Song Up In Her Head/Follow Me Down

I think I'm in love.

I've never really been one for bluegrass. Honest, cross my heart. At least, I would cross it, if I still had it. I gave it away.

To bluegrass.

Well, bluegrass/folk.

It started innocently enough with Pandora. Ironic, no? Pandora, the mythical woman that unleashed all suffering, devastation, sickness, etc. on earth, was involved (if in name only) in unleashing the finger-pickin' fury of bluegrass upon me.

So far I have a few favorites. Gregory Alan Isakov. Crooked Still. Nickel Creek. The Wailin' Jennys. And, my subject for the day... Sarah Jarosz. And no, I don't know how to pronounce her last name correctly.

That's her. She's still just a kid, as you can see. Kid being a relative term. I'm a kid. She's my age.

The reason Sarah has captured my attention is her fresh, yet classic take on bluegrass itself. Her instrument of choice is the mandolin, an instrument I would hesitate to pick up. Anything with more or less than six strings seems an abomination.

On her official website, Sarah attributes her musical influences to “... the older, and the contemporary, and the new.” Clear as mud, and twice as bright.

Her fresh feel and versatility can be found across all her works. Two of my favorites come from her two different albums. One, from her first album "Song Up In Her Head", exemplifies the instrumental talent she exhibits. Here's a clip of said song, "Mansinneedof":



Most of her work is original work, showcasing a great songwriting capability beyond her years. Here's another original work that is more vocally focused:



This girl has, very nearly singlehandedly, changed my musical tastes, hopefully for the better. Chewing on bluegrass doesn't leave as bitter a taste in my mouth as I thought, but it's still too early to certify anything.