Sarah Blacker (born January 11, 1983) is a singer-songwriter from
Boston, Massachusetts,
USA
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territor ...
.
History
Raised in
Wellesley, Massachusetts
Wellesley () is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Wellesley is part of Greater Boston. The population was 29,550 at the time of the 2020 census. Wellesley College, Babson College, and a campus of Massachusetts Bay Comm ...
, Sarah Blacker graduated from
Wellesley High School
Wellesley High School is a public high school in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States, educating students on grades 9 through 12. The principal is Jamie Chisum, who took the position in 2014 after the departure of Andrew Keough. As of 2022 ...
before completing a degree at the
Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cou ...
.
[Miller, Jay N. (February 18, 2011).]
Music Scene: Sarah Blacker stays truer to herself on new CD
". The Patriot Ledger
''The Patriot Ledger'' is a daily newspaper in Quincy, Massachusetts, that serves the South Shore. It publishes Monday through Saturday.
Known for its thorough news coverage of the 26 communities south of Boston, ''The Patriot Ledger'' has won ...
''. Retrieved 2 February 2013. A qualified music therapist as well as a classically trained singer, she worked full-time in
music therapy
Music therapy, an allied health profession, "is the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional who has completed an approved music th ...
upon graduating – from which she took a short break to record her first album, but has since returned to on a part-time basis.
"The Only Way Out is Through" was Blacker's first album. Co-produced with Rob Loyot, the album was released in 2009. This was followed in 2011 with ''Come What May'', her second album. Primarily recorded at 37’ Productions Studio, much of the album was produced by Sean McLaughlin, who also played bass on the tracks. Blacker viewed the album as being more true to her own view of how the album should sound than "The Only Way Out is Through", in part because she felt that she had accepted more direction in the studio on her first album.
Reviews were positive, with Aimsel Ponti describing her voice as "radiant", while Matt Lambert in ''
Performer Magazine
''Performer'' is an American music magazine A music magazine is a magazine dedicated to music and music culture. Such magazines typically include music news, interviews, photo shoots, essays, record reviews, concert reviews and occasionally have ...
'' described her voice on the album as "enchanting".
This was followed with a self-published
EP, "Perfectly Imperfect". In late 2012, Blacker started a successful
PledgeMusic
PledgeMusic was an online direct-to-fan music platform, launched in August 2009. It was started to facilitate musicians looking to pre-sell, market, and distribute projects; such as recordings and concerts. It bore similarities to other artist p ...
campaign to raise funds to release her third studio album.
In 2013, she won the title of 'Female Performer of the Year' in the
New England Music Awardsand was nominated for the
Boston Music Awards
Founded in 1987, the Boston Music Awards are a set of music awards given annually that showcase talent in the Boston, Massachusetts, area.
Past shows have featured such notable talent as Aerosmith, Paula Cole, Esperanza Spalding, Boston, Ruby ...
in the Singer/Songwriter of the Year category, as well as being nominated in the same category for the annual Limelight Magazine awards. The same year saw one of her songs, "Smell of Caramel", featured in the intro of Season 6, Episode 9 of the
MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
series, ''
Jersey Shore
The Jersey Shore (known by locals simply as the Shore) is the coastal region of the U.S. state of New Jersey. Geographically, the term encompasses about of oceanfront bordering the Atlantic Ocean, from Perth Amboy in the north to Cape May P ...
''. In 2013 she was once again nominated for the Limelight awards, only this time in the best music video category.
[Nominees revealed for fifth annual music awards]
(12 January 2013). ''Limelight Magazine''. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
In 2015, Blacker released her third studio album, ''In Waves'' via ILS Music / Caroline /
Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...
.
Discography
*''The Only Way Out is Through'' (2009)
*''Come What May'' (2011)
*''Precious Little Things'' - EP (2012)
*''In Waves'' (2015)
References
Further reading
* Mennett, Kati. (June 13, 2012).
Sarah Blacker Interview. ''
Performer Magazine
''Performer'' is an American music magazine A music magazine is a magazine dedicated to music and music culture. Such magazines typically include music news, interviews, photo shoots, essays, record reviews, concert reviews and occasionally have ...
''.
External links
Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blacker, Sarahr
1983 births
Living people
American women pop singers
American women singer-songwriters
Berklee College of Music alumni
American folk singers
Wellesley High School alumni
21st-century American women singers
21st-century American singer-songwriters