“I grew up in a little country town in Western Victoria called Camperdown. I loved it. I always wanted to be a farmer and live on a farm. It’s quite a barren landscape. We moved there when I was 5. My dad became the Principal of a new school.
My dad wanted a career change and bought the license of a pub when I was 16. It was in Rochester, Central Vic and I didn’t like it there at all. I was 16 and had left all my friends to move to this remote town. I left as soon as I could and
travelled.
I first worked in Uluru. I’ve done a few stints in Central Australia and It was really life changing for me, seeing that rock for the first time is one of the most amazing memories and feelings that I have. I went overseas for a while with a couple of girlfriends. In the meantime my parents had moved to Melbourne so I came back and worked in a sewing factory for a while. I don’t really last in cities for that long so I moved back to the Camperdown area and worked as an intellectual disabilities nurse as we were called in those days.
I’ve always been in bands since high school. I moved down to Torquay and I met this musician who asked me to be a part of his band as a backing singer. We went on tour and it was like an apprenticeship for me. It was pretty gruelling and I was pretty naive and not very good but anyway, I did it. That all fell apart in WA and we were all kind of stranded. I ended up coming back to Vic and got myself a little flat in St Kilda right in the thick of it. It was the first time I liked living in the city. We partied hard, had a great time clubbing and everyone would pop in to my place.
I was working at the time as a carer for a quadriplegic man. He kept asking me to come up to Byron Bay to help him find a property to buy as it was too cold in Melbourne for him. I had never been here and I kept saying no. He organised someone else and at the last minute she pulled out. I ended up coming on a 3 month contract and we were based near Woolgoolga. We explored the region from Bellingen up to Noosa. He ended up buying just out of Dorrigo and I stayed for a month to get him settled and train some staff. I organised a weeks holiday in Byron before returning to Melbourne. Next thing I’m saying I’m not going back to Melbourne, I stayed and I’ve been here ever since.
I had a beautiful situation right on Tallows Beach in old Tony’s house. Some people would remember old Tony. I was working in Hospitality and doing some support work as well. While I was there I met Azo Bell, a beautiful musician and I fell pregnant. I really wanted to develop my own music but didn’t know how to start. I think when I met Azo he was living my dream. It was very attractive. I was 27 and we had only been seeing each other for a few months. I knew I wanted a baby so Lily was born in 96 at Azo’s house in Byron. We made an album called Azo and Sarah around that time and played a lot of festivals. I was contributing my own material as well as playing covers. It was exciting but challenging being a new mum and our relationship was rocky. In an attempt to stay together we went around Australia and toured. It was an incredible trip but it wasn’t enough to salvage the relationship. Lily turned 2 in Broome.
When we came back I decided I wanted to go back to Vic and be closer to family. I had a crack at that but it didn’t work. In the end I felt it was fairer to Lily to be closer to her Dad so we came beck here and I moved into a flat in Lennox which I ended up buying. I met my now partner Mark while we were living in that flat. We met through Stan, a mutual friend and we shared the same love of alternate country music. We bonded that night but we didn’t get together. I did my very first solo gig at The Rails which was daunting. Going solo and teaching myself to play guitar to support myself gave me this quiet strength to go forward musically.
I wanted to record my own album and met Dan Etheridge. We would rehearse and we got a residency at what was Kokopelli’s in Bangalow. It was while I was working with Dan that I met Mark again. I thought, Oh he’s cute! It took a while to develop.
We made my first album ‘Five Days’ with a great team. Mark and I were just starting to see each other. ABC Radio were calling for regional Australian artists to send in songs. I entered and I won which sent me on my way. The airplay and response from listeners was so great. The song was ‘Down the Avenue’.
I met Bill Chambers sharing the bill at a concert in Port Macquarie. Bill said he wanted to produce my next album and I put that thought in the back of my mind because I wasn’t really ready. In the meantime Mark and I were really together. I was over living in my little flat in Lennox and I wanted to get back to some land again. I started looking at houses on a couple of acres which is hard to find. We found one at Meerschaum Vale, sold my flat and Lil and I moved in. Mark was doing his Phd in Brisbane so we were doing the long distance thing. I became pregnant with Poppy and she was born in 2005. That was beautiful. Lil was about 9 when Poppy was born.
Not long after Poppy was born I went down and recorded my second album, ‘Lucky the Sun’ with Bill Chambers at his studio in Woy Woy. Will Graham, the piano player and I really collaborated to bring the songs on that album together with Bill. It was a whole new world for me. I released it in 2006 and the press really liked it. I put a 5 piece band together called The Kingfishers and we travelled around playing that album. Poppy only said recently what she mostly remembers about being little is she would go down for her afternoon sleep and she would hear me pick up the guitar to write and practice.
I ended up getting writers block after that album. I was tired.
In 2009 we went as a family to America for the first time. Mark had work there and we had a month in New Orleans. We drove from New Orleans to LA, across Texas and then I started writing again.
In 2011 I made my album ‘Time’ in South Australia at the studio of The Yearlings who are a South Australian duo. That felt like coming home. It was a very special time. I didn’t know Chris and Rob from The Yearlings that well but we have forged a deep and lasting friendship. We ended up travelling to America together as we both got into the Folk Alliance in Memphis. We drove to Nashville and played in The Bluebird Cafe then drove across to Alabama.
I’ve always had lumps in my body and had bits cut out. I had a painful lump in the middle of my chest. Everyone was saying go get it checked out and I didn’t really do the doctor thing if I didn’t have to. I kept putting it off but when I got back from America I went to get it checked out.”
