n 2010, Sarah re-released her first two albums in a double-disc package for the North American market, to coincide with her first US tour. The double CD became the No. 1 album, and Sarah the No. 1 artist, on the
folkradio.org chart (based on playlists from 195 DJs) for February 2010, the final tally at year’s end saw the double CD in the No. 6 slot for the year, beating powerful competition from far more established artists.
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in Ireland, the UK, Europe and the USA, Sarah was an official showcase artist at the International Folk Alliance conference in February 2011. She returned to the studio in June 2011 to record her third solo album, provisionally titled
N The
Plum Tree and the Rose, once again with Gerry O’Beirne producing and Trevor
Hutchinson engineering.
ow spending approximately six months of each year on the road
T T
he focus this time round is on Sarah’s own songwriting: nine of the thirteen tracks on the album are self- penned, three of these as co-writes with Gerry O’Beirne. O’Beirne also guests on the album, alongside Hutchinson on double bass, Bill Blackmore on trumpet and flugelhorn, Rod McVey on keyboards, violinists Máire Breatnach and Rosie Shipley, and percussionists Liam Bradley and Noel Eccles.
itle track ‘The Plum Tree and the Rose’, one of two tracks performed solo by Sarah on vocal and guitar, sets the twin themes of spiritual questioning and the relationship between soul and place – themes that are developed in a trio of songs inspired by buildings: ‘In Derby Cathedral’, ‘Hardwick’s Lofty
Towers’ O and ‘Kenilworth’.
ther originals include ‘Lift You Up and Let You Fly’, a poignant ballad about the pain of letting go, ‘The Sun Goes On Rising’, a bluesy rumination on
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