England based folk and Americana singer-songwriter Sarah McQuaid performed at R.A. Fountain on November 4, 2010. It was a beautiful concert that we got to host because of her routing. Not just known for her lovely voice, McQuaid also plays a great number of instruments including acoustic guitar, electric guitar, piano, and drums. She was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Ards International Guitar Festival in Newtownards, Northern Ireland in 2017.
McQuaid’s music is influenced by the places she’s lived throughout her life. Born in Madrid and raised in Chicago, McQuaid studied abroad in France for a year before moving to Ireland for 13 years in 1994 and then to England in 2007, where she currently resides. Influences from all these musical cultures are evident in McQuaid’s original music.
The Ann Arbor Observer called Sarah McQuaid’s lyrics “thoughtful and thought-provoking”. Her song lyrics are often inspired by her observations of everyday moments in her own life. They also said her “smokey alto-her lowest notes are especially persuasive-invite you to lean in and listen attentively”.
McQuaid has released 5 solo studio albums: When Two Lovers Meet (1997, re-released 2007), I Won’t Go Home ‘Til Morning (2008), The Plum Tree and The Rose (2012), Walking Into White (2015), and If We Dig Any Deeper It Could Get Dangerous (2018). All five CDs are available for purchase here. In 2009, McQuaid also released a joint album titled Crow Coyote Buffalo with Zoë under the band name Mama.
Her YouTube Channel.
Sources
“Sarah McQuaid.” About Sarah, Sarah McQuaid, sarahmcquaid.com/about.
Slomovits, Sandor. “Sarah McQuaid – Still Climbing.” Ann Arbor Observer, Sept. 2018, Read it. [https://annarborobserver.com/articles/sarah_mcquaid.html#.YILJzC9h2u4]
Featured Image: Sarah McQuaid onstage at Leith Folk Club in the Victoria Park House Hotel, Edinburgh, Tuesday 15 November 2016. Photo by Justyna Baszczynska
–Charlotte Grimes, April 2021