Album Notes

sarah sample

Sarah Sample keeps it honest. Be it the lyrics. Be it the music. Be it the human experience. She strips it down to the core and simplicity rules the day.

Sample has the rare gift of being able to make even the biggest of amphitheaters feel like an intimate house concert. In an era littered with shoegazing introverts, tragically detached hipsters, and overly stylized pop tarts, she stands out like a big, beautiful sore thumb. She lets the audience in by witnessing to what is known and felt by most of us. And wrapping it up in a way we may never have heard- or felt- it before.

Engaging, witty, real. The songs and the moment become everyone's. Just ask audiences from Austin, Texas to Logan, Utah where Sarah has played coffeehouses, concert halls, amphitheaters, and street corners with artists like Stacey Earle & Mark Stuart, Peter Breinholt, Julie Hill, and Colors.

"Rotate," Sarah Sample's debut album on Ramona Records, captures the acoustic intimacy that longtime Sample fans have come to love, but also showcases a new side to Sarah. Enhanced by the tasteful production of Kalai and seasoned playing of bassist Eric Wallengren, Sample's music evolves and stretches into grand new territory. The songs remain the story, but the colors- bouzouki, drums, dobro, harmonica- are all new.

"Rotate" is the story of a girl with involuntary wanderlust, having moved over 21 times from Georgia to California, Utah to Texas. Like many debut albums, it chronicles over seven years of living, documenting a spread of changes and challenges. The songs cover a broad sweep of influences, from Patty Griffin's heartstring folk and Joni Mitchell's poetic vision to the loving-pleading-oh-baby soul of Otis Redding. "Rotate" gives you a bit of them all, in songs, sounds and a voice that are uniquely Sarah's. And soon become yours as well. Sarah is definitly worth sampling.

Press:
"I am inspired by the talent of local artists like Sarah. Her fierce following and many avid fans can't be wrong."
-Blair Larsen of the Utah Public Radio program Fresh Folk.

"Sarah's songwriting is well beyond both her age and her audience. She writes songs that would shine in any circle of professional songwriters."
- Ryan Merrill, from the group "Colors"

"Sarah captivates and entertains at a level far beyond her years."
-Cliff Smith, drummer for national touring artist, Kate MacLeod

"Watching Sarah sing is like watching a red-orange gerbera daisy grow through time-lapse photography---- thickening and lengthening before your eyes as sun and shadow flick over a slightly shifting flower."
-Herald Journal

"Sarah's lyrics and themes personally resonate and reach deeply. She is a gifted guitarist and songwriter who holds much promise."
- Dr. Elizabeth York, Music Therapy Director at Utah State University