Interview conducted in December 2018

by Mary Andrews

Jarosz was recently at Tucson’s Fox Theatre with her friends Sara Watkins and Aoife O’Donovan of I’m With Her. The band has been touring this in support of their album release, See You Around. Collectively, they have rich, textured voices that are fresh and timeless. Their live show mirrors the album flawlessly.

Success came early for the 27-year old two-time Grammy winner. She graduated from the New England Conservatory and moved to New York City from her home state of Texas. I was able to explore her musical beginnings as well as her future plans in a telephone interview. Here are the highlights of that conversation.

Mary Andrews: You have been described as a child prodigy. One source said that you got a mandolin at he age of eight years old. What drew you to the mandolin?

SJ: I was actually nine almost ten years old when my parents got me a mandolin for Christmas. They were big music lovers. There was always music being played around the house. I had heard the mandolin in recordings and I wanted to give it a try.

I started going to a bluegrass jam every Friday night in my hometown of Wimberly, Texas outside of Austin. I fell in love with it and I continued on from there. My mom plays guitar and sings as a hobby. My dad was a music lover, but they were teachers professionally. They didn’t teach music.

What was childhood like for you being wrapped up in music? Did you do the normal things that kids do?

SJ: My childhood was great. Being located so near Austin, Texas, that is such a great music town obviously, I was constantly being taken to concerts. Music was always a part of my life and our life as a family for as long as I can remember.

I grew up in a small town. I was very involved in school and other activities besides music. Music was very much the center focus.

Who was your favorite artist when you were growing up?

SJ: I was exposed to a lot of different genres of music with my parents playing records around the house. When I first got into to playing the mandolin, my favorites were Nickel Creek, Tim O’Brien, and Gillian Welch. Those were the big three for me.

What were your dreams when you were a child back then?

SJ: Initially I was just so obsessed with the mandolin I was just excited to play it and sing as often as I could. It wasn’t until I was about 16 that I had the opportunity to play my own set at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival. I thought ‘oh, this could really be my career. This could be my life.’ That’s when I started having dreams of making a record and having a tour and all that stuff.

Those dreams have come to pass. What are your dreams now as an adult?

SJ: I just want to keep doing it. I want to have longevity and I want to keep finding new ways to be inspired musically. I find inspiration now being in this band with Sara and Aoife. It has been a major way to keep inspired. We’ve all toured around with our solo careers for a long time. It’s kind of nice to come into this band and do something different and create a new sound together.

If you weren’t a musician, what would you be?

SJ: That’s a tough one. I’ve just always known I would be a musician. Otherwise, I’ve had dreams of being a baker in a tiny baking shop in some cute little town.

What inspires your music now?

SJ: So much of my inspiration now comes from listening to other people’s music. I listen to both new music and old music. There is always so much to discover. That’s the thing about music. It’s a never-ending ‘rabbit hole.’ My favorite music is always changing. I’ve recently been listing to Jordie Lane from Australia and I really like his new record, Glassellland. I’m always listening to Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell. They are still very much relevant. I’m always shifting, but the Jordie Lane album is the most recent music I’m really into.

Let’s talk some more about I’m With Her. There were some more tour dates announced for 2019. It seems like the band is doing very well. Will you return to your solo careers?

SJ: It is going really well. It was always the plan to release this record and to tour for about a year and a half. Absolutely the three of us will return to our solo projects after touring behind this record. That being said, the three of us have hopes and dreams of this band being together for a long time. The dreams would be to do both. We would love to be able to make solo records and be involved in different things. It’s kind of balancing different projects along the way. We will be revisiting our solo projects after next year.

Do you all get along really well on the road?

SJ: We do. We have a great team spirit.

During your show, Sara Watkins spoke about how the band got together. She mentioned that you and Aoife were playing backstage at a festival and she approached the two of you and said you needed a fiddle added. Is that accurate?

SJ: No, she was joking a little bit about that one. We were all at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in 2014.

More accurately we were all scheduled to be at a songwriting workshop with some other women. The way it went down was that the three of us got together a head of time to work on some music for the workshop. That was when we sat down backstage, worked up some tunes, and it was magical from there. We knew from that moment that this would be something that would be really important to us for a long time.

Your vocals together are so incredible and spot on. It was so quiet in the theatre when you sang. The band is described as a supergroup and there is no out there like I’m With Her. What would you call the genre of the music that the band plays?

SJ: I don’t know that we like to classify ourselves within a genre. Not with just this band but in general. It’s tough to say what genre you are. This is true especially since we are influenced by so many types of music. I really do agree with people who say good music is good music and it doesn’t need to be labeled. If other people want to say what they think it is, that’s fine. I feel it’s not my place to say what genre we are.

