sarah jane

sarah jane has been playing her acoustic folk-rock in coffee houses and pubs up and down the west coast since january of 2005. soul-exposing lyrics and sparing guitar patterns combine with her vulnerable and haunting vocals to hush the crowd and draw each person into reflection. 'i write what i know. i write about relationships and communication. i write my friends' stories and my own heartaches. and fears. and hopes. and i hope i'm telling stories that connect with people. it seems that we all walk similar paths and feel the same emotions, but so many people feel alone. i want to let people know that we're not so alone as we sometimes feel. i want to help set them free to BE as they were made to be. free. fully human.' and that's what makes her songs so believable. they're true. a skillful songwriter, sarah jane relies on dissonance and unresolution, reflection and climax, big questions and quiet hopes of answers echoed back and forth between the guitar and her voice. 'kind of like life.' as you sit in the audience, sipping your cappucino or gulping your guinness from an iced glass, you will find yourself reliving your life.. the way it was, the way it could have been, and the way you want it to be from now on. and sarah jane will look you in the eye, from her perch on a stool (in her signature indian-style position), and she will sing you your soul. and you will know that you are not alone.

[from her album cover:]
"every time i open my mouth to sing these songs, there's this little hesitation, this little catch in my throat, as i think about the people who will hear. it's a good kind of hesitation. the kind that is full of curiosity and hope and smiles. these songs are just stories about life and relationship and communication and the things we wanted to say but didn't.. or maybe we did and this is what came of it, you know? and now you are one of those people.. those people i sing to.. and i hope that something in you connects with something in me or something in this music.. and i hope that when you listen to these songs, or even a long time after you hear them, that you smile or cry or feel that feeling inside that maybe you're not so alone as you sometimes feel.. that there's maybe a little bit more to life.. 'cause i think there is.."

what i write comes from years of listening to dvorak and tori amos, cavu and old celtic melodies, simon and garfunkel, medieval chant, rachmaninov, and my mom..

my musical tastes and influences are varied. a sampling: u2, ella fitzgerald, enya, depeche mode, death cab for cutie, pink floyd, nickelback, vertical horizon, vienna teng, carissa's weird, the innocence mission, tori amos, james galloway, charlie hunter, sarah mclachlan, rachmaninov, dido, thursday, the eagles, etc..

for more info:
www.shadowsandspots.com
www.myspace.com/shadowsandspotsmusic