despite what some think, this is not me writing a song every week and posting it to my site...well, some weeks, like this week, it is. :)  but, i have a vault of songs, new *and* old that have never been recorded, most in the form of a work tape, some as demos... in sharing one a week with you, i hope it will give you a window into some of the other tunes i write besides the ones that have been released...and maybe it will bring you closer to the creative process through your ears...whatever it may bring to you, i am glad to share.  while you listen, browse my site for upcoming shows and new jewelry and ramblings about beer and food. 
www.sarahsiskind.com

this year is coming to an end...my year-end revue?  things i'm sorry about and that i'm glad about:

i'm sorry:
- i didn't write my cookbook (yet)
- i didn't exercise more
- i let myself worry about the little things
- i didn't sit and stare at any walls
- i never went to crunk fish in nashville before moving away...

i'm glad:
- i got those rad sunglasses at the gas station i wanted
- i giggled a lot
- i followed a dream
- i discovered diatomaceaous earth
- i accepted my love of pattern socks
- i experienced npr's mountainstage
- i made ornaments

:)

 i spent the good part of the fall on the road, supporting my new album 'novel'.  i had a blast with the novel tellers, and we are looking forward to taking part in our only local show of the tour this week at music city roots in nashville!  

i'm winding down my 14 years in nashville, as we plan a move to the mountains of VA this month.  it's exciting, scarey, daunting, and exhillerating to take on a totally new chapter.  nashville has been so good to me, but it's time to move on and explore some new opportunities.  the blue ridge mountains are in my soul, and i'll be living just at the base of them...hiking will finally become a regular occurance again and i'm looking forward to a shorter commute to DC and NYC.  

2012 is coming on fast and hot, and i can't wait.  lots of great gigs coming as well as folk alliance, SXSW and festivals!  

since the fall tour, i've been up to my eyeballs creating jewelry, holiday ornaments, and more and am super psyched to have an etsy page this year!  also, my holiday EP is on sale through this month - download it for just $5!

i hope this year has been wonderful for all of you...and i'll remind myself and you all at the same time that 'the best cure for worry is gratitude.' :)

 i think about love, it's all i do, i want it now and i want it to be you...

i've been getting lots of requests for lyrics and i just want you to know that they are coming - each song lyric from 'say it louder' will be posted here on the music page shortly - thank you for your interest and patience!

it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...my first single off the forthcoming album is OUT!!  lots of love went into it and i'm so excited to share... :)  http://tinyurl.com/6becpy4

it is time -- for chocolate cake? no.  for a 5K marathon? no.  to make a new record?  YES!  

T and i subletted a house in gorgeous sunny colorado this summer where i finished writing songs for my new record.  i took a modest recording setup with me and began demoing the songs to hear them fleshed out...i then fell in love with the recordings and decided to make them my next record.  every note and every decision is me.  it reminds me of when in was 9 years old and spent hours in my bedroom recording on my dad's 4 track recorder.  melody exploration until i was exhausted.  well, it has come full circle, and i again find myself with headphones on, singing about things that move me, pain me, and intrigue me.  the amp is out, the piano is poised, and i got multiple drumsticks for christmas...

i cooked lots of food yesterday so that the fridge was stocked with meals.  the bills are paid and the windows are theoretically shackled.  i'm not coming out until this record is done.  i'm so excited about these songs i can hardly stand it.  

i hope everyone had a wonderful holiday.  i had visions of sugarplums, jigsaw puzzles, and snow in nashville on christmas...it was all true and good and real.  here's to a shiny new year.

i'll keep you posted and might even share a rough mix or two!  ...and pics of feet on guitar pedals and sticks on drums...

much love,
sarah

  Hi Friends!

As we all prepare for the holiday week, I want to say hello and how THANKFUL I am for this season of blessings.  A couple weeks of family illness have left me looking at each day as a gift in a new way and appreciating the human spirit even more.  

This will be my last e-blast of the year and it's an exciting one, as I will be on WSM 650 AM Monday, Dec 20 at 9:15am CST promoting my holiday EP "All Come Together Now".  You can listen online here!

Then, this Wednesday, NPR's All Songs Considered is featuring my song "May Love Fall Like Snow" on their Holiday Special.  If you subscribe to their podcast on iTunes, it's available now!  Otherwise, it should air nationwide on Wednesday.

I also still have earrings (and lyric art) for sale and they will ship 2-day with no extra charge through this Wednesday so you get them for Christmas!  View here.  

Much love and peace,
Sarah

 the transition from high altitude back to nashville which is almost sea level has been okay.  i experienced a migrane from the allergic air and quite a bit of exhaustion, but all the shows and other tasks at hand have kept me distracted enough to not really notice.  i've missed the constant sunshine of CO - something i got used to.  i also miss the st. vrain river, but i guess the pool at the downtown Y will have to do for now.  

i'm overflowing with plans and ideas and songs and ideas and plans.  us aries are just cursed that way.  i'm writing for the new record with love.  i can't wait to share it with you all.  this week is the last "song of the week" and it's a new one that i'll definitely put on the new record.  this is a rough recording for sure...i had a great time experimenting with percussion and on this song i feature a tower of quaker oats as my shaker.  it left a dusting all over the room, but it was worth it.