Have you written any new songs? Do you have time to do that while you are on tour?

SJ: We have actually. It’s not announced yet. We’ve written one new song and it will be released as a single next year.

If you could only listen to three albums for a year, what would they be?

SJ: That’s a tough one. Joni Mitchell’s Court and Spark, Bob Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks, and Tim O’Brien and Darrell Scott’s Real Time. I keep thinking of all the music I’m leaving out.

Does any of the new music excite you?

SJ: I really like the songs that Jordie Raines is writing.

If you were interviewing yourself what would you ask?

SJ: That’s a hard question. I think you have covered everything.

2020 finds the three-time Grammy Award winner releasing an album of new, self-penned music, World on the Ground.  The album is a collection of emotional stories of her hometown in Texas. Her songwriting showcases Jarosz an unrivaled songwriter. The melodies are irresistible and the storytelling is compelling. Her brand of Americana shines.

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Other Unrated articles with Sarah Jarosz

Nelsonville Music Festival, Nelsonville, OH, USA June 8, 2019

by Melodie Cody

The Nelsonville Music Festival is a festival you have to experience. 4 days of music at a beautiful rustic setting on a small college campus. 3 stages, The Gladden House, and the Lo-fi Cabin combine to give festival goers the best of all music worlds.

The Nelsonville Music Festival is an annual four-day music festival located at the Historic Village of Robbins Crossing at Hocking College in Nelsonville, Ohio. The event in Southeastern Ohio usually takes place in late May or early June and features a variety of musical genres and includes local, regional, national and international artists. The weekend celebration includes local food and artisans as well as a campground for both primitive and RV camping. The festival also provides activities for children and strives to be environmentally friendly.

On the third day of the Nelsonville Music Festival, the overall vibe is fun, peaceful and musical. My personal favorite on day 3 was Steve Poltz who entertained us on the Boxcar Stage. Just for the record he is a founding member of the indie-rock band The Rugburns, collaborated with Jewel on her 1996 single “You Belong To Me”.reached number 2 on the US charts and from those experiences can weave often comical stories or OMG moments into his show. 

Also, it didn’t hurt that he was joined for his Nelsonville shows by his friend, Nashville based singer-songwriter and session guitarist, Anthony da Costa. Anthony has toured with Aoife O’Donovan, Jimmy LaFave and Sarah Jarosz. His latest solo album, “DaCosta”, was released in 2016. 

So back to the show on day 3… Steve Poltz entertains from the stage by bringing the audience into his show with a direct conversation, the story behind the song and his ability to get people to sing along with him. He is known for getting off stage and down into the crowd pulling people into an even more intimate sense of togetherness with his songs, stories, and humor. The crowd that gathered at the Boxcar Stage, even though there was a brief rain shower at the opening of the show, was completely moved by his rendition of Woody Guthrie’s This Land is Your Land. He helped us come away with a feeling of empowerment and hope as he intertwined Woody’s song with his personal message of encouragement for kindness and unity. 

Thanks, Steve Poltz, and Anthony da Costa, what a pleasure it was to spend some time with you and your music at Nelsonville 2019.

Check out our interview with Steve Poltz

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Thalia Hall, Chicago, IL, USA, March 2nd, 2018

by Gwynnie

The music of I’m With Her is like a lullaby, and Thalia Hall in Chicago became the band’s big swinging basinet on Friday March 2nd.

I’m With Her played 90 minutes of acoustic music-interchanging their guitars, mandolins, violins, and banjos, but always keeping their melodies and harmonies perfectly taut.

With that, the steadiness of the vocals and arrangements left very little room for surprise or improvisation. There

I’m With Her (credit:Gwynnie)

was one moment in which violinist Sara Watkins broke out and looked like she was going to vocally go “off the page,” but even that moment gave us the sense that they agreed in rehearsal, “Hey, take four bars and kind of let loose a little…but don’t go too far!” I’m With Her is a well-honed harmony machine, and maybe that’s why their music veers toward being predictable. After a song or two, you start anticipating the vocal perfection, which isn’t necessarily challenging to the listener, but it is very…soothing.

Personality-wise, there were some smiles among the three, but there was little stage banter. Though they performed a terrific rendition of Adele’s Send My Love (To Your New Lover),” which ignited great energy in the room, the overall vibe was mellow and even-kneeled. It’s the kind of music that you play while reading the Sunday paper, or that you put on while driving around Nashville or Austin, all of which makes the music of I’m With Her better heard than seen.

