Sarah’s ‘beguiling’ performance

Sarah McQuaid is the next guest of the Chichester Folk Song Club at The Skittle Alley, The Four Chesnuts, Oving Road, Chichester, on Tuesday, November 8

Club spokesman Kerry Manning said: “Renowned for her warm, engaging stage presence, Sarah McQuaid is a versatile and beguiling performer.

“In addition to her own elegantly-crafted originals, she interprets traditional Irish and Appalachian folk songs, Elizabethan ballads, 1930s jazz numbers, surprise covers and lively guitar instrumentals with panache and poignance.

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“Her deliciously-earthy voice delivers a powerful emotional punch that’s matched by her distinctive, eloquent guitar style. Add this to a real rapport with her audience, and you have all the ingredients of a great night out.”

Kerry added: “Born in Spain, raised in Chicago and holding dual Irish and American citizenship, Sarah was taught piano and guitar by her folk-singing mother and remembers being inspired by meeting her distant cousin, well-known singer/songwriter/storyteller Gamble Rogers, at her grandmother’s house in Indiana.

“From the age of twelve she was embarking on tours of the US and Canada with the Chicago Children’s Choir, and at eighteen she went to France for a year to study philosophy at the University of Strasbourg.

“Sarah moved to Ireland in 1994, and three years later released her debut solo album, When Two Lovers Meet. Now spending approximately six months of each year on the road in Ireland, the UK, Europe and the USA, Sarah was an official showcase artist at the International Folk Alliance conference in February 2011.

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“She starts a whistle-stop tour of the UK this month, with 25 concerts in the next five weeks, and we are really pleased that she has managed to fit a debut performance at Chichester into her busy schedule.”

The club starts at 8.30pm. (doors open 8pm). Admission £5 (members £2). More details on www.chifolksongclub.co.uk.