Sarah Jarosz in Whelan’s, Dublin, on 17th July 2014
Call it bluegrass. Call it progressive bluegrass. Call it newgrass, if you must. We’re sure Sarah Jarosz and her band of bros couldn’t give a folk. It was at the tender age of sixteen that Austin native Jarosz signed to North Carolina’s renowned Sugar Hill Records.
Three albums later, most recently 2013’s ‘Build Me Up From Bones’, the songwriter and multi-instrumentalist has found herself on the receiving end of many an accolade, a couple of Grammy nominations, and no doubt the odd Gillian Welch comparison.
Whelan’s is a-buzz when guitarist Matthew Ellison self-deprecatingly informs us, “I’m the support act”. It’s a roll we’ve seen him fill previously, warming the crowd before Tony Joe White in the same spot not weeks before, and he seems more at home on this occasion. Classical jazz mixes with the usual singer-songwriter fair, and Ellison croons songs of girls, sun, and summer.
His sincerity is his selling point…oh, the sincerity! It’s easy-listening for sure – adult contemporary you might even say if you were a bollocks – but there aren’t many on the circuit playing Ellison’s particular style of music, and for that he’s marked himself apart.
Sarah Jarosz has similarly carved out her own particular path within the bluegrass/country genre if tonight’s set is anything to go by. From that opening salvo of Annabelle Lee, with Jarosz and her two colleagues donning instruments without a word amidst the many angled mic stands, the all-seated venue is treated to some musicianship of the highest calibre, incorporating blues, jazz, indie and whatever you’re having yourself into her selection of covers and originals.
Flanking her are Nathaniel Smith on cello – he lends his moniker to the lively folk outing of Old Smitty – and Alex Hargreaves on fiddle, two righteous bros who have their own project outside of this band, The Brotet – “…but it’s really for all the ladies”. Over the course of the set, eyes and ears are drawn from one to another and back to Jarosz in the centre switching between guitar, mandolin and banjo, as each of the three players displays their virtuoso chops.
They leave her alone for Gypsy, with Smith returning for the second of tonight’s Bob Dylan covers. It’s a class act from both he and Jarosz, with Smith providing bassy plucked cello adornments over her vocal for a stripped-back Simple Twist Of Fate. Dylan’s Ring Them Bells earlier in the set is a more cut-and-dried affair in comparison, but their forlorn take on Radiohead’s The Tourist is a beauty.
Martha Scanlon’s Hallelujah has the crowd singing along in gospel call-and-response style, and the singing continues into the encore with Tom Waits’ Come On Up To The House. The musicians take a turn each, breaking out from the strummed verses to impress with subtly arranged, intricately picked segments that intercut the vocals. They quieten to the end and let the crowd have their own ably accepted acapella moment – now everyone’s had their turn.
The previous night’s Kilkenny gig was her first on Irish soil, and the crowd in Whelan’s tonight and upcoming sold-out shows in Cork and Galway are testament to the regard in which this accomplished musician is held. She certainly keeps good company. If you see her around, and if your pockets are in rude health, get her a Midleton whiskey on us.