• Sarah Blasko Signs With Dramatico In Europe

  Billboard - Found 8 hours ago ... ne Australian songstress Sarah Blasko's critical and commercial hit album 'As Day Follows Night' is slated for a pan-European release in ...

• Sarah Blasko Signs With Dramatico In Europe

  Billboard - Found 10 hours ago ... ne Australian songstress Sarah Blasko's critical and commercial hit album 'As Day Follows Night' is slated for a pan-European release in ...

• Sarah Blasko Signs With Dramatico In Europe

  Billboard - Found 10 hours ago ... ne Australian songstress Sarah Blasko's critical and commercial hit album 'As Day Follows Night' is slated for a pan-European release in ...

• Sarah Blasko @ The Enmore Theatre, Sydney (09/10/09)

  Faster Louder - Found Oct. 20, 2009 The audiences response suggested they wanted more, so heres to hoping for a quick return. Sarah Blasko separated her set into two parts.

• Sarah Blasko's pleasure from pain

  Sydney Morning Herald - Found Oct. 8, 2009 Which '90s TV star is your all-time crush? You tell us! It is safe to say Sarah Blasko has not gone all rock'n'roll on us.

• Sarah Blasko: Indie idol loosens up

  Brisbane Courier-Mail - Found Sep. 19, 2009 : Email : Print Submit comment: Submit comment Sally Browne SARAH Blasko hates Facebook.

• Who Will Win The ARIAs?

  TripleM - Found Nov. 22, 2009 My gut feeling is that Sarah Blasko will win based on my “even smattering of awards” concept.

• Our ARIA picks

  Brisbane Times - Found Nov. 19, 2009 Empire Of The Sun Walking on a Dream Jessica Mauboy Been Waiting Kate Miller-Heidke Curiouser Ladyhawke Ladyhawke Sarah Blasko As Day Follows Night

• Music's night of nights

  The Australian - Found Nov. 20, 2009 It's a stellar line-up, though, with Sarah Blasko, Ladyhawke, Empire of the Sun and Jessica Mauboy among leading contenders for the pointy...

• Final J Awards nominations announced

  Faster Louder - Found Nov. 18, 2009 ... of the Year Hilltop Hoods State Of The Art Bertie Blackman Secrets & Lies Karnivool Sound Awake Sarah Blasko As Day Follows Night Phrase...

Sarah Blasko or Sarah Elizabeth Blaskow,¹ (born 23 September 1976, Sydney, New South Wales) is an Australian singer-songwriter and musician.² After fronting Sydney-based band, Acquiesce from mid-1990s, Blasko developed her solo career from 2002. In 2007, she won the 'Best Pop Release' for What the Sea Wants, the Sea Will Have at the ARIA Music Awards,³ which peaked at #7 on the ARIA Albums Charts.⁴ Her album, As Day Follows Night, reached #5 and she received five ARIA Award nominations for her work in 2009.³⁴

Early life

Blasko was born in Sydney, New South Wales in 1976, soon after her family returned from French-speaking Réunion where both parents were Christian missionaries.⁵⁶⁷ Upon return to Australia her parents often changed churches, with Blasko singing alongside her mother,⁵ and settled at a Pentecostal church in Sydney which later became Hillsong.⁶ Her mother was a nurse and her father a teacher from Hungarian-German background.⁷ While in high school, Blasko and her older sister Kate formed a jazz-blues group.²⁷ By the age of 15, Blasko was concerned by the apocalyptic message of the End of the World and Christ's Return, and eventually left the church in her final year of high school.⁶ She had no formal singing lessons until aged 19 and started playing guitar.⁷ At university, Blasko completed a degree in English literature and film.⁷⁸

In the mid-1990s, as lead vocalist she fronted Sydney band Acquiesce, with founding members Paul Camilleri on guitar, Dave Hemmings on drums and her sister Kate Halcrow on harmony vocals.⁹ Tracks were co-written by Blasko and Camilleri,⁹ Acquiesce recorded an EP, A for Acquiesce, and a single with producer Hugh Wilson.⁹¹⁰ Acquiesce received some local attention in 1999 by winning a national campus band competition.¹¹ Acquiesce disbanded by January 2001 and Blasko teamed-up with acoustic guitarist, Nick Schneider in the short-lived project: Sorija,¹²¹³ an acoustic pop/electronic duo, they played gigs in Sydney until April 2002.¹² Early in her career, Blasko had "an unsuccessful marriage".¹⁴

Solo career

In 2002, Blasko decided to go solo and wrote/co-wrote material for her debut release, the six track EP, Prelusive, which appeared in September—initially a collaboration with Wilson and recorded as demos—later produced by Blasko with Schneider and Steve Francis.⁹ Blasko released and promoted her material independently, with financial assistance from her manager Craig New.⁹ She also produced the music video for lead track, "Your Way",⁹ which was played on local community radio, 2SER, and national broadcaster Triple J, together with two other tracks, "Will You Ever Know" and "Be Tonight".⁹ "Your Way" was featured on new Sydney community radio station 2FBi when it first broadcast full-time.⁹ Blasko was signed to Brisbane-based label, Dew Process, which repackaged and re-released Prelusive in March 2003.¹⁵ Due to minor variations in packaging, the earlier independent release is more valuable to collectors.⁹

Debut album

In October 2004, Blasko released her debut album, The Overture & the Underscore, recorded in Hollywood during April–June at the studio of engineer Wally Gagel. She co-produced with Gagel and fellow songwriter Robert F. Cranny.⁵ Gagel engineered and mixed the album, with assistance from Bruce MacFarlane. Joey Waronker—a studio drummer and touring musician for artists such as Beck and R.E.M.—played all drums and percussion.⁵ Besides co-writing tracks with Blasko, Cranny provided bass guitar, drum programming, horn & string sample arrangements, guitars, organ, piano and synth.

