Sarah Jarosz

Sarah Ellen Jarosz^[4] was born in Austin, Texas,^[5] and raised in Wimberley, Texas. Her parents were teachers. Jarosz is a Polish name.^[6] She began learning the mandolin at age 10 and later began learning to play the guitar, clawhammer banjo, and octave mandolin. During her senior year of high school, Jarosz signed a recording contract with Sugar Hill Records and released her debut album Song Up in Her Head in June 2009; it was produced by Jarosz and Gary Paczosa. Guest musicians on the album included Chris Thile, Darrell Scott, Stuart Duncan, and Jerry Douglas. Jarosz enrolled in the New England Conservatory of Music in 2009, and graduated with honors in 2013 with a degree in Contemporary Improvisation.^[1]

In 2010 Jarosz recorded the album Follow Me Down and again shared production duties with Gary Paczosa. The album was recorded in Nashville and features guest musicians Bela Fleck, Jerry Douglas, Stuart Duncan, Viktor Krauss, Dan Tyminski, Shawn Colvin, Darrell Scott, and bandmates Alex Hargreaves and Nathaniel Smith. A session with Punch Brothers in New York produced a cover of the Radiohead song "The Tourist". An American Songwriter reviewer wrote that "Jarosz invites us along with her into a growing sonic space of collaboration and artistry at this the second step in what will surely be a long and productive musical journey." In 2011 Jarosz performed at Jerry Douglas' the Transatlantic Sessions in Scotland. She performed Bob Dylan's "Ring Them Bells."^[7]

In 2012, Jarosz appeared on Kate Rusby's album 20, collaborating with Rusby on the song "Planets".

In 2015, Jarosz toured extensively with Sara Watkins (a founding member of Nickel Creek) and Aoife O'Donovan (of Crooked Still fame) as well as going on tour with Garrison Keillor on The America the Beautiful Tour – A Prairie Home Companion.^[8][9] In 2016, she became a regular performer on the weekly NPR series Live from Here, hosted by Chris Thile.^[10]

Together with Watkins and O'Donovan, Jarosz became a founding member of the progressive-folk trio I'm With Her. They released their debut album, See You Around, in 2018.

Her fourth studio album, Undercurrent, was released on June 17, 2016.^[11] It won the Grammy for Best Folk Album along with the song "House of Mercy" winning the Grammy for Best American Roots Performance at the 2017 Grammy Awards.^[12][13]

In 2020, Jarosz returned to her solo career with her fifth studio album, World on the Ground.^[14] This was followed 11 months later by the release of her sixth studio album, Blue Heron Suite. The previously-shelved collection was originally written and recorded between 2017 and 2018.^[15]

On September 7, 2023, Jarosz released the official video of her song "Jealous Moon", from her album Polaroid Lovers, which was released on January 26, 2024.^[16] October 10 saw the release of "Columbus & 89th", the second single off the album.^[17]

Jarosz has been called "a songwriter of uncommon wisdom" by the Austin Chronicle.^[18] Jarosz has been interviewed by NPR and Rolling Stone and described as a contemporary-bluegrass prodigy.^[19] A New York Times reviewer wrote that Jarosz is "widely regarded as one of acoustic music's most promising young talents: a singer-songwriter and mandolin and banjo prodigy with the taste and poise to strike that rare balance of commercial and critical success."^[20] Her 2013 release, Build Me Up from Bones, was dubbed by Stereo Subversion as an "organic masterwork...a warm, nuanced collection that wraps and enchants the listener", as well as "her boldest work yet" by WNYC Soundcheck.