Sara Grey is a fine American singer of traditional song and ballads, banjo player and song collector. She’s immersed in the song traditions of both sides of the Atlantic and also loves teaching the banjo as a versatile instrument for accompanying song. She has performed throughout the UK, Europe, North America and Australia for the past 65 years. The passage of songs from Great Britain and Ireland to America is of particular interest to her. A good deal of her material is the American versions that have traveled, through a song or two from Britain will no doubt be sung. Although born in the United States, she has lived more than half her life in the United Kingdom, but she now lives back home in Vermont in the USA.
One of the best things about her singing is that it reflects her great knowledge of and feeling for traditional singing. She just seems to know what is right in the interpretation of a traditional song. She is a singer of great strength with a fine understanding of the importance of understatement in the art of ballad singing. The breadth of her repertoire of songs is enormous.
Sara’s love affair with traditional songs for over 60 years has given her an incomparable knowledge of songs and ballads and how they have moved and evolved. She wants to gather the songs and pass them on to future generations so that they will have the pleasure of hearing and singing them just as she has. Her career is not about herself, it has been about the songs, about sharing them with others and ensuring that they go on living in our traditions.
Learn more on her website and to inquire about musical performances here.
Join musician and historian Sara Grey for a presentation on a genre of old songs that are rarely sung or talked about from the expansions of railroads across the US. Using some excellent images to coincide with the songs, Grey will focus on many aspects of the west and westward expansion.
Join musician and historian Sara Grey for a presentation on the evolution of old songs and ballads. They often are more akin to the old songs from the British Isles as they migrated into these regions first and did not lose their characteristics as much as they did when they migrated further south.
Join musician and historian Sara Grey for a presentation showing the changes that occurred when old songs migrated into various regions of Canada and the United States from Great Britain.
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