Melissa Swingle (Trailer Bride, The Moaners) and Karen Peris (Innocence Mission).

Her personal backstory -- being barely out of high school -- is fun and inspiring, but if someone played this album for you without telling you, you'd never know. Though her lyrics have the optimism and centeredness of youth, her voice sounds layered with 10 years of adulthood.

Come to Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, Ms. Jarosz, and I'll be in the front row. This is great work, and I look forward to your next albums.

Some stunning sounds from Sarah Jarosz and her musicians
I'm at a slight loss for words in trying to describe the rather alluring music on this album; to my ears, it has quite an unusual sound - but I'm not sure whether this is because it IS unusual, or simply because I don't listen to this type of music very frequently. The music is a refreshing mix of contemporary folk, 'newgrass', blues and pop.

I'd describe SJ's voice as a 'bluesy-folksy' alto, and she employs a mature phrasing and delivery which belies her tender age (it's difficult to believe that she was only 17 when the album was recorded). She is not an especially powerful singer, and there are some odd occasions when her vocals tend to blur into the instrumental accompaniment. The playing, including that of SJ herself, is mighty impressive - fluent, vibrant, delicate and sometimes intricate, both as solo and as ensemble playing. Instruments featured most prominently are banjo, fiddle, and mandolin; other instruments played include cello, guitars (acoustic, Weissenborn slide, National resonator, dobro and pedal steel) and keyboards (piano and synths); bass is acoustic, and percussion is played on 3 tracks only. The album is 'semi-instrumental' - i.e. vocals and instrumentals are shared about 50/50 on many songs, and there are 2 all instrumental tracks.


There are 11 songs written by SJ plus 2 covers. Her own songs tend not to conform to the more usual verse/chorus/bridge patterns; instead, it strikes me that she writes from the perspective of a musician/song-arranger - at least, more so than that of a 'conventional' singer-songwriter. None of the songs disappoint, these are some of my favourites :

EDGE OF A DREAM - a haunting and atmospheric (the echo is a bit over-done) slow tempo song with lyrics which convey some of her own doubts and hopes about the future; SG accompanies herself on fretless banjo; MANSINNEEDOF - a fairly short 'bright and breezy' instrumental featuring the interplay of 2 mandolins and fiddle, all underscored by a warm acoustic bass; BROUSSARD'S LAMENT - perhaps the one song, with it's more emphatic percussion that, in parts, comes closest to rocking; edgy lyrics which (I assume) are about the mismanagement of rescue efforts following the Katrina disaster; fine fiddle solo from Stuart Duncan; LEFT HOME - a song with a strong pop feel; terrific short solos on dobro (Jerry Douglas) and fiddle (Stuart Duncan), plus great harmonies; SHANKHILL BUTCHERS (Colin Meloy) - splendid cover of the Decemberists' menacing and creepy murder ballad, strong vocals from SG delivered with a hint of sardonicism; COME ON UP TO THE HOUSE (Tom Waits/Kathleen Brennan) - a swinging blues/gospel flavoured rendition of this song.


'Song Up In Her Head' will not appeal to everyone, but if you like the music of Nickel Creek, Crooked Still or The Wailin' Jennys, then you might want to give it a try. It's a remarkable debut album from a talented young artist and some highly accomplished musicians.