9-01-08

I just returned home after a month on the road ending with another great week at Song School and Folks Fest in Colorado. Song School occurs the week before the Folks Fest and I learn so many things each year. This is my 6th year and I am always surprised at the enlightenment that can occur. This year was a really different space for me because I brought the baby and I was trying to get ready to play my main stage set on Sat Aug 16.

James, my husband, came as baby caretaker for the week which was wonderful. He was very supportive and I am so glad that he could come in-between rotations. The week of song school always presents really spontaneous moments of connection and learning, whether in the song circle, the classroom, or the silo. The community there is incredible and I always look forward to the week because I get to see all my friends and have lots of hang out time and song sharing. This year I felt really disconnected from my usual experience. I was not camping and therefore I felt I was missing out on my usual community of friends. I had 3 shows during the week which meant I wasn't there for all the open mics etc... so basically bottom line I was suffering from feeling disconnected to my community and I was feeling 'mom guilt' for being gone so much. ....

I should have known that the beauty of that week would just present itself in a new form...as it does year after year. As it turns out my friends are still my friends even if I am not around as much. We all have to give eachother grace with changes in life, and this group of people are just oozing with love and support (thank you friends and song school family) As it turns out my show on the main stage went great, and I felt very connected to the audience (of die-hards willing to brave the rain) and got to play with my talented guitar player dylan schorer (www.myspace.com/dschorer) and the amazing Jagoda sat in playing percussion. As it turns out having the baby on the road went almost nothing as planned and yet just fine all the same. As it turned out I got to spend some time with the amazing Melissa Ferrick (www.melissaferrick.com), who is hilarious and just ridiculously talented as a songwriter and performer. I also got to take classes from Josh

Ritter (www.joshritter.com) who I thought was down to earth and very insightful about music and life in general. And I got to see some amazing artists at the festival, dance in the rain, eat the greatest wontons on earth, sing with my friends at oscar blues, sing on my favorite stage to a soaking wet supportive crowd, see my friends sing in the song contest, get free wool socks, have my family come for the weekend, get and give lots of hugs, and cuddle with my husband and baby at night. I am pretty blessed. Thank you friends for being supportive especially in changing times. I hope that I can love you through all your changes as well!...

loves,...

sarah...

3-26-08

Spring is coming to Seattle and I love it! I moved here in the fall and it has been one of my favorite places to live. Yes, it rains quite a bit, but we also never once have hit -20 in the winter :)

Some big news in my life is that I am having a Baby in April. I am very excited about this new addition and feel very blessed. It has of course changed a few things about how I pursue my music lately, although I am pretty good at holding the guitar to my right side. I won't be playing out much this summer which is hard because summer is when I get to usually to most of my touring...but I will be coming to UT and CO to play a few shows in August on my way to playing the Folks Fest main stage with the band! I am so excited...the lineup this year is one of the best I've seen including Patty Griffin, Greg Brown, the Waifs, Amos Lee, Tim O'Brien and more. Go to www.bluegrass.com for more info.

Loves loves loves.

-Sarah

3-09-06

Happy March everyone! This has been the warmest winter of my life living in Austin. A few cold days, but mostly everyday lingers at 65-80 deg. I love it! There are some big changes coming around the corner this year. My husband James has been accepted to Medical School at the University of Washington, but we will spend our first year in Laramie WY, just across the border from Colorado. Then Fall 2007 we are headed to Seattle. We also have acquired 2 dogs while in Austin, it is just so easy to walk a dog in warm weather. Their names are Gracie Mae (a 7 month old Weimaraner), and Libby (a 4 year old German Shorthair Pointer, a rescue gal). We love our dogs so much, they have definitely become part of the family.

Now..back to music. I have really loved playing in Austin, it has been a big kick in the pants! I have worked harder than ever but have had some really WOW moments. There are just so many talented talented musicians here, and so many great acts traveling through..that on any given night there will be 4-5 acts that you wish you could see, and 20 others that are probably just as great! I will be back in Utah this summer to do some shows in June, including a big theater show that will be the "must see sarah sample event of the summer" and many other great ones. I will be doing a short tour through Colorado in July. Come on out, it will be beautiful and fun. Also, check out my new My Space page at http://www.myspace.com/sarahsamplemusic

Loves,
Sarah Sample

12-24-2005

Happy Holidays Everyone! What a wonderful time of year. I know that most people are ready to kill the next stereo blasting Christmas music by the 2nd week in December, but I have to admit that I still love it! I went home for Christmas, but only for 2.5 days which was just not enough. I was going to have a girls breakfast with some friends on Christmas Eve morning, my mother thought that we needed a "new" Christmas cd to listen to, I don't know what prompted her to purchase the "Luther Vandross Christmas" album...but my brother keenly observed that he is the only person able to make christmas music sound sexual. Regardless, the waffle party was great. Hope your holidays were bright friends, I hope that the extra kindness we might exude in December can be blurred into the rest of the year as well.

Loves,
Sarah