Sarah Jarosz
A Texas-born mandolin, octave mandolin and clawhammer banjo player and songwriter who signed to Sugar Hill while still at high school and won Grammys for Undercurrent and, with I'm With Her, for "Call My Name".
- Origin
- Wimberley, Texas
- Years active
- 2007-present
- Genres
- Americana, progressive bluegrass, folk
- Labels
- Sugar Hill, Rounder
- Also known as
- Sarah Ellen Jarosz
Texas to Boston
Sarah Ellen Jarosz was born on May 23, 1991 in Austin and raised in Wimberley, Texas, where her parents were teachers. She took up the mandolin at 10 and also plays octave mandolin, clawhammer banjo and guitar. She signed to Sugar Hill Records during her senior year of high school; Folk Alley says she met the producer Gary Paczosa at Telluride in 2007, in connection with the deal. She studied Contemporary Improvisation at the New England Conservatory from 2009 and graduated with honors in 2013.
Her albums on Sugar Hill were Song Up in Her Head (June 16, 2009, number 158 on the Billboard 200), Follow Me Down (May 17, 2011, number 98, with guests including Bela Fleck, Jerry Douglas, Stuart Duncan, Dan Tyminski, Shawn Colvin and Darrell Scott), Build Me Up from Bones (September 24, 2013) and Undercurrent (June 17, 2016). In 2011 she played Jerry Douglas's Transatlantic Sessions in Scotland, and in 2012 she appeared on Kate Rusby's album 20.
Rounder and I'm With Her
After school she moved to New York City, and lived there about three years by mid-2016; she later settled in Nashville. World on the Ground (June 5, 2020) moved her to Rounder, followed by Blue Heron Suite (May 7, 2021), recorded in 2017 and 2018 and shelved, and Polaroid Lovers (January 26, 2024). She is a founding member of I'm With Her with Sara Watkins and Aoife O'Donovan, whose debut See You Around came in 2018 and whose Wild and Clear and Blue was released on May 9, 2025. In 2015 she toured with Watkins and O'Donovan and with Garrison Keillor, and from 2016 she was a regular on NPR's Live from Here.
Her Grammys include Best Folk Album for Undercurrent, Best American Roots Performance for "House of Mercy", Best American Roots Song for "Call My Name" with I'm With Her in 2019 and Best Americana Album for World on the Ground in 2021. The Austin Chronicle called her a songwriter of uncommon wisdom.
Records
- Build Me Up from Bones 2013 · Sugar Hill
The third album, written and arranged around a trio with fiddle and cello.
- Undercurrent 2016 · Sugar Hill
The fourth album, which won the Grammy for Best Folk Album.
Songs
- Build Me Up from Bones Build Me Up from Bones · 2013
The title song of her 2013 album, nominated for the Grammy for Best American Roots Song.
- Jacqueline Undercurrent · 2016
The closing song of Undercurrent, named for the reservoir in Central Park.
Related artists
Where to go next
Official
- Sarah Jarosz Her site.
Reference
- Sarah Jarosz on Wikipedia Awards and albums.
Interviews
- Folk Alley: a conversation with Sarah Jarosz On the trio record.
Live performance archives
- Newport Folk 2013 concert A full set with setlist.
Sources
- Sarah Jarosz, Wikipedia
- Build Me Up from Bones, Wikipedia
- Undercurrent (Sarah Jarosz album), Wikipedia
- A conversation with Sarah Jarosz on Build Me Up from Bones, Folk Alley