Quick post to let you know cancer treatment is finally over! Its been a long haul and i am now out the other side. Thanks so much everyone for your encouragement and support, all those little beacons of love and hope made me feel so good.

I have me fist gig back this Saturday, April 20, opening for Neil Murray at the Bangalow Bowling Club for north coasters. You will know Neil as the writer of our unofficial national anthem "My Island Home". You can visit his website www.neilmurray.com.au  He was a founding member of the Warumpi Band and if you dont have it, you need to own a copy of their album "Big Name, No Blankets" Doors open at 7pm, i start around 7 30. $25 pre booked, $30 door. To book go to www.kupromotions.com.au

We are off to Tassie for a much needed family holiday the next day. Will check in with news and stuff when we get back.
Sara xxx

Well 2012 went from the sublime to the ridiculous so i have no idea what 2013 is going to bring to us all. Hoping for good health, good lovin, good food, good music, good people, good political decisions etc etc. In no particular order, the things i thought were GOOD (even great) from 2012 were
Playing in Memphis, Alabamba and Nashville with "The Yearlings"   www.theyearlings.net
Hanging out in New Orleans with Dan Etheridge, Rachel Bruenlin and Max Omar
Abrams crawfish boil at Dans in New Orleans. Delicious!!!
Listening to fabulous new albums by Calexico-Algiers, Bob Dylan-Tempest, Starboard Cannons-Somebodys Opus, Susannah Espie-Sea of Lights, Liz Stringer-Warm in the Darkness.
Playing music with Matt Bone and Jason Caspen. And 1 gig with Will Grahame.
Having my man stand beside me through these difficult months straight and true.
Seeing my big girl find such beautiful friends, make great music and art and throw herself wholeheartedly into her creativity.
Seeing my little girl master the pogo stick, the hula hoop, freestyle swimming, reading books by herself and almost doing a handstand.
The way my friends have shown up for me with food, gifts, love and encouragement.
Watching Treme, Breaking Bad, House, True Blood, Dexter, Mad Men, CloudStreet.
The No CSG movement gathering us all together to fight for the environment with passion and determination

Wishing you all good things for your 2013
Lots of love Sara xxx

Well hi there,

I am totally thrilled to let you know that my 6 rounds of chemotherapy are done. I have not a hair on my head, and my eyebrows and eyelashes are a shadow of their former selves and there were days where i just wanted to crawl under a rock and hide. Now i am out the other side and it seems the chemo has done its job of shrinking the tumour to a more operable size. I am having a months break from treatment before surgery at the end of November. A whole month to get strong and healthy. This also means i can play the www.mullummusicfestival.com

If you havent had the pleasure of attending this great little festival, check out the site and come along. There's no festival quite like it. Apart from hearing some great new music, the vibe around the town of Mullumbimby is incredible. Glenn Wright (festival director) and Vitamin work really hard to put together a truly unique and special event. Initially i felt too fragile and kind of vulnerable (and bald) to even think about performing, now i cannot wait to be a part of it. Looking forward to checking out Joe Pug, Mia Dyson, Susannah Espie, Liz Stringer and the tribute to Jesse Younan "Take Something Beautiful".

Thanks to everyone for their well wishes and book and music suggestions, your emails were a ray of sunshine. 
Love Sara

 Hi,

This is a hard letter to write. I will keep things brief and spare you the gory details.
On May 18 i was diagnosed with breast cancer. There is no family history of breast cancer, i breastfed both my girls for 18mths and never thought something like this could happen to me.....and it has. After the initial shock and trauma of dealing with the diagnosis and the horror of the treatment options, i gave myself a couple of weeks to decide how i wanted to go about this and who i felt confident with on the medical side of things. I am currently having chemotherapy and the rounds are three weeks apart. I have a pretty bad 8 days and then i start feeling good. This will continue until mid October.
On the upside, i am feeling mostly really positive and while this is the hardest experience life has thrown at me i am pretty good at rising to a challenge. The endless love, care, support and generosity from my beautiful family and friends has been life affirming and humbling.
I hope to be singing and playing a lot of guitar and writing, but performing will be on hold for a bit. I am not too sure how much you all want to know about where i am at and how i am going with this. If you do want me to keep you updated, please send me an email so i have a bit of an idea.
I am reading a lot (amazing how much time i have now i am not constantly drumming up business for myself) and my faves are "Foals Bread" Gillian Mears, "Life and Times of Michael K" J.M Coetzee, and "Rain Gods" James Lee Burke. Listening to a lot of music too. "Nothings gonna change the way you feel about me now" Justin Townes Earle, "Queen of the Minor Key" Eileen Jewell, and "Somebodys Opus" Starboard Cannons (to be released next month, will let you know about it closer to the date and its a cracker of an album).
Thats me done. Heres to love and laughter for all in ridiculous amounts.
Sara x 

A few request have come through for the lyrics to my song Little Birds (after being featured on Packed To The Rafters).  The song was written for my good friend Michelle O'Sullivan's Mum Maisie. She had been a big part of my mispent youth... I spent a lot of time at their house when I was a kid.

When Maisie was diagnosed with cancer, Michelle asked me if I could write a song for her. I found this really difficult until a conversation with Michelle. Maisie was already a tiny woman and as she became more frail, Michelle described feeding her like feeding a little bird. The song then wrote itself. Unbeknownst to me, Maisies Bowling team were called the Blue Wrens.

