“The Voice” Star Sarah Potenza – Headlining Rhythm and Roots Festival
Ken Abrams
Posted On September 1, 2015
If you’re heading to the Rhode Island Rhythm and Roots Festival this Labor Day weekend, one artist you can’t miss is singer-songwriter and tour-de-force performer Sarah Potenza.
Potenza will play the Labor Day weekend Festival all three days, on Friday and Sunday with her own band, and on Saturday afternoon with Jim Oblon, in a special tribute to Blues great Jimmy Reed. She’s a veteran of the festival, wooing the crowd on the main stage in 2012 as a last minute replacement due another artist’s cancellation.
Known as primarily a country blues performer she isn’t fenced in by boundaries of genre. She explained more in a recent interview.
“My own material is some roots music, but these days it’s more roots rock. Like a Faces meets vintage Bonnie Raitt kind of a vibe. In the past I was leaning towards country, but that was simply because I was into vintage country at the time. Now I am into rock n’ roll and it’s coming out in the songs. I try not to consider the genre too much, cause it limits me, and I just gotta go with my muse and do what I feel at the time, and right now… I feel like rocking.”
The Voice
After a notable appearance at Music City Roots last year, Potenza got her break this winter when NBC’s “The Voice” asked her to audition. Her version of the Faces “Stay With Me,” turned all four chairs on the show and helped make her an overnight sensation. Her performance was featured on show “teaser” and she later survived several elimination rounds making it into the Top 20. That recognition has led to more gigs in larger venues.
“It’s definitely led to better gigs, and the crowd is more enthusiastic about the music. Also, I feel like I am bringing quality over quantity. Before ‘The Voice,’ I was performing a lot more bar gigs, and those can be very fun, but those also tend to have more filler. But now, I am doing MY show MY way and I play songs I really want to share with the people, songs that I am emotionally attached to, and the audience can feel that I am invested in the art,” noted Potenza.
Potenza got her start singing in school plays in Smithfield, Rhode Island, a suburb of Providence. (Her fondness for her home state can be heard in “Jonesin’ for Little Rhody” from her first album, Shiny and New) She played coffeehouses and local bars and graduated from Rhode Island College with a music degree in 2002.
After college, she moved to Chicago to chase her musical dreams. Soon after, she married childhood sweetheart Ian Crossman (her bass player), and formed her first band, Sarah and the Tall Boys.
She later moved to Nashville, where she continued to build her career while gaining approval of artists like John Oates, Todd Snider, and Elizabeth Cook. She re-established herself as a solo artist, with support and collaboration from husband Crossman.
Her current band is made up of “a cast of rotating characters that I hire for show and tours. On this trip I have (husband) Ian Crossman on baritone guitar, Ryan Anderson from Chicago on lap steel, electric and acoustic guitar and keys, Derek Louis (originally from Hull Massachusetts), on drums, and a recent transplant to Nashville, and Todd Bolden on Bass. He’s a Nashville guy too.”
She’s pretty excited about her return visit to Rhythm and Roots. “I am thrilled to be performing at Rhythm & Roots. I have new originals, some of the Sarah & the Tall Boys classics and a few covers that are special to me.
On her “Voice” appearances, she was celebrated for her trademark white eyeglass frames and stylish outfits. Her unique style continues to be an important part of her overall appeal.
“I also have some pretty awesome outfits for stage. I am really getting into glam rock and the art of performing for a crowd. Last summer at Rhythm & Roots festival, I saw Charles Bradley perform. It really changed my perspective on how to put on a show, and still do original music. And I am all in costumes and all!”
Rhythm and Roots Festival
Other headliners at Rhythm and Roots include The Mavericks, Los Lobos, Keb Mo and Royal Southern Brotherhood, all great bands that are the definition of rhythm and roots. The Festival takes place on four stages, with the occasional pop up performance. Check the website here for the complete schedule.
Although the Festival has grown in recent years, it still has a small town feel. It’s easily accessible from most of the Northeast, an hour and a half from Boston, and less than three hours to New York. There’s not much traffic, parking is free, and close to the stages, and there’s room to spread out at Ninigret State Park in Charlestown, RI. Artists mingle freely with fans in the crowd, and many stay an extra day or two to experience the Festival themselves.
Rhythm and Roots is also a great festival for families. The Children’s tent has activities and performances all day long from storytellers, musicians and artists. There are a couple of nice playgrounds on site and they’ve even got movies after sunset Saturday and Sunday night.
If you’ve never attended Rhythm and Roots, the line-up is exceptional this year, with a variety of artists in different roots genres. The festival runs Friday September 4th from 5PM to Midnight and Saturday and Sunday, September 5th and 6th from Noon to Midnight. Single day tickets are $65 – more details can be found here.
Ken Abrams reviews roots, rock and blues for GoLocalProv, a news and lifestyle site based in Rhode Island.