The album met with critical acclaim and received platinum accreditation in Australia for sales of over 70000,¹⁶ and peaked into the Top 40 on the ARIA Album Charts.⁴ In 2005, Blasko received four ARIA Music Awards nominations, including 'Album of the Year'.³

Three music videos were produced for album tracks: "Don't U Eva", "Always Worth It" and "Perfect Now". The video for "Always Worth It" shows Blasko laying, unharmed, on the bottom of an inverted car before exiting and joyfully skipping against the stream of people heading towards the site of the wrecked vehicle. The track, "Always Worth It", featured in the final episode of the US television series, Six Feet Under.

Her debut EP and album focused around acoustic guitar and utilized both live and programmed drums, Blasko’s early recordings possessed appeal for indietronica fans, and in particular for "singer-songwriter" type artists who aspire to this kind of production.¹¹ On 8 October 2004, Bernard Zuel reviewed the album for The Sydney Morning Herald—"Blasko works in the territory where Ed Harcourt and Fiona Apple shine, taking some of the new acoustic framework (think Turin Brakes) and some of the folk-meets-electronica stuff that came out in the post-Portishead years and applies them to straightforward pop songs."¹¹

Her live interpretations display a harder edge and a greater dynamic range than her recordings. Drummer Jeff De Araujo often applies an additional layer of broken beats and percussion to the sampled drum loops; the presence of electric guitars is more pronounced; and Blasko delivers her vocals with increased rawness and energy.

Bret Gladstone, for Australian Associated Press, wrote:

the 28-year-old Aussie has delivered a collection of carefully crafted compositions in her debut album, The Overture and the Underscore. It's a collection torn between reverence of love and weariness of a reality that obliterates it, and it will satisfy anyone who has felt that Norah Jones, Radiohead and Coldplay would serve well as composite musical DNA. Steering away from swanky vocal effects like double-tracking, and, for the most part, harmonies, producer Wally Gagel hones sic in on the breathy, weathered velvet of Blasko's voice. He values the authenticity of its imperfections as well as its soul-weary grace, while framing it within widescreen sonic atmospheres at once funereal and emboldened.¹⁷

—Bret Gladstone, "Blasko Showcases Singing in 'Underscore'", 6 August 2005.

Cover versions

After the release of her debut album, Blasko demonstrated her enthusiasm and flair for interpreting the songs of others.

With Cranny, she performed a cover version of Crowded House's signature song, "Don't Dream It's Over", which featured on the tribute album, She Will Have Her Way: The Songs of Tim & Neil Finn. The track was engineered by David Trump at Big Jesus Burger studios in Sydney, and mixed by David Hemmings. In 2006, Blasko performed "Don't Dream It's Over" live at the Closing Ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.⁶

The pair performed a stripped-back version of Underground Lovers' "Losin' It", with voice and acoustic guitar. It has become a favourite in their live set and has led to a collaboration between Blasko and the song's co-writer, Glenn Bennie, for his second album, Emptiness Is Our Business, with his side-project, GB3.

Blasko also covered the Cold Chisel song, "Flame Trees", for the soundtrack for Rowan Woods' film, Little Fish, and featured on the 2007 Cold Chisel tribute album Standing on the Outside. This track was produced by Wayne Connolly, (Underground Lovers, You Am I, The Vines, Youth Group) and Jim Moginie (ex-Midnight Oil).

Blasko has performed "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" by Elton John on the ABC Records release, Triple J: Like a Version - Vol 2. She performed the New Buffalo track, "Come Back", after the artist was forced to cancel a number of support slots in February 2005.

What the Sea Wants, the Sea Will Have

Blasko spent April 2006 recording her second album in Auckland, New Zealand at Roundhead Studio, the studio of Crowded House frontman Neil Finn.¹⁸ She produced the album with Cranny and Moginie;¹⁹ while recording sessions were engineered by Paul McKercher (Glide, The Cruel Sea, You Am I, Augie March).¹⁹ New York-based producer/engineer Victor Van Vugt, mixed the record.¹⁹ Van Vugt has worked with Beth Orton, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds—mixing a number of their albums and some Mick Harvey solo work—and production efforts such as PJ Harvey’s Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea.