the best thing about september is that october is next.  that means pumpkins.  which if any of you remember my vlogs from last year, i am pumpkin obsessed.  i made pumpkin granola the other night and i am foaming at the mouth to dot baby pumpkins around the house...

i hope you are all well and feeling good.

love,
s

 i came to lyons, colorado for 6 weeks this summer for several reasons.  both T and i had festivals to play and teach at the beginning and end of the 6 week period here in co, so we thought it would be great to just stay in between.  i also was ready for a change.  i also wanted to write for my next record somewhere else than the 4 walls i'm used to.  he was born and raised in co, so it was a no-brainer there.  it's hard to believe that it's coming to an end, sealed by the amazing four corners folk festival this weekend in pagosa springs, co.

despite T having another major sporting accident and me not being able to shake this sinus infection, these weeks have been glorious in terms of writing, hiking, biking, sitting in the river, spending time with friends and discovering new food...but, internally for me, it has been a bit of a revelation.  i finally got with the program and bought a mac and have been multi-track recording my new songs as i write them, on my own.  it has taken me full circle back to when i was 9 and would lock myself in my room for hours, recording on my dad's 4 track machine, experimenting with harmonies, sounds and songs.  of course, at that age there were no fans or audiences that were awaiting anything new from me, nor did i have any thoughts of the industry or performing outside of my kids choir i was obsessed with at the time.  i was not promising perfection, i was just expressing.  

this next record will technically be my 7th, and with each one, there has definitely been a journey that has gone along with it.  i've grown up through each one, and gotten braver to be more and more honest.  but something is going on this time - as i experiment with new chords and letting flubs go on these home recordings, i am tending to leave them instead of fixing them...they are sort of like my freckles that i always wanted to cover up and now i like...at what point do you get back to that pure place when you didn't promise perfection?  not just with what you do, but with who you are?  

so in a couple of days, when the car is packed and the floors of our summer rental are swept for the last time, i'll not only take with me the songs i've written here and the extra oxygen i've added to my lungs, but the hope that the continued creation of this next record is going to keep reminding me of this feeling that is feeling so right  :)

 this summer has been spectacular so far.  my honey and i are living in colorado until labor day...playing festivals, teaching workshops, and i am finishing writing for my next record (yay!)  lyons, co has embraced us in it's arms like a grandmother, smiling upon us every day with sunshine and hikes and river tubing and great food.  my cooking bug is in full affect and i've made so many new dishes out here with local ingredients, paired with sips off of growlers from local draft beer from oskar blues - so good!

as i take this time to be creative and pensive, i am attempting to stay connected to you all by posting a song every week on my website...some are produced demos, some are bare work tapes.  some are just written, some are 6 years old.  i've been enjoying getting your requests and comments each week.  

this week i'm posting a song called "someone might let me go."  it's a combination of a spiritual and a love song.  all i know is that when i wrote it last year, i cried, recorded this worktape on my beloved electric guitar Larry, and then put it away and never played it again.  to me, it's vulnerable and speaks of wanting connection with people, God, and nature, yet always fearing rejection.  who knew.  enjoy...or be sad :)  either way, i'm sharing it with you for the week.

i had the most moving experience teaching songwriting at rockygrass academy last week.  the power of music and art blows me away every day.  i am ever grateful to be blessed by this.  my friend ari hest flies into lyons later this week to create with me.  beside.myself.happiness.yay.

until next time,
sarah

umm, has it really been almost 3 months since i blogged?  oops.  that can't be right.  i think about it and i have been updating my beer and food blogs! but, shucks.

anyway, i had a glorious tour overseas with paul brady and crew.  i met so many wonderful new people and not only got to sing my songs for folks, but got to be a member of the paul brady band for a month.  thrilling!  i met glen hansard while in ireland, and got to sit in on some swell season shows - woooooohoo.  holy crap, they're good.



not long after i returned back to the states, i hit the road with ari hest for a tour up the east coast.  he and i had a blast sharing the stage, watching the NBA playoffs between gigs and as some of you know, listening to my i-fart app in the car over and over.  making ari belly laugh is a challenge i like to rise to. :)  look for more ari/sarah shows in the future.



after what has felt like 2 years of straight touring, i am going to plant my butt soundly in the earth of colorado for a while this summer.  i'll be teaching songwriting at the rockygrass academy in lyons, co (yay! -- darrell scott was the teacher last year, so i have some big shoes to fill!!)  then i'll be hiking, sitting, loving the sun with no humidity, and hopefully start turning some knobs on some new songs that are slowly coming together for the beginnings of a new record.  so psyched.  i will DEFINITELY update my food and beer blogs during this time, as there will be time for cooking and beer sampling.  i will also be making lots of jewelry.

but, getting to "song a week"...i have lots of songs.  75% of which are either worktapes most people haven't heard or are demos that were recorded for reasons other than my releases..each one is like a child to me, born out of an idea, experience or melody...they are all sitting patiently on my hard drive.  some of them are really rough, some are full recordings...some are 8 years old, some are 8 days old.  but, every tuesday, you'll get to hear a new one on my website.  not sure how long it will last.  we'll see!  some of you may know some of these never-released songs, so feel free to request a song post at twitter trend #sarahsongaweek  if you don't follow me on twitter, do it here.



so, that's the latest in a nutshell!  i'm also playing music city roots july 14!  listen live from anywhere!!
love,
sarah