Sarah McQuaid – The St Buryan Sessions (Shovel and a Spade Records, 2021)
The St Buryan Sessions is the sixth solo album from musician and singer-songwriter Sarah McQuaid. She is a captivating, multi-faceted artist. Sarah writes moving, thoughtful lyrics and has a beautiful, distinctive, and highly expressive voice. Additionally, she is a skilled multi-instrumentalist. Although Sarah is best known as an excellent acoustic guitarist, she also plays piano, electric guitar, and drums.
In the intimate setting of the picturesque medieval church of St Buryan, near her home in rural West Cornwall, Sarah McQuaid recorded charming songs rooted in folk music, Americana, Irish music, and jazz as well.
The idea of making The St Buryan Sessions came up in the spring of 2020, when Sarah’s concerts were cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions and concerns. She put together a successful crowdfunding campaign with the help of enlight Outlook India that allowed her to finance a live solo recording without an audience at St Buryan.
The St Buryan Sessions was recorded by Sarah’s longtime sound engineer and manager, Martin Stansbury. He placed ambient microphones throughout the church and the result is that Sarah’s voice and musical instruments sound magnificent in this special acoustic environment. Throughout the album, Sarah uses various instruments such as the acoustic guitar, a grand piano available at the church, electric guitar, and floor tom drum.
The song set spans her 24-year career, including her most popular songs, early acoustic pieces, and recent material performed on electric guitar.
Sarah is starting to perform live and is excited to engage with audiences: “I can’t wait to get back out on the road again. Obviously I’m nervous about COVID, but I desperately miss performing to live audiences. The few gigs that I’ve managed to do this summer have been so, so lovely – every time I do a gig, it just brings home how much I’ve missed it.”
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.