See the lyrics here (next to the song title).

 Last night my song "Little Birds" was featured on "Packed to the Rafters". While i have no tv reception here, friends have called to say they heard it. Hopefully there will be more news of my songs being used in film and television. On Friday April 20 i will be supporting Bill Chambers at No 5 Church St Bellingen. For bookings ph. 02 66 55 0155. Love to see you there.
Hope you all had a fun Easter.
Sara x

 Well hi. 
Feet are finally back on the ground after a fabulous trip to the USA. The International Folk Alliance in Memphis was an action packed few days. the whole event took place in the Marriott Hotel with rooms turning into mini venues with mini bars and mini food (unusual in the States given the epic proportions of some of the meals we ate). The schedule was hectic, with workshops and schmoozing in the day and gigs and schmoozing finishing in the wee hours of the morning. With travelling and musical companions The Yearlings, we managed to also cram in a visit to Sun Studios, STAX museum, the Lorraine Hotel (where Martin Luther King was shot, now part of the Civil Rights Museum) and of course, Graceland.
Then, on the wrong side of the road, we were off to Nashville. Not only did we get to see Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings "Woodland Studio" (from the outside but it still felt like a "moment'), we shopped till we dropped and got to play a gig at the famous Bluebird Cafe!! Heaven. Thanks to the fabulous Audrey Auld for making that happen, it was a dream come true and i have the t-shirt to prove it.
Severe weather warnings for Nashville and Alabamba, tornadoes no less, sent us in to a spin. We were in Nashville, having done our last gig at 12th N Porter, with our next gig in Birmingham Alabamba, where the tornado was heading. Managed to out run it and play a wonderful gig at Moonlight on the Mountain just after the storm had blown over.
Said a sad goodbye to The Yearlings (what a time we had together) and caught the train to New Orleans the next day to spend some time with the lovely Dan Etheridge (guitarist on my first album "Five Days") and his family. Was our second visit there so got in to the swing of things effortlessly and had a ball. 
Will post some photos on here and on my facebook page so make sure you "LIKE" me and you can check em out.
Little bit of time off now, keep checking in to see whats happening and thanks for coming along for the ride.
Sara x 

 Full on week in Memphis at the International Folk Alliance. Hundreds of musicians all jostling (or not) for the attention of industry movers and shakers, trying to make those little 20 minute sets matter. Met some great people and made new friends and heard some fabulous music. The Aussie line up of The Yearlings, The McMenamins, The Blue Ruins and the Rosie Burgess Trio and myself worked hard and put on awesome shows. Memphis itself was not qute as expected. Seems to be more empty buildings than full ones in the city. Beautiful big old buildings falling into ruin. The poverty of the city becomes really hard to see just a few blocks out of the main streets. STAX, Sun Studios and the Civil Rights Museum were a tourist highlight. Not to mention Graceland. That was my favourite of all. I loved the house and the grounds and kept expecting Elvis to walk down the stairs. Pretty wacky decor but still felt great and like a real home.
In Nashville now. Still excited to be here after two days of roaming around. We have our first Nashville show tonight at the Bluebird Cafe with Audrey Auld and then another tomorrow night at 12th N Porter. I'll let you know how they go. Sara xx

2012 began with some really exciting news for me. I have been invited to an official showcase at the 24th International Folk Alliance in Memphis Tenneesee! Thats MEMPHIS, home of "Sun Studio" where Elvis, in 1953, walked in and told them "I dont sound like nobody" and proceeded to put down "Thats Alright Mama". Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis launched their careers from there. Then theres STAX marking the beginning of Soul Music and recording Otis Redding, Al Green, Aretha Franklin. The songwriting team of Isaac Hayes and David Porter producing "Soul Man" and more. Graceland. .I'll stop there and yes, i am counting down the days. The Folk Alliance conference is on from February 22 to Feb 26 at the Marriott Hotel and my official showcase is on Saturday Feb 25 at 7 30 in the Memphis room. I am also playing a number of private showcases.

I will attempt to keep a bit of a photo diary of the happenings over there so if you go on to my Facebook link and become a friend, LIKE my bandpage, you can come along for the ride. The Yearlings, who made TIME with me, are also doing an official showcase, so i feel very blessed to have them over there to share the adventure.

Hope 2012 is off to a great start for you and looking forward to catching you at a show somewhere soon.

Love Sara

 

The band and i have clocked up thousands of ks on my little Mazda, and yes it is possible to fit three musicians and their gear and an upright bass in one small car (comfort not being a huge consideration). Huge thanks to all who came to the shows and bought the album and just generally encouraged and supported our work. To the communities of Mullumbimby, Wingham and Semaphore, long may your festivals reign, we had a brilliant time. To venues who support original music, thanks so much for having us, we have had a ball. I stayed up far too late (or didnt get to bed at all), drank way too much and generally had a ridiculously good time and i think its probably a good time to get home to the family and plot and scheme for 2012. May you all have a magical Christmas and may the New Year be filled with laughter, love and adventure. Huge thanks for coming along for the ride and looking forward to seeing you in 2012. Much love, Sara x