A while back, I gave my son, Nick, a listen to Eowyn's Shattered Illusions CD. His friend was over, and Nick said to his friend, "Wow, you gotta hear this. She sounds just like Sarah, doesn't she?" Sarah was one of their co-workers, who did a little singing on the side. I said that to add yet another Sarah, but it really happened. So, besides the fact that they're all female vocalists, what do they have in common?
So far, I haven't met a Sarah whose music I didn't like. None of "my" Sarahs overdo the vocal gimmicks like melismas (what I used to call warbling -until I learned the technical term), pouting, whining, breathiness and nasal slurring, to name a few. None of them use much keyboardy orchestral sounds, or those watery-sounding chimes. All of their voices are crisp and clear. I guess most of their work is peaceful-but-interesting, or their vocals have a pleading urgency in them.
Sarah Masen was born the same year I graduated from high school (1975). Her message can be a bit cryptic, but some is strongly Christian. All of it is clean and well done. Sarah Masen's vocals are on the border between alto and soprano, and she's got an interesting falsetto vibrato, or wavering on many of her notes. Really interesting music!
Sara Groves was born in 1972 and is a Minneapolis girl. The only reason I mention that is because I was a suburban Minneapolis boy until I joined the Air Force. Her music is mainly piano driven soft rock with strong, Christian lyrics. Sara Groves doesn't get into much of the piercing soprano stuff either. She's just an all around pleasant listen. She's also been known to work with Joel Hanson of PFR fame (also a Minneapolitan). PFR's one of my favorites! I guess I better check out some of Hanson's solo work. (Oops, sorry --I'm getting off track.)
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