Sarah Ellen Jarosz ( ; born May 23, 1991) is an American singer-songwriter from Wimberley, Texas. Her debut studio album, '' Song Up in Her Head'', was released in 2009 on Sugar Hill Records"A Bluegrass Debutante, A High School Graduate"
''NPR All Songs Considered''. June 14, 2009. Retrieved January 21, 2010. and the track "Mansinneedof" was nominated for a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

in the category of Best Country Instrumental Performance. Her second album, '' Follow Me Down'', was released in 2011; one of its songs, "Come Around," was a Song of the Year nominee at the Americana Music Association's 2012 Honors and Awards. Her third album, '' Build Me Up from Bones'', was released on September 24, 2013 on Sugar Hill. '' Build Me Up from Bones'' was nominated for

Best Folk Album The Grammy Award for Best Folk Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for releasing albums in the Folk music, folk genre. Honors ...

at the

56th Annual Grammy Awards The 56th Annual Grammy Awards presentation was held on January 26, 2014, at Staples Center in Los Angeles. The show was broadcast on CBS at 8 p.m. ET/PT and was hosted for the third time by LL Cool J. The show was moved to January to avoid co ...

, and its title track was nominated for Best American Roots Song. In 2016, Jarosz released her fourth studio album, '' Undercurrent''. The album won two Grammy Awards – Best Folk Album, and Best American Roots Performance for the song "House of Mercy". On June 5, 2020, she released '' World on the Ground'', her first solo studio album in four years. It was nominated for two Grammy Awards (Best American Roots Song and Best Americana Album) with Jarosz winning in the Best Americana Album category.

Early life and education

Sarah Ellen Jarosz was born in

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

, and raised in Wimberley, Texas. Her parents were teachers. Her last name is Polish. She began learning the

mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...

at age 10 and later began learning to play the guitar, clawhammer banjo, and

octave mandolin The octave mandolin (US and Canada) or octave mandola (Ireland and UK) is a fretted string instrument with four pairs of strings tuned in fifths, G−D−A−E (low to high). It is larger than the mandola, but smaller than the mandocello and its ...

. 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 Christopher Scott Thile (; born February 20, 1981) is an American mandolinist, singer, songwriter, composer, and radio personality, best known for his work in the progressive acoustic trio Nickel Creek and the acoustic folk and progressive blue ...

Darrell Scott James Darrell Scott (born August 6, 1959) is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer. He has written several mainstream country hits, and is well-established as one of Nashville's premier session instrumentalists. B ...

Stuart Duncan Stuart Ian Duncan (born April 14, 1964) is an American bluegrass musician who plays the fiddle, mandolin, guitar, and banjo. Life Duncan was born in Quantico, Virginia, and raised in Santa Paula, California, where he played in the school ...

, and

Jerry Douglas Gerald Calvin Douglas (born May 28, 1956) is an American Dobro and lap steel guitar player and record producer. He is widely regarded as "perhaps the finest Dobro player in contemporary acoustic music, and certainly the most celebrated and prol ...

. Jarosz enrolled in the

New England Conservatory of Music The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a Private college, private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. The conservatory is located on Huntington Avenue along Avenue of the Arts (Boston), the Avenue of the Arts near Boston Symphony Ha ...

in 2009, and graduated with honors in 2013 with a degree in Contemporary Improvisation.

Career

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 Viktor Krauss is an American musician who plays acoustic and electric bass. He has released solo albums and has worked as a sideman with many musicians, including his sister, singer and fiddler Alison Krauss. Music career Krauss was born to Fre ...

, Dan Tyminski,

Shawn Colvin Shawn Colvin (born Shawna Lee Colvin, January 10, 1956) is an American singer-songwriter. She is best known for her 1997 Grammy Award-winning song "Sunny Came Home". Early life Colvin was born Shawna Lee Colvin in Vermillion, South Dakota, and ...

, Darrell Scott, and bandmates Alex Hargreaves and Nathaniel Smith. A session with Punch Brothers in New York produced a cover of the

Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon-on-Thames, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band members are Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Gre ...