The album featuresd Dave Symes on bass guitar and Jeff De Araujo on drums & percussion.¹⁹ Moginie played wurlitzer, piano, guitar, omnichord and other gadgets.¹⁹ As well as vocals, Blasko supplied guitar, organ, vibraphone, wurlitzer and drum programming.¹⁹ Cranny played acoustic & electric guitars, piano, organ, harmonium, synthesiser, bass guitar, and wurlitzer.¹⁹ The choir and strings were arranged by Cranny and Blasko and conducted by Cranny.¹⁹

The first radio-only single released from the album was "[explain]" on 11 September, with a music video viewable on Blasko's official website. The next single, "Always on This Line", also had a video which received play on VH1 and MAX. A video was also made for "Planet New Year", in which she falls in love with a piano. "[explain]" reached #79 and "Always on this Line" achieved #58 on Triple J's Hottest 100 for 2006.²⁰ The album was released in Australia on 21 October, it debuted at #7 on the ARIA Albums Charts⁴ and has received platinum accreditation.¹⁶ It was also nominated for the 2006 J Award.¹⁸

As Day Follows Night

In 2008, Blasko composed the score (with Stefan Gregory) for Bell Shakespeare's production of Hamlet, which ran in July–August.²¹ While working on the Hamlet score, Blasko also began composing for her third studio album, As Day Follows Night.²¹ Blasko recorded it in Stockholm, Sweden, and blogged on her official site about her experiences from January 2009.²² She had written the songs without input from long term co-writer, Cranny—their creative and personal relationship had ended.¹⁴ Blasko decided to record in a simpler and more straight forward manner—without electric guitars and keyboards.²¹ The album was produced by Bjorn Yttling (Peter Bjorn and John)¹⁴²¹ and released in Australia on 10 July, which peaked at #5 on the ARIA Albums Charts.⁴ The first single from the album, "All I Want", debuted on Triple J on 3 May. Blasko has received five ARIA Music Award nominations for her work in 2009.³ Blasko is due to perform at the ARIA Awards ceremony on 26 November.²³

Touring

Sarah Blasko has toured extensively in Australia, as well as the US, Canada, UK and Ireland. Although the exact configuration varies, she performs with a five or six piece band usually consisting of drums, electric and synth bass, acoustic and electric guitar plus keyboards and various samplers/ effects units. Due to the breadth of arrangement most of the touring musicians are multi-instrumentalists.

She also performed in a duo with Cranny accompanying on guitar and keyboards. In both formats, Blasko plays acoustic guitar and occasional keyboards. She has toured with folk/roots artists such as Ray LaMontagne and played outdoor rock festivals.

Blasko has toured the UK and Ireland with Tom McRae, and US and Canada with Ray LaMontagne, James Blunt and Martha Wainwright. She has played at Woodford Folk Festival, The Falls Festival, Homebake, Splendour in the Grass, Festival of the Sun, WOMADelaide festival and in 2006 joined the national Big Day Out tour.

In March 2007 Blasko performed a special concert in Perth, Western Australia in the Octagon Theatre of the University of Western Australia. Blasko supported by a string quartet and a local guitarist. During the show she performed a duet with Joe McKee, frontman of local rock band Snowman.

Discography

Albums

• The Overture & the Underscore – (Dew Process, 11 October 2004) #35 AUS⁴
• What the Sea Wants, the Sea Will Have – (Dew Process, 21 October 2006) #7 AUS⁴
• As Day Follows Night – (Dew Process, 10 July 2009) #5 AUS⁴

EPs and singles

• Prelusive EP – independent release (September, 2002)
• "Don't U Eva" – Dew Process (27 September 2004)
• "Flame Trees" – Dew Process (18 March 2006)

Radio singles

• 'The Overture & the Underscore
  • "Counting Sheep" #37^{citation needed} (national airplay charts), "Perfect Now" #43, "Always Worth It" #12
• What the Sea Wants, the Sea Will Have
  • "[explain]" #8, "Always on This Line" #14, "Planet New Year"
• As Day Follows Night
  • "All I Want" #64

Other contributions

• Little Fish soundtrack – "Flame Trees"
• She Will Have Her Way: Songs of Tim and Neil Finn – "Don't Dream It's Over"
• Like a Version 2 – "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road"
• Write Your Adventures Down: A Tribute to The Go Betweens – "Bye, Bye Pride", "Hold Your Horses" (with Darren Hanlon)
• The Devoted Few Schematic Tracks Remix EP – "Nothing Ever Changes".
• Peabody The New Violence album – "Got You on My Radar", "The Weight Just Right", "Song for Val", "Got Your Hooks In"
• Nations by the River Holes in the Valley album – "Heart Attack Romance", "Cracking Up", "Would It Be Nice", "The Prettiest Girl"
• Bluebottle Kiss Doubt Seeds double album – "Speak Up Memory", "Dream Audit"
• GB3 Emptiness Is Our Business album – "Nothing in the Way"

Awards

ARIA Awards

Blasko has won an Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Music Award from 14 nominations.³²⁴²⁵

Other awards

References

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Sarah Blasko

• Sarah Blasko official site
• Sarah Blasko fan site
• Dew Process Records (Australia)
• Low Altitude Records (United States)
• Interview from Fasterlouder, 2004
• Radio Interview. Nov 2006, 3SYN 90.7FM Melbourne, Australia
• Sirens of Song: Sarah Blasko