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Sarah Jarosz realizes her Austin City Limits dream
The fact of the matter is most people will probably get their first glimpse of Jarosz when her episode of Austin City Limits airs in late October, though, the 18 year-old’s performance in front of her friends, family, fellow Wimberley pickers and packed studio of soon-to-be-fans indeed felt like a downhome affair.
All artists who get the opportunity to perform on the ACL stage make note of what a special experience it is, but there was something unique in the sincerity shown by the Grammy-nominated Jarosz when she said that being on the stage was a “dream come true.”
Only a year removed from high school, Jarosz already has an incredible command of her voice but does not attempt to hide her age, as she plaintively sings about the tender pleadings for love and wistful searching of a young poet in songs like “Tell Me True” and “Edge of a Dream.”
When she introduced a song that she wrote as a response to Hurricane Katrina - Broussard’s Lament - it took me a second to do the math. Katrina was in 2005. Jarosz was 14 at the time. The righteous, passionate lines from this devil-went-down-to New Orleans tune were not the work of your typical high school student.
Although she came to music sitting around improvisational bluegrass jams, Jarosz’s style is expansive and seems to be moving toward the singer-songwriter direction as evidenced by the melancholy-tinged maturity of the observational “Gypsy” and the spiritual reverence of “My Muse” — which sounds like it could have been penned by a backpacking poet on the shores of the Indian Ocean — both of which she performed solo.
With the guys back on stage, Jarosz woke up all of the roosters in Ireland with Tim O’Brien’s “Land’s End/Chasin’ Talon,” a rousing shot of trad. She stayed in that neck of the woods — although in a much darker thicket - with her foreboding cover of The Decemberists’ “Shankill Butchers.”
Before closing with a cover of Tom Waits’ “Come on Up to the House,” the endearing young virtuoso asked the audience to help her out on the chorus and even pitch in with some harmonies if they felt up to it. With her bandmates slopping some slinky funk on it, Jarosz poured honey all over Waits’ gravel and had the newly converted aching to testify in the secular church of the Hill Country that for one night was rebuilt in the Austin City Limits studios.
The evening had special significance for me, as I was one of those people who saw the pre-teen Jarosz sitting in with her mother at the bluegrass jam in Wimberley that Mike Bond started 25 years ago. Thirty-five years ago, with mom, baby me and sister in tow, my father left his job at the attorney general’s office in Austin, heading back to the corporate law world in Houston, and, as my mother tells it, she cried when she had to leave this lovely town. So it was touching to be able to walk down The Drag with her, almost 40 years after her graduation from UT, to attend her first Austin City Limits. In the time since our family left town, we returned often to Central Texas, visiting Austin for work and play and spending time each spring in idyllic Wimberley.
About 12 years ago, my folks finally bought a little place in the town that sits along the Blanco River, and my mother (who herself has the voice of an angel) and my Elvis-impersonating father would go to the Friday night jams on the edge of town, and a few times I tagged along. It was touching to see the young lady who was raised in a community and family bound by the unique bond created by the sharing of music come of age on the stages of Austin City Limits. It was a night of goosebumps — likely for Jarosz and definitely for the audience.
For more on Jarosz’s backstory, check out this article from last year by my colleague Michael Corcoran.
(I would be remiss not to mention the lively and charming performance Steve Martin put on after Jarosz, after all, I grew up in the 70s entertaining my folks and their friends with recited comedic bits of the arrow-headed legend. It was thrilling to see a man who doesn’t need the money, in the midst of a music tour obviously prompted by passion for music and storytelling. For a sense of his performance Tuesday night, you can check out my colleague Patrick Caldwell’s review of Martin’s Sunday night show, which followed a similar formula. And you can see Martin’s ACL setlist after the jump below.)
Check out “Edge of a Dream,” the second track on Jarosz’s “Song Up in Her Head.”
Setlist:
“Tell Me True”
“Edge of a Dream”
“Broussard’s Lament”
“Mansineedof”
“Gypsy” (solo)
“My Muse” (solo)
“Land’s End”
“Shankill Butchers”
“Annabelle Lee”
“Song Up in Her Head”
“Come on Up to the House”
Top photo of Jarosz by Scott Simontacchi. Photo of Sarah and mother Mary from 2004 by Jay Janner AMERICAN-STATESMAN.
Steve Martin Austin City Limits Setlist:
“Pitkin County Turnaround”
“Daddy Played The Banjo”
“The Crow”
“Late For School”
“Hoedown at Alice’s”
“I Can’t Sit Down (Steep Canyon Rangers only)”
“Atheists Don’t Have No Songs “
“Hide Behind A Rock”
“Words Unspoken “
“Jubilation Day”
“Saga of the Old West”
“Calico Train”
Encore:
“Orange Blossom Special”
“King Tut”
Permalink | Comments (6) | Post your comment Categories: Music
Comments
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By Larry Mauldin
April 28, 2010 7:40 PM | Link to this
Great article, Matt. Very well written. Must be your Abilene/Pasadena genes.
By John in Austin
April 29, 2010 9:10 AM | Link to this
I agree. She was great!
By Keith Whatley
April 29, 2010 10:28 AM | Link to this
Well said Matt. It was a pleasure meeting you and your Mom both at the taping. Fantastic show!
By Bonnie Kolb
April 30, 2010 9:00 PM | Link to this
Sarah is absolutely incredible. Have been hearing her beautifully written songs in my head since Tues. night. I was especially impressed to hear that she attends the New England Conservatory of Music. She is one amazing young woman who is already star bound. Loved, loved, loved her show and can’t wait to see her again on ACL.
By Bill Appleman
May 4, 2010 1:14 PM | Link to this
Thanks Matthew. I had to go out of town last week and missed the taping, but your article brought back many beautiful memories of watching and listening to Sarah as she grew up before our eyes in Wimberley. I too can say I was one of the fortunate ones.
By Mike Feldman
November 19, 2010 12:35 PM | Link to this
I heard Sarah Jarosz and trio on Austin City Limits a couple nights ago for the first time and was absolutely blown away at her singing, songwriting, musicianship, absolutely locked in tight 3 piece band. The other band members are 16,18, and she is 19. I wish her the very best, and get the sense she will pursue music with integrity, and honesty. Sarah hope you perform sometime in NW Florida!