Sarah Jarosz is having a busy spring.
The Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter is currently in the middle of a five-week tour – performing in places she hasn’t played since 2017.
And, when we spoke last Friday, she was nominated for another Grammy Award for Best Folk Album for her release “Blue Heron Suite.” (The award ultimately went to Rhiannon Giddens and Francesco Turrisi for “They’re Calling Me Home.”)
Jarosz, who is now based in Nashville, Tennessee, will be in Durango next week for a performance Wednesday at the Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College. She said it feels good being back out on the road.
“It definitely feels very exciting to actually finally be out playing behind these records for the first time since they came out. I’m in the middle of this five-week tour right now,” she said. “It’s been a long time coming, so I think like a lot of my musician friends, I’m just so glad – I did a short tour last fall and a couple of festivals last summer, but this really kind of feels like the first time we’re really out there back doing it, so I’m very happy about that.”
If you go
What: Sarah Jarosz.
When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Where: Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College, 1000 Rim Drive.
Tickets: $27-$50. Available online at https://bit.ly/3DJSOjW.
More information: Visit https://bit.ly/3DJSOjW and www.sarahjarosz.com.
The bluegrass, Americana and folk artist said she hopes to put some time aside this summer to write, potentially for her next album – and, with a handful of Grammy wins under her belt (both individually and as a member of the band I’m With Her), you’d think the heat would be on when she gets back in the studio, but that’s not the case, Jarosz said.
“Truthfully, I think all the Grammy stuff is wonderful, I’m so happy about it and it’s (an) absolute dream come true of a lifetime,” she said. “At the same time, I would still be doing this regardless of that. I just try to, it’s like a cherry on top of all of it, the Grammy stuff, but I would be excited to go into the studio regardless of if that happened or not.
“I feel like I just want to keep doing what I’m doing. I think it’s a win to just – my goal has always been to try to always have things always be about the music and try to create something that is sustainable and lasting,” she said. “I’ve never been very interested in trying to be an overnight success, I just want to keep creating, and I feel like I’ve been able to do that thus far, and so to me, it’s a win if I could just keep doing that, keep making music with people I love, keep feeling inspired, keep getting to play shows. I just want to keep doing it.”
A musician who got her start early – she began singing when she was little and by her early teens was an accomplished multi-instrumentalist (she plays the mandolin, banjo, guitar) – and who has worked with some of the music industry’s heavy hitters, Jarosz said there’s one musician she’d love to collaborate with.
“I really have been so lucky to play with so many of my heroes along the way,” she said. “Somebody that comes to mind who I’ve met and gotten to be around but never actually got to play music with is Jackson Browne. He would be someone I would love to actually get to play music with some day.”
And for Jarosz, she said that as she performs for fans across the country, she hopes people are able to interpret their lives through her songs – and be able to find a little peace at her shows, given the difficult time we’re all just now starting to emerge from.
“I hope they’re able to, especially these days after what we’ve all collectively been through in the last couple of years, I hope that they can kind of escape a little bit and find some healing in the music, some respite, so to speak,” she said. “In my songs, I always hope that people can find their own story within the song, sort of relate to it through their own lens, and connect to music that way.”
katie@durangoherald.com