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

' the Transatlantic Sessions in Scotland. She performed

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

's "Ring Them Bells." In 2012, Jarosz appeared on

Kate Rusby Kate Anna Rusby (born 4 December 1973) is an English folk singer-songwriter from Penistone, West Riding of Yorkshire, England. Sometimes called the "Barnsley Nightingale", she has headlined various British folk festivals, and is one of the be ...

's album '' 20'', collaborating with Rusby on the song "Planets". In 2015, Jarosz toured extensively with Sara Watkins (a founding member of

Nickel Creek Nickel Creek (formerly known as the Nickel Creek Band) is an American bluegrass music, bluegrass band consisting of Chris Thile (mandolin), and siblings Sara Watkins (fiddle) and Sean Watkins (guitar). Formed in 1989 in Southern California, the ...

) and Aoife O'Donovan (of Crooked Still fame) as well as going on tour with

Garrison Keillor Gary Edward "Garrison" Keillor (; born August 7, 1942) is an American author, singer, humorist, voice actor, and radio personality. He created the Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) show ''A Prairie Home Companion'' (called ''Garrison Keillor's Radio ...

on ''The America the Beautiful Tour – A Prairie Home Companion''. In 2016, she became a regular performer on the weekly

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

series ''

Live from Here ''Live from Here'', formerly known as ''A Prairie Home Companion with Chris Thile'', is an American variety radio show known for its musical guests, tongue-in-cheek radio drama, and relaxed humor. Hosted by Chris Thile, it aired live on Saturday ...

'', hosted by

. 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. It won the Grammy for

along with the song "House of Mercy" winning the Grammy for Best American Roots Performance at the 2017 Grammy Awards. In 2020, Jarosz returned to her solo career with her fifth studio album, '' World on the Ground''. 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. 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. October 10 saw the release of "Columbus & 89th", the second single off the album.

Critical reception

Jarosz has been called "a songwriter of uncommon wisdom" by the ''

Austin Chronicle Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

''. Jarosz has been interviewed by

and ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' and described as a contemporary-bluegrass prodigy. A ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' 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." 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. Sarah Jarosz 1 - Ron Baker 2012

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

Music videos

Awards and nominations

Americana Music Honors & Awards

, - , style="text-align:center;" rowspan="1", 2010 , Sarah Jarosz , Emerging Artist of the Year , , - , style="text-align:center;" rowspan="1", 2011 , Sarah Jarosz , Instrumentalist of the Year , , - , style="text-align:center;" rowspan="1", 2012 , "Come Around" , Song of the Year , , - , style="text-align:center;" rowspan="1", 2014 , '' Build Me Up from Bones'' , Album of the Year , , - , 2018 , I'm with Her , Duo/Group of the Year ,

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

, - , style="text-align:center;" rowspan="1",

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, "Mansinneedof" , Best Country Instrumental Performance , , - , style="text-align:center;" rowspan="2",

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, '' Build Me Up from Bones'' ,

, , - , "Build Me Up from Bones" , Best American Roots Song , , - , style="text-align:center;" rowspan="2",

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, '' Undercurrent'' ,

, , - , "House of Mercy" , Best American Roots Performance , , - , style="text-align:center;" rowspan="2",

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, "Call My Name" ( I'm with Her) , Best American Roots Song , , - , "Call My Name" , Best American Roots Performance , , - , style="text-align:center;" rowspan="2",

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

, '' World on the Ground'' , Best Americana Album , , - , "Hometown" , Best American Roots Song , , - ,

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, ''Blue Heron Suite'' ,

, , - , style="text-align:center;" rowspan="2",

2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

, ''Polaroid Lovers'' , Best Americana Album , , - , "Runaway Train" , Best Americana Performance ,

References

External links

Official site
* * *
NPR: Various audio recordings of performances and interviews
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jarosz, Sarah Living people Singer-songwriters from Texas Bluegrass musicians from Texas American bluegrass mandolinists American women country singers American country singer-songwriters American women singer-songwriters American people of Polish descent 1991 births 21st-century American singer-songwriters Country musicians from Texas Grammy Award winners Musicians from Austin, Texas Sugar Hill Records artists People from Wimberley, Texas 21st-century American women singers I'm with Her (band) members