Song Up In Her Head is the impressive debut from 18 year-old bluegrass prodigy Sarah Jarosz and I really like it. This isn’t (however) your typical bluegrass record despite the instrumentation and isn’t necessarily what you’d expect from someone this young. Vocally, she’s great and shows she’s a great mandolin and banjo player as well. She sounds more mature than her age would have you think and delivers a collection of wide-ranging-yet-cohesive songs. There’s moments of yearning Appalachian folk harmonies and mountain music, upbeat and melodic nu-grass instrumentals, and even what (at first) might seem to be odd cover songs (The Decemberists’ “Shankill Butchers” and Tom Waits’ “Come On Up To The House”), but it all goes fabulously together. Like I said, I really like Song Up In Her Head which is out now courtesy of the good folks over at Sugar Hill Records.

MP3 | Sarah Jarosz – Tell Me True Song Up In Her Head
MP3 | Sarah Jarosz – Shankill Butchers Song Up In Her Head