About Sara Grey
Once you have heard Sara Grey you will never forget her. She has a certain quality of voice that compels you to give her your undivided attention. Her voice is both powerful and sweet with a distinctive and lovely tremolo. It is a voice well suited to ballads and song that have travelled across the Atlantic to North America.
One of the best things about her singing is that it reflects her great knowledge of and feeling for traditional singing. She just seems to know what is right in the interpretation of a traditional song. She is a singer of great strength with a fine understanding of the importance of understatement in the art of ballad singing. The breadth of her repertoire of songs is enormous.
|
It is not Sara's lovely
voice alone that makes her one of the most popular singers on
the folk scene, on many of her songs Sara accompanies herself by
frailing a five string banjo and, when playing tunes, it is
obvious why she is regarded as one of the foremost exponents of
the old-time style. As well as singing and playing superbly Sara
is a fine story teller specialising in stories from northern New
England where she grew up and learned many of her stories from
her dad.
|
|
Sara grew up
in New Hampshire but has lived in Scotland and
England for 46 years. As a youngster in North Carolina she first heard a lot
of mountain music and her love for the old time banjo music and
songs developed from this experience. She has carried this
interest into her adult life studying folklore and collecting
and performing music from the various areas in which she has
lived. Before she moved to Scotland, Sara was part of "The
Golden Ring" with people like Ed Trickett and Gordon Bok. They
were a well-known group of singers interested in traditional
song.
Now, after many years of singing and playing her banjo in
public, Sara's repertoire is as fresh and relevant as ever. She
has been concentrating for the last several years on tracing the
migration for songs from the British Isles to North America.
Sara lives for her music and works at her trade with the result
that her music is not only technically excellent but also filled
with her warmth and spirit.
|
|
Sara's interest in the musical
traditions of America led her to form the Lost Nation Band. For
anyone interested in the traditions of old-time American songs,
tunes and ballads, the combined forces of Sara Grey, Dave
Burland and Roger Wilson presented a lively and sensitive
interpretation of the music.
Sara has sung at most every folk club and arts centre in
England, Scotland and Wales and has performed at over 60
different folk and bluegrass festivals.
|
Now Sara mostly plays and
tours with her son, Kieron Means, who is a remarkable singer and
guitar player and is passionate in his desire to carry on the
presentation of old songs and tunes. When possible they both
perform with Ben Paley, one of the finest exponents of old-time
fiddle on either side of the Atlantic.
Sara is from New Hampshire in the United States but has lived in
Scotland and briefly in England for 40 years. She has always
been interested in the migration of songs across the Atlantic
and it was as a result of a collecting trip to Scotland in1970
that she moved to the UK. She has been working closely with
other traditional singers from Scotland and Ireland to look at
the movement of Celtic songs and how they change. She has also
looked at the culture of Travellers in Scotland and the movement
of their songs and stories to North America. Sara has now
returned to live in the North Eastern United States.
Sara has featured in a book by Fiona Ritchie & Doug Orr,
“Wayfaring Strangers - The Musical Voyage from Scotland and
Ulster to Appalachia”. In an email from Fiona Ritchie to Sara,
Fiona said
"As you reflect upon your life's work I want you to know you are
an important part of this book. There are three transcribed
excerpts from our radio interview on the subject, you are
profiled as one of our "Voices of Tradition" as a "specialist in
transatlantic song connections from year of research and
collecting", and you are also included on the wonderful 20 track
CD, singing "Black is the Color". Recordings by you and Kieron
are included in the Discography of fifty recommended albums. So
this book has real benefited from your input Sara, along with
other "Voices" such as Pete Seeger, Jean Ritchie, Doc Watson,
Jean Redpath, John Cohen, John Purser, Archie Fisher, Cara
Dillon, Len Graham, Sheila Kay Adams and other musicians you
will know. "
Sara’s love affair with traditional songs for over 60 years has
given her an incomparable knowledge of songs and ballads and how
they have moved and evolved. She wants to gather the songs and
pass them on to future generations so that they will have the
pleasure of hearing and singing them just as she has. Her career
is not about herself, it has been about the songs, about sharing
them with others and ensuring that they go on living in our
traditions.
|
|