Date/Time Sun 26 Jan 2025 7:45 PM
Price Online - £12 + 10% booking fee; On The Door - £15
Website: https://sarahmcquaid.com/
Born in Madrid (to a Spanish father and an American mother), raised in Chicago and holding dual Irish and American citizenship, Sarah McQuaid has made England her home since 2007.
Sarah was taught piano and guitar at an early age by her folksinging mother, and remembers being inspired by meeting her distant cousin, well-known singer/songwriter/storyteller Gamble Rogers, at her grandmother’s house in Indiana. From the age of twelve she was embarking on tours of the US and Canada with the Chicago Children’s Choir, and at eighteen she went to France for a year to study philosophy at the University of Strasbourg.
Sarah’s early albums featured Irish traditional tunes and Appalachian folk songs, along with her own songs and she soon expanded her repertoire to cover older (medieval) and newer (John Martyn) influences and has continued to explore new instruments and styles.
In April 2017, Sarah was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Ards International Guitar Festival in Newtownards, Northern Ireland in recognition of her innovative use of the DADGAD tuning and her authorship of The Irish DADGAD Guitar Book (Ossian/Music Sales Inc, 1995).
Produced and engineered by the above-mentioned Martin Stansbury, Sarah’s latest album is The St Buryan Sessions, released in October 2021. The album made it onto “Best of 2021” lists on three continents and features stunning solo performances by Sarah on acoustic and electric guitars, piano and floor tom drum, her lush, distinctive vocals echoing through the soaring space.
“She reached parts other singers fail to do … There is emotion, beauty, passion and musically great arrangements and fab playing. It’s a complete package. I loved the show and was very moved” – Rob Bozas, Bozas International (Publisher, Peter Gabriel/Real World)
“Captivating, unorthodox songwriting … layered satin vocals … enthralling, harrowing arrangements … a gateway into a true innovator’s soul” – PopMatters
“A semi-mottled meander through shadowed memories … insightful & visceral … cinnamon-roasted smokiness and glimmering incalescence” – Raw Ramp Magazine
Unique on the UK music scene, Dove’s Vagaries present variety of songs from the 12th to 20th centuries, accompanied on an array of instruments including melodeon, concertina, dulcimer, smallpipes, cornamuses*, hulusi*, whistles and flutes. Regulars on the UK folk club circuit, the duo recently released an album, Goodness and Guile, which showcases their live performances.
*If you don’t know what these instruments are, come to the show and find out!
“A great night’s entertainment” – Chris H., Anchor Folk Club
“Dove’s Vagaries gave Croydon Folk Cjub a really entertaining evening last night. Music from Medieval to Music Hall presented with skill and humour made for a great time” – Robert E.
“Fantastic evening watching Dove’s Vagaries [at Orpington Liberal Club], a superbly entertaining duo who perform old songs from down the centuries on appropriate instruments” – Paul B.