Sarah Blacker, a Boston-based singer-songwriter, chose to celebrate her recent birthday at Club Passim in front of a sold-out audience filled with many people who appeared to be long-time fans. I have seen her perform a couple of times but never with a full band as she had this night.
The winner of numerous awards including the 2013 Female Performer of the Year at the New England Music Awards, Sarah is an engaging performer who has released several recordings of original music. She took the stage and performed the first song, “Revelry of Heart”, a cappella. I liked the mellower start to what proved to be a rocking show (which I did not expect but thoroughly enjoyed). Sarah is a versatile instrumentalist, playing guitar, ukelele, and keyboard.
Her band then joined her for most of the show; they are Erik White on guitar and vocals, Mike Levesque on drums, and Sean “Seannymac” McLaughlin on bass. They are all good musicians, but I was especially impressed with Erik White. His guitar work is terrific and the harmonies he sang with Sarah were gorgeous. Mid-set, Sarah asked him to perform one of his compositions and she backed him; .
Sarah’s music style has been described as ‘sundress rock’; while I have never heard that term, it evokes happy mental images and that’s what I get from Sarah’s music. Not only do the lyrics contribute to those images, but so did the titles of the songs she sang: “The Most Beautiful Thing”, “Pluggin’ Away”, and “Exhale”.
She takes her influences from the worlds of country, blues, folk, and of course rock. At one point, Sarah wondered if her music had become too rock and roll for the legendary club! Not in the least. I love the direction her music has taken, and I think we will be hearing much more from Sarah in the future.
Fil Pacino, another Boston-based singer-songwriter, opened the show with a set of original songs.
Sarah, who is a music therapist by day, has a motto – Songs Save Lives. From my perspective as a live-music fan(atic), I see truth in that.
Click here for my photos from this show.
