Sara Storer
At the 2004 Tamworth country music festival Sara Storer took home a record seven Golden Guitars for her second album Beautiful Circle. The album was a hit with fans, industry insiders and critics and the easy thing would have been for the Victoria born and bred but Central Coast based Storer to reduce that success down to a formula and then repeat. You don't need to look very far to see many successful careers built on that principle.
The trouble with that sensible approach is that Storer came to prominence in the first place, not because she was doing what was expected, but rather because she was following her heart to make music that mattered most to her. And to all who heard her, there was little doubt that here was a unique talent. It was music that was proudly of and about this country, but crucially there was a sense that it was rooted firmly in the present.
Her fourth album Silver Skies is the first to be made without the steady hand of producer Garth Porter on her shoulder. It is filled with tales of lives and loves of those on the land but there is a much broader musical palette that shows her to be a contemporary of Missy Higgins and The Waifs as much as her country comrades. Most impressively Sara has moved forward without leaving anything behind.
Sara confesses to writing from a very personal place, which is why her songs have rung so true. Listen and you may learn something of her journey over the years that the songs were written, but don't take them to be autobiographical.
You can create a lot of drama out of a small hiccup, Sara explains. That is the fun in writing. People may ask me questions about my personal life from hearing these songs and all I can say is, emotions are sometimes too hard to ignore when writing about life. It's how truthful you get or how creative you can be when you get to pour out emotions through music.
Facts:
- Sara has sold over 155,000 albums.
- Toured with The Waifs, Paul Kelly, Claire Bowditch, Suzanne Vega.
- Sara featured on 3 x platinum selling 'She will have her Way' tribute album to Neil & Tim Finn.
- Sara performed at the State Theatre in January as part of Sydney Festival's live conception of Kev Carmody
- Tribute-Cannot Buy My Soul' along with John Butler Trio, Missy Higgins & Paul Kelly.
