Sarah Darling kicked off her 12 date UK tour with a stunning performance at London’s Union Chapel and used it as a showcase of music from across her catalogue. Union Chapel is blessed with wonderful acoustics and this allowed Sarah to show her voice at its best. The full band, of completely British origin, managed to perfectly complement and yet never drown Sarah’s beautiful voice. So much so that her closing song ‘Halleys Comet’ was greeted with a standing ovation from the pews of the Chapel.
One of the highlights of the night was the moving rendition of new single ‘Wasted’, which has taken 10 years to be released and shines a light on the very serious subject of addiction. It’s a song that hints at a real emotional depth for her new album which should drop later in the year. ‘Wasted’ is produced by Mark Bright, of Carrie Underwood fame, and written by Sarah with hit songwriters Josh Osborne and Marc Beeson. Sarah has been quoted as saying the song is personal to her and she was obviously thrilled to sing it to a very receptive audience.
Sarah used the evening to play new music and it seemed to find an enthusiastic response from the sold out crowd who were rewarded with the exclusive announcement that the Country singer songwriter would be also performing at the Country2Country festival this Sunday at the O2 Arena in London. Sarah has built a loyal UK fan base since first appearing at C2C in 2015 and it will be a great opportunity to add to that number.
Sarah is a veteran of the legendary Grand Ole Opry in Nashville and has made over 80 appearances on the stage there since leaving her native Iowa to write and play with the creatives in the capital of Country music. The stagecraft learned from all this experience was very evident as the Union Chapel audience hung on her every word as she worked through her 90 minute set.
Since releasing her debut album back in 2009 with Black River, Sarah has gone her own way and will follow up last years ‘Dream Country’ with a second independent release in the Autumn. Personally I can’t wait as last nights live performance in such an incredible setting highlighted the nuanced voice of this Country music singer who goes from strength to strength.
Sarah will play across the UK and I’d recommend trying to catch her or, failing that, head up to the O2 on Sunday to catch her live in the Square there. You will not be disappointed!