My dad wanted a career change and bought the license of a pub when I was 16. It was in Rochester, Central Vic and I didn’t like it there at all. I was 16 and had left all my friends to move to this remote town. I left as soon as I could and
travelled.
I first worked in Uluru. I’ve done a few stints in Central Australia and It was really life changing for me, seeing that rock for the first time is one of the most amazing memories and feelings that I have. I went overseas for a while with a couple of girlfriends. In the meantime my parents had moved to Melbourne so I came back and worked in a sewing factory for a while. I don’t really last in cities for that long so I moved back to the Camperdown area and worked as an intellectual disabilities nurse as we were called in those days.
I’ve always been in bands since high school. I moved down to Torquay and I met this musician who asked me to be a part of his band as a backing singer. We went on tour and it was like an apprenticeship for me. It was pretty gruelling and I was pretty naive and not very good but anyway, I did it. That all fell apart in WA and we were all kind of stranded. I ended up coming back to Vic and got myself a little flat in St Kilda right in the thick of it. It was the first time I liked living in the city. We partied hard, had a great time clubbing and everyone would pop in to my place.
I was working at the time as a carer for a quadriplegic man. He kept asking me to come up to Byron Bay to help him find a property to buy as it was too cold in Melbourne for him. I had never been here and I kept saying no. He organised someone else and at the last minute she pulled out. I ended up coming on a 3 month contract and we were based near Woolgoolga. We explored the region from Bellingen up to Noosa. He ended up buying just out of Dorrigo and I stayed for a month to get him settled and train some staff. I organised a weeks holiday in Byron before returning to Melbourne. Next thing I’m saying I’m not going back to Melbourne, I stayed and I’ve been here ever since.
I had a beautiful situation right on Tallows Beach in old Tony’s house. Some people would remember old Tony. I was working in Hospitality and doing some support work as well. While I was there I met Azo Bell, a beautiful musician and I fell pregnant. I really wanted to develop my own music but didn’t know how to start. I think when I met Azo he was living my dream. It was very attractive. I was 27 and we had only been seeing each other for a few months. I knew I wanted a baby so Lily was born in 96 at Azo’s house in Byron. We made an album called Azo and Sarah around that time and played a lot of festivals. I was contributing my own material as well as playing covers. It was exciting but challenging being a new mum and our relationship was rocky. In an attempt to stay together we went around Australia and toured. It was an incredible trip but it wasn’t enough to salvage the relationship. Lily turned 2 in Broome.
When we came back I decided I wanted to go back to Vic and be closer to family. I had a crack at that but it didn’t work. In the end I felt it was fairer to Lily to be closer to her Dad so we came beck here and I moved into a flat in Lennox which I ended up buying. I met my now partner Mark while we were living in that flat. We met through Stan, a mutual friend and we shared the same love of alternate country music. We bonded that night but we didn’t get together. I did my very first solo gig at The Rails which was daunting. Going solo and teaching myself to play guitar to support myself gave me this quiet strength to go forward musically.
I wanted to record my own album and met Dan Etheridge. We would rehearse and we got a residency at what was Kokopelli’s in Bangalow. It was while I was working with Dan that I met Mark again. I thought, Oh he’s cute! It took a while to develop.
We made my first album ‘Five Days’ with a great team. Mark and I were just starting to see each other. ABC Radio were calling for regional Australian artists to send in songs. I entered and I won which sent me on my way. The airplay and response from listeners was so great. The song was ‘Down the Avenue’.
I met Bill Chambers sharing the bill at a concert in Port Macquarie. Bill said he wanted to produce my next album and I put that thought in the back of my mind because I wasn’t really ready. In the meantime Mark and I were really together. I was over living in my little flat in Lennox and I wanted to get back to some land again. I started looking at houses on a couple of acres which is hard to find. We found one at Meerschaum Vale, sold my flat and Lil and I moved in. Mark was doing his Phd in Brisbane so we were doing the long distance thing. I became pregnant with Poppy and she was born in 2005. That was beautiful. Lil was about 9 when Poppy was born.
Not long after Poppy was born I went down and recorded my second album, ‘Lucky the Sun’ with Bill Chambers at his studio in Woy Woy. Will Graham, the piano player and I really collaborated to bring the songs on that album together with Bill. It was a whole new world for me. I released it in 2006 and the press really liked it. I put a 5 piece band together called The Kingfishers and we travelled around playing that album. Poppy only said recently what she mostly remembers about being little is she would go down for her afternoon sleep and she would hear me pick up the guitar to write and practice.
I ended up getting writers block after that album. I was tired.
In 2009 we went as a family to America for the first time. Mark had work there and we had a month in New Orleans. We drove from New Orleans to LA, across Texas and then I started writing again.
In 2011 I made my album ‘Time’ in South Australia at the studio of The Yearlings who are a South Australian duo. That felt like coming home. It was a very special time. I didn’t know Chris and Rob from The Yearlings that well but we have forged a deep and lasting friendship. We ended up travelling to America together as we both got into the Folk Alliance in Memphis. We drove to Nashville and played in The Bluebird Cafe then drove across to Alabama.
I’ve always had lumps in my body and had bits cut out. I had a painful lump in the middle of my chest. Everyone was saying go get it checked out and I didn’t really do the doctor thing if I didn’t have to. I kept putting it off but when I got back from America I went to get it checked out.”