As she prepares to head away on a seven-week Ireland and UK tour, Cornwall-based singer-songwriter Sarah McQuaid has released a live video of a new song that she says will likely become the title track of her next album — performed in the very space where she plans to record it.
“I had three new songs in my set on my Germany-Benelux tour earlier this year,” explains Sarah, “and as we were driving down to Cornwall after getting the ferry back to England at the end of the tour, my wonderful manager Martin came up with a brilliant idea.
“I’m in the process of renovating my garage into a home studio where I can record all my future albums, and Martin said ‘Look, the new songs have been going down really well, so why don’t we just unload all the gear straight into your garage and do some live recording and filming before we pack it away again?’
“The place is still very much a construction site, and there was a fierce cold wind blowing in through the broken windows, so I was playing with my hat on and a scarf wrapped around my neck, but the video came out really well and has already been getting some great comments on YouTube!”
Entitled “I’m Slowing Down As I Get Older (And That’s Good),” the song carries an upbeat message about living in the present, with a bluesy flavour that evokes Sarah’s roots in Chicago, where she spent most of her childhood before moving to Ireland and then on to Cornwall.
It’s performed on the Ibanez Artist electric guitar that formerly belonged to her late friend and mentor Michael Chapman, who produced and played on her 2018 album If We Dig Any Deeper It Could Get Dangerous.
“Everybody said that album title was too long,” Sarah laughs, “but I’m thinking that ‘I’m Slowing Down As I Get Older (And That’s Good)’ might make a really good title for the next release, and that’s even longer! But people have already been asking if I’ve got a T-shirt with that song title on it, so why not?
“The plan is to record the new album this summer — hopefully in my new home studio — and release it early next year. The garage still needs a lot of work, although we’ve made a start and had the walls tanked thanks to the lovely people who’ve already contributed to my GoFundMe campaign. The next steps are repairing and insulating the roof and replacing the doors and windows.
“It’s a massive project to undertake, but I’m confident that between touring and crowdfunding I can make it happen.”
The video can be viewed on Sarah’s YouTube channel as well as on the Video page of her website (https://sarahmcquaid.com/video).
Sarah’s Ireland and UK concert dates are as follows (see https://sarahmcquaid.com/tour for full details including times, booking links etc.):
Apr 24 Tullamore: Esker Arts Centre
Apr 25 Cavan: Townhall Arts Centre
Apr 26 Lisburn: Island Arts Centre
Apr 27 Bangor: The Court House
Apr 29 Navan: Solstice Arts Centre
May 1 Castlebar: Linenhall Arts Centre
May 2 Borrisoleigh: Finn’s Folk Club (Bandroom Lane Sessions)
May 3 Tramore: Coastguard Cultural Centre
May 7 Birmingham: Red Lion Folk Club
May 8 Horsley: The Hearth
May 9 Wooler: The Cheviot Centre
May 10 Penrith: Lazonby Village Hall
May 11 Appleby: Dufton Village Hall
May 14 Arisaig: Astley Hall
May 15 Strathcarron: Applecross Community Hall
May 16 Stonehaven Folk Club
May 17 Seil Island Community Hall
May 18 Isle of Lismore Public Hall
May 21 Edinburgh: The Kitchen Sings
May 22 Leigh Film Factory
May 23 Stafford: Chebsey Parish Hall
May 24 Bradford: Black Dyke Mills Heritage Venue
May 25 Melton Constable: Swanton Novers Village Hall
May 28 Gloucester: The Folk of Gloucester
May 29 Southampton: The Chapel Sessions
May 30 Bordon: Phoenix Theatre & Arts Centre
May 31 Felixstowe: Two Sisters Arts Centre
Jun 1 Coleford: Forest Folk Club
Jun 4 Swindon Arts Centre
Jun 5 Abertillery: The Met
Jun 6 Lostwithiel Concert Series
Jun 8 Bradninch Music Festival
Born in Spain to a Spanish father and American mother, Sarah grew up in Chicago, touring the US and Canada as a member of The Chicago Children’s Choir. In the mid-1990s she made her way to Ireland, where her authorship of The Irish DADGAD Guitar Book led to invitations to write regular music columns and reviews for Hot Press magazine and Dublin’s Evening Herald.
Following her move in 2007 (with her Irish husband and their two children) to Cornwall, she swiftly struck up a friendship with a fellow mum outside the gates of their children’s school. That fellow mum turned out to be Zoë Pollock, writer and performer of 1991 UK Top 5 single “Sunshine On A Rainy Day.”
The pair soon found themselves co-writing songs for an album released in 2008 under the band name Mama, lauded by MOJO’s Colin Irwin as “a pleasingly maverick mix” and by The Irish Times as “Janis Joplin’s freewheeling spirit crossed with Joni Mitchell’s lyrical density.”
“I owe Zoë a massive debt of gratitude for getting me into songwriting in a serious way,” says Sarah. “Prior to that I’d thought of myself basically as a folksinger who happened to write an occasional song, but through working with Zoë I not only learned a hell of a lot about the craft of songwriting, but also just the fact of someone of her calibre wanting to co-write with me was what finally gave me the confidence to start focusing on my own original material.”
“And of course, if it weren’t for Zoë I’d never have met Martin” – Martin Stansbury, a longtime collaborator and former bandmate of Zoë’s who produced and engineered the Mama album, then became Sarah’s manager and sound engineer, accompanying her on all her tours worldwide since 2009.
Most recently, Martin produced and engineered Sarah’s sixth solo album, The St Buryan Sessions, recorded live in lockdown in the beautiful medieval church of St Buryan, just over a mile from Sarah’s home.
Released in October 2021 on CD and limited-edition double LP, the album made it onto “Best of 2021” lists on three continents and features stunning solo performances by Sarah on acoustic and electric guitars, piano and floor tom drum, her lush, distinctive vocals echoing through the soaring space.
“McQuaid’s voice, a fragile, starkly resonant alto, has always been a thing of folk-trad beauty,” wrote reviewer Kenny Berkowitz in Acoustic Guitar magazine, “but here, with ambient mics placed around the church’s interior, it takes on a new joyfulness and a deeper darkness.” Ink 19’s Bob Pomeroy called it “a starkly minimalist recording of exceptional beauty”, and Folk Radio UK described it as “a wonderful, expressive and intimate live album from a consummate performer.”
“There is an audience,” wrote Adrian Jones in Folk London, “– it’s you, and you’ve kept shtum in the back pew. It’s an intimate and changing 70 minutes, ending with the silence of this hallowed setting. Sneak out quietly. And then listen to it again!”
The entire album was filmed as it was being recorded, and videos of all 15 tracks can be viewed on Sarah’s website – https://sarahmcquaid.com – together with details of the forthcoming tour and more information including a 10-minute video intro to Sarah and her music.
