SARAH JAROSZ at Cactus Cafe 6-10-09

You heard it here first. Destined to be a star. Within 5 years she'll be a household name like...Alison Krauss. Not kidding.
Lots of talk about this 18 year old but I'd never seen her. This show was her debut cd release party. The place was packed with about 30-40 people outside the doors who were turned away. They stayed and at the break some were able to get in as others left. It was wall to wall people inside the Cactus. We had seats about 4 rows back.
Sarah just graduated from high school and is heading to Boston to the New England Conservatory. She was also accepted at the Berklee College of Music.
All I can say is wow. Wow at any age but 18, are you kidding me?
Sarah is an unbelievably good musician. This girl can play; 6 string mandolin, 6 string banjo, 6 & 8 string guitars...who knows what else but I'm sure there are other instruments.
She writes great songs, way beyond her years. Truthfully, she writes great songs for any age. Wonderful voice, different, distinct. I can't recommend Sarah enough.
Comes from a true bluegrass background but she crosses over into many different musical lanes. To give you an idea of her tastes, she played 6 covers last night: Bill Withers, Tom Waits, The Decemberists, Gillian Welch, Bob Dylan and Doc Watson. She grew up listening to anything and everything is my guess. And boy, does it show!
Last night her accompaniment was a fiddle and an upright bass. Both players were somewhere around her age, also. She said they met years ago at a music camp and have remained good friends and always love when they get to be together playing. The fiddle player (Alex, I think) is from Portland and the bass (Sam?) is from San Fransisco. These kids playing were so much fun to watch. Full of energy, big smiles on their faces, very neat to see.
They played (2) 1 hour sets. She also played some new songs that are not yet available and they were killer. I thought both would sound great on the radio. I'm telling you, she's the real deal.
Her debut cd is called Songs Up In My Head. She co-produced it! The other producer, Gary Paczosa, has produced Alison Krauss, among others.
Admission was $10. Another bargain in Austin.

Check her out here:

http://www.sarahjarosz.com/index.html