If the band were to add in some non-musical moments of humor, or an interesting story or two (they did give us one story about being stuck in a snow storm, which was entertaining), or work to build a connection with the audience, there would be more of an arc to the live show. The musicians seem to merely let their work speak for them—perhaps they are all a tad shy—which doesn’t give the performance the kind of emotional range that can stimulate or elate a crowd. The songs are lovely and sweet, and the lyrics are considerate, but this performance was missing a sense of surprise or drama.

Then again, maybe in this political day and age, that’s a good thing.

I’m With Her (credit:Gwynnie)

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I’m With Her (Sara Watkins, Sarah Jarosz, Aoife O’Donovan)

Reviewed By Stephanie Rogers

We’re With Her  (February 9, 2018)

I’m With Her is Sara Watkins, Sarah Jarosz and Aoife O’Donovan. An impromptu show in 2014 at the Sheridan Opera House in Telluride, CO, sparked the formation of I’m With Her and sent the trio touring the world together the next year. Along the way, I’m With Her formed a special, family-like chemistry, garnering acclaim for their unique blend of instrumental interplay combined with their indelible harmonies, as the New York Times describes, “… that could be sweetly ethereal, or as tightly in tandem as country sibling teams like the Everly Brothers, or as hearty as mountain gospel.” Their debut album, See You Around, was recorded in Bath, England, with Ethan Johns at Real World Studios and will be released February 16, 2018.

Folk band I’m With Her paints a mellow sonic landscape with its 12-song debut album release, “See You Around” (due out on February 16th, 2018 on Rounder Records).

Co-produced by Ethan Johns (Ryan Adams, Laura Marling, and Paul McCartney) and the band—which is comprised of Sara Watkins, Sarah Jarosz, and Aoife O’Donovan—“See You Around” lulls the listener with well-sketched harmonies, beautiful folk instrumentation, and the effortless blend of Jarosz’s, Watkins, and O’Donovan’s sweet voices.

There is a refreshing realness to the bare sound of three voices interplaying with acoustic instruments.

The opening track, “See You Around,” begins with the captivating sound of a vintage mellotron, inviting mystery, like a Jon Brion film score. This cinematic moment fades to the background as the album’s trademark fingerpicking is introduced.

From there, the track builds with layers of acoustic and electric guitars, and the three-part harmonies central to the sound of I’m With Her.

A truly folk album created by skilled musicians who play an assortment of stringed instruments—including: guitar, mandolin, violin,

Sarah Jarosz I’m with Her

banjo—“See You Around” emphasizes the natural pulse of voices and instruments. Each breath is heard before each phrase, creating an intimate listening experience.

There is an inadvertent nod to Joni Mitchell on the fourth track, “Pangaea,” which starts sonically sparse with an almost a Capella question, “What’s left when the ground cracks and the sky is black?” The song’s running dynamics throughout its three minutes and seventeen seconds build and fall with the repeated lyric “it’s a lonely life.”

Things shift gears on track five, “I-89,” with a rock intro guitar lick that builds to a crescendo halfway through the song. The listener is reminded that this is a folk album when the guitars and banjo meld with the three women’s pretty voices. “I-89” is the least “mellow” on the record, and its placement at the half-point is a nice touch.

There is one instrumental track on the album, an upbeat song called “Waitsfield,” which may also be the band’s most light-hearted. One could imagine a whole album of dance-y instrumental tracks like this.

“Wild One,” “Close it Down,” and “Crescent City” are classically folk songs, the last one recalling early Indigo Girls. These tunes are straight-ahead, lyric-based, and don’t meander much from their initial musical impulse.

“Ryland (Under The Apple Tree), “a flowing 12/8 lullaby with a minimal stroke of harmonies, is gentle and endearing.

Track nine, “Overland,” is probably the most commercial record in a collection that clearly isn’t aiming for mainstream commercialism. There are no drums or bass featured on the album, and with minimal in-your-face melodic hooks, the production treatment leans solely toward beautifully capturing the unembellished.

“See You Around“ends with the message, “It’s a hundred miles that I’m going.”

With that, a band with so much raw talent is sure to go far.

Grammy Awards

• • 2017 Undercurrent Best Folk Album Won
  • 2017 House Of Mercy Best American Roots Performance Won

Song list

1. 1. “See You Around”
   2. “Game to Lose”
   3. “Ain’t That Fine”
   4. “Pangaea”
   5. “I-89”
   6. “Wild One”
   7. “Waitsfield”
   8. “Ryland (Under the Apple Tree)”
   9. “Overland”
   10. “Crescent City”
   11. “Close It Down”
   12. “Hundred Miles”

PRE-ORDER SEE YOU AROUND

• Amazon
• iTunes/Apple music
• IWH Store
• Spotify

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Photo Galleries

Sarah Jarosz

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Sara Watkins

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Sara Watkins with Nickel Creek

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Aoife O’Donovan with Sometymes Why

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