Biography
A year after releasing her second full-length record that garnered both strong positive reviews and a prime time television placement last spring, Kansas City’s Sara Swenson is putting forth another project – an EP that showcases her fast, catchy, optimistic side and features her backing band, The Pearl Snaps.
“Part of the fun of making this cd was watching a more upbeat side come into Sara’s cache of songs. Make no mistake, the power-ballads are still there, but so are some more rock influences,” producer Mike Crawford said. “The bridge of ‘Windows and Doors’ feels a little like The Clash backing Amie Mann…so good! The bridge of ‘Never Left My Mind’ is pure 4-on-the-floor, fist-pumping fun.
“The band is rocking and Sara continues to put together heartfelt lyrics that engage me on a sometimes emotional, sometimes spiritual level…the combination of all these things makes for an excellent little record!” Crawford said.
The five songs were recorded during the summer of 2011 – four under the production of Crawford and one with Beau Davidson. All songs were written by Swenson, while her backing band, The Pearl Snaps (Ian Davidson, John Flynn, Brandon Graves, Sarah Magill and Roger Strong) filled out the arrangements with various electric, acoustic and slide guitars, mandolin, piano, bass, drums and background vocals.
“Sara’s songs are refreshingly genuine (like Sara herself), and my fellow Snaps bring a sense of honesty alongside their wide and various musical talents. And then there’s the sonic imagination of producer Mike Crawford, which took us in some unexpected but oh-so-happy directions,” Magill said.
With each of her projects, Swenson’s goal has been to create music that is worth the attention of listeners, combining solid and interesting musical parts with lyrics that matter. “Never Left My Mind,” enabled her to do that while trying out some new approaches and sounds.
“Making this record was energizing for me. It was so much fun to be working on songs that made me want to bounce around in the studio, while also really believing in the lyrics behind them. It feels really good to be getting out some music like that, as well as a couple more affirming and brooding slower tunes,” Swenson said.
The digital release date for “Never Left My Mind” is set for Nov. 18, 2011. Sara Swenson and The Pearl Snaps will release the physical album in Kansas City with a show at The Brick at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 19, 2011. Howard Iceberg and The Titanics will open.
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In addition to having a song featured on the season finale episode of ABC’s “Private Practice” last spring, Swenson has hit several milestones in her short music career. In 2011, Kansas City fans voted her the Singer-Songwriter of the Year at the Pitch Music Awards for the second time in three years (she also earned the honor in 2009), and in 2010 she boasted a performance at the Kansas City Lilith Fair. Her songs are regularly featured on internet radio listened to by thousands world-wide, and music bloggers are starting to pick up on her sounds coming out of Kansas City.
Her recent increase in solo touring has also started to inspire a new audience. A recent review by St. Louis radio station KDHX stated, “The emotion and energy she put into her performance was inspiring, all while maintaining a sweet, down-to-earth demeanor. Despite being one woman with a guitar, she managed to fill the room with as much presence as the five-piece ensemble that followed her set.”
Just four years ago, a guitar-store employee suggested she try her hand at songwriting. Turns out Swenson had a natural talent. In 2008, she collected her first batch of tunes, went into the recording studio with producer Don Chaffer, and recorded her rookie full-length album, “Sara Swenson”–nine raw tunes that featured her vocals and guitar with little extra decoration.
Simple as it was, people connected with her music. In addition to her Pitch Music Award, she landed the top spot on KKFI 90.1’s list of 100 Top Recordings of 2009. She then recorded and released the digital single “Be Not Far”–the track that won Ourstage’s Lilith Local Talent Contest–putting her on the 2010 Kansas City Lilith Fair bill with Sarah McLachlan, Emmylou Harris, Heart, Ingrid Michaelson and others.
Later that year, she set about her goal of creating a new work of art. Her introspection produced a record of diverse songs that demonstrated artistic maturation while retaining the depth, heart and simple charm that attracted her first fans. Working with Chaffer once again and calling upon the vocal talents of singer-songwriting peers Katie Herzig, Gregory Alan Isakov and Don and Lori Chaffer, she laid down 11 tracks at Woodland Studios in Nashville, Tenn. in late spring 2010. She released them as “All Things Big and Small” in September 2011.
“Sara Swenson has a unique artistic perspective to lend. Her lyrics– alternately contemplative and incisive–keep close company with her alluring melodies, and her voice seems to wrap everything in swaddling clothes. In her musical presence, I’m regularly drawn into rediscovering my own sense of wonder. What a gift,” says Don Chaffer.
“In a world that sometimes feels like a flood tide of grime, it’s a breath of fresh air when someone can write songs that feel at once pure, vulnerable, and real without sounding cruel. Even her tragedies seem kind.
Currently, Swenson is shifting into music more full-time, stepping away from her career as a high school English/journalism teacher to pursue more writing, recording, and touring.
Find tour dates, photos, videos, blog posts and more at www.saraswenson.com.