Sara Petite
Sara Petite
Rings In 2010 With
Powerful New CD
www.sarapetite.com or www.myspace.com/sarapetite
(San Diego, CA): As she releases her third CD, “Doghouse Rose,” Petite builds on a reputation for quality that has already led the San Diego-based country artist to release two independent CDs (“Tiger Mountain” and “Lead the Parade”) to international acclaim.
On her new CD, “Doghouse Rose, Petite follows the musical path she began laying down on “Tiger Mountain” and “Lead the Parade,” however, this album is tempered with the more rocking but still roots-based influences of artists such as Steve Earle. The CD was produced and recorded by Eddie Gore at Insomnia Recording Studio in Tennessee, where Gore began a partnership with Stax record pioneer and guitarist-songwriter, Steve Cropper. Connecting with legends, Petite’s new release features former Dukes member “Handsome” Harry Stinson on backup vocals; former Johnny Cash and Dwight Yoakam bassist Dave “Ro”; former Lucinda Williams and current Marty Stuart guitarist Kenny Vaughn; and Keith Anderson’s drummer, William Ellis.
With the new release coming on the heels of being named “Best Americana or Country” in the 2009 San Diego Music Awards, Petite stands to go from up-and-coming artist to an artist that has arrived on an international level. Kicking off a tour in April, Petite will head to the U.K. for a three-week tour with several dates in England and Ireland.
No stranger to Europe, Petite was first introduced across the pond when her song “Coming Home” from her 2005 debut album of the same name was featured on the compilation CD “Country,” from Universal Music in France. The song and Petite were featured alongside legendary artists such as Tim McGraw, Reba McIntyre, Merle Haggard and Dolly Parton, with whom she’s been compared. “Coming Home” also appears on Shut Eye Records’ compilation CD, “The United States of Americana.”
Not just a original voice, Petite is a natural songwriter, evidenced by the fact in her first-ever songwriting competition, three of her songs advanced in the International Songwriting Competition in 2005, with two making it to the semi-finals. Since then, she has been honored in the West Coast Songwriter’s Competition; Great American Songwriter’s Competition; Great Waters Folk Festival Song Contest (Top 5 finalist); San Diego Music Awards (2nd). In 2006, Petite earned the Grand Prize in the 2006 Portland Songwriting Contest.
On stage, Petite has opened for such major headliners as Marty Stuart and the Fabulous Superlatives, Josh Turner, Shooter Jennings, Dave Alvin, Trent Thomlinson, Richie McDonald, John Eddie, Todd Snider, Ralph Stanley, Steve Poltz, Lance Miller, John Doe and Bert Jansch.
Sara learned to sing country music by studying the best. Raised where wild huckleberries grow in Summer, Washington – a tulip-farming town southeast of Seattle – she listened to Dolly Parton and Loretta Lynn. When Petite was 6, she and her twin sister fell in love with Loretta Lynn when they saw "Coal Miner's Daughter." Her mother would get her albums from the library, and when people came over to visit, she and her sister would sing the songs together, standing on top of the coffee table, using a jump rope as a microphone. Her all-time favorite artists leant her their vocal inflections and, most importantly, gave her a respect and admiration for country music.
“I don’t always consider myself a country artist,” she says. “My songs range from bluegrass to country to rock ‘n’ roll, but I know my voice sounds distinctly country.”
Being called everything from “Outlaw country” to “AAA singer-songwriter,” Petite’s songs revive fond memories of history, home and travels. From the stage, Sara tells the story of visiting with family, where she and her twin sister were surprised to find an indoor outhouse.
Inspiration for her songs comes from broken hearts and those full of hope. She speaks with obvious relish when relating stories of such colorful characters as her grandfather, who as a pioneering representative of the aviation industry, sold a plane to Elvis Presley. Another tale is about her Uncle Irving, a nature writer who once lived with a bear, chickens and goats on Tiger Mountain in Washington state, which became the family's emotional home base.
Riding the wave of a well-received new CD, Petite looks forward to spreading her music as far as the road takes her in 2010.
Sara Petite
Select Clips
MOJO NIXON - OUTLAW COUNTRY
“She could sing a buzzard off a Slop Wagon” – Mojo Nixon
NORTH COUNTY TIMES
Jim Trageser
Hard to believe it's only been three years since Sara Petite released her first album and began taking the local scene by storm. With an energetic stage show built around her twangy-as-a-musical-saw vocals and hard-charging rock-and-country band (and a superb and growing set of original songs), Petite has risen to the top of the short list of the next artist or band from San Diego likely to achieve national stardom….
Petite remains the utterly in control singer she's been since that first release. A less-strong personality, or one with less talent, might have wilted in front of a band composed of folks who've backed everyone from Johnny Cash to Marty Stuart to Dwight Yoakum. Petite, though, sings with the same smiling confidence as she does at her gigs at the tiny Ould Sod Irish bar in Normal Heights, her distinctively nasal vocals as country as country gets, with fine control and a purity of pitch that would leave most classically trained singers deep in envy.
Then there are the songs. Her songs, all but one of the 13 found here. Some seem new, others, like "Fade Away," have been in her regular set list for a couple years at least in one form or another. Among the newer titles, the best – like the rocking "Baby Let Me In," the plaintive "We Shouldn't Be Doing This" or the tender "Souvenirs" – remind more than a little of Tom Russell and Guy Clark in their blending of storytelling and song.
It's a tremendous collection of strong songs and Petite's remarkable singing, as great a listen as it is testament to her hard work and talent.
SAN DIEGO NEWS NETWORK
Michael Toombs
A rockin’, honky-tonkin’ delight rooted in the heartbreak in Petite’s lyrics and vocals (there’s a certain wide-eyed quality that’s caused her to be compared to Dolly Parton),
MAVERICK MAGAZINE
Traditional flavoured country that should appeal to Dolly and Elizabeth Cook fans…. What we find ourselves with is a fairly contemporary artist whose roots are firmly embedded in tradition, one unafraid to utilize ample banjo,mandolin, fiddle, harmonica and country style guitar on her backings….A delightful sophomore album packed with simple but effective songs, engaging vocals, great country backings, well produced, the type of album which has strong echoes of the past.
SAN DIEGO TROUBADOUR
Sara Petite displays the same vivacious energy that she brings to the stages upon which she performs. She is bright, attractive, and brimming with stories about life, family, and music. Often described as an Americana artist, her sound is an earthy fusion of folk, bluegrass, country, and mountain music with surprising flashes of pop and rock. She steadfastly affirms that "it's all Americana." Her singing voice, which has been likened to that of June Carter and Dolly Parton, is the tie that binds the varied styles she blends. While she has a healthy respect for the classic genres in their purest forms, she confidently asserts that she does what she wants when it comes to making music. Such an approach can be a risky proposition for some, but her CD Tiger Mountain shows that it is the right one for her….It is the more personal songs that seem to resonate the most with listeners, lending weight to the impression that home and family are the things closest to her heart As extensively as her travels have been, Sara Petite can make a home and surround herself with family wherever she finds herself.
Contact:
(858) 405 - 4027
info@sarapetite.com
