April 23, 2018 · 0 Comments
By Mike Pickford
Since she grew up surrounded by the popular music of the day, it was perhaps inevitable that Sara Rose would look to forge a career in the industry.
Now, 22 years old and on the verge of releasing her debut album Until Now, she looks back on her many musical memories as a child and reflects on what exactly led her down this “exciting” path.
“I was probably 10 years old when I really started to get interested in music. There were always tunes playing in my house and then, one day, my aunt turned up with this bright red electric guitar – I loved it, right away,” Sara tells the Citizen. “She was really into rock, so she tried to get me into that sort of music, but I always just sort of played my own style.”
Quite fitting. As she was exposed to the likes of Jann Arden, Sarah McLachlan and Alanis Morissette during those formative musical years, Sara embraced each of their attitudes – deciding to come up with her own, unique sound rather than follow the cookie-cutter found many aspiring musicians latch on to in an attempt to make it big.
And so, as a green 10-year-old, she saw her journey begin. Despite only truly knowing how to play two chords, Sara started writing her own music. She poured her heart and soul into making broken lyrics until, eventually, things started to come together. Her parents, impressed with Sara’s dedication, signed her up for guitar lessons. There, she would meet perhaps the greatest influence to her current sound – Ryan Hancock of the Campfire Poets.
Ryan spent years working meticulously with Sara as she sought to perfect her skills on the guitar, all the while she was also working hard on her songwriting skills.
“I probably wrote hundreds of songs in my early years, songs I’d never, ever let anyone hear,” Sara admits. “I wrote about literally everything, anything at all that impacted me in my life, I’ve probably written about. It took me a while to get the point where I’m willing to share my songs, but even now, it’s 11 out of hundreds I’m okay with sharing.”
Sara described Until Now as her own personal anthem through life, with each of the songs in it containing their own story. Whether it be love, loss, and everything else in between, Sara is hopeful that her music can be as helpful to others as it has been to her.
“I wouldn’t say this is a sad album per se, but there’s definitely some pretty harsh topics tackled. One of the songs on there is one I wrote when I was younger, when my cousin passed away, so that’s a pretty deep song. I’ve suffered with depression at times over the past few years, so that’s pretty prevalent in some of the songs,” Sara says. “But it’s not just about the negatives, there are positive stories, positive messages in there too. It’s a mixed bag of different colours and different themes. It’s pretty much my journey through life.”
She added, “I’m hoping that a lot of people can relate to my music. I feel like, at this age, a lot of us are sort of just going around, trying to find our way through life, stumbling and falling around. This album has helped me to find my stride again.”
Until Now will officially be released on May 31 when Sara will take to the stage at the Orangeville Townhall Opera House for a special album release concert. There, she will be joined by Ryan Hancock and Geoff Canlett, from the Campfire Poets, and a few other special guests.
“The album was something I needed to do, but the concert came about almost as a spur- of-the-moment thing. We talked about doing it, something small in a restaurant and then all of a sudden we’d decided on the Opera House,” Sara said.
“It’s going to be a really cool event. It’s nice knowing I’ll be up there on stage with Ryan, who really taught me a lot and pretty much got me to the point I’m at today. Then, the thing I’m probably most looking forward to, is having one of my students, Grace, perform as one of the opening acts. It’s going to be a special night.”
With the album complete and the end of her four-year social work degree now well and truly on the horizon, Sara is looking forward to taking some time to reflect on her journey thus far. Following her concern, Ms. Rose will be heading out west to Calgary, where she plans to continue writing music.
“I’m really not sure what the future holds. Right now I’m still working on some things for the show next month. No matter what I end up doing, I think music is always going to play a big part in my life. In the last year it’s come up in almost everything – even my degree,” Sara said, noting she had developed a ‘Care Through Music’ program during her time working, volunteering and interning with Hospice Dufferin.
She concluded, “If a music career doesn’t work out, then maybe I’ll look into music therapy and learn about how to truly help people through, like my music helped me.”
Tickets for the Until Now album release show, coming up at 7 p.m. on May 31, are on sale through Theatre Orangeville, at a cost of $20 per person. Sara’s album will be available on iTunes and Spotify, while hard copies of the CD will be available at the show for $10.