Growing up, Sarah wrote poetry, not music.
She never dreamed one day she’d make a living writing songs – but her biggest fan in the family knew differently. "My mom always told me that someday I’d become a songwriter," she recalls." I still don’t know how she knew." On her 14th birthday, Sarah received a small sound system and began singing everywhere
she could find a willing audience: weddings, birthdays, talent shows, pageants, even the Iowa State Fair. When she wasn’t singing, Sarah fished and played first base
for her local high school baseball team. (In the final game that won the team the Iowa State championship, a fastball caught Sarah’s nose and broke it, quickly ending her sports career.)
In 2002, a year after graduating from high school, Sarah saved $5,000, packed up
everything she owned in a horse trailer, and headed for Nashville on the advice of Joe Carter, Tracy Byrd’s manager.
"We met at a festival, and he asked me to send him some of my songs," Sarah explains. "I’d always dreamed of making a record and getting discovered in Nashville.
After he heard my demos, Joe encouraged me to come to Nashville and signed me to a year’s management contract." Although nothing came of it, Sarah says she learned a lot. "I paid my bills waitressing, watching other singers and songwriters, and trying to figure out where I belonged."
She never dreamed one day she’d make a living writing songs – but her biggest fan in the family knew differently. "My mom always told me that someday I’d become a songwriter," she recalls." I still don’t know how she knew." On her 14th birthday, Sarah received a small sound system and began singing everywhere
she could find a willing audience: weddings, birthdays, talent shows, pageants, even the Iowa State Fair. When she wasn’t singing, Sarah fished and played first base
for her local high school baseball team. (In the final game that won the team the Iowa State championship, a fastball caught Sarah’s nose and broke it, quickly ending her sports career.)
In 2002, a year after graduating from high school, Sarah saved $5,000, packed up
everything she owned in a horse trailer, and headed for Nashville on the advice of Joe Carter, Tracy Byrd’s manager.
"We met at a festival, and he asked me to send him some of my songs," Sarah explains. "I’d always dreamed of making a record and getting discovered in Nashville.
After he heard my demos, Joe encouraged me to come to Nashville and signed me to a year’s management contract." Although nothing came of it, Sarah says she learned a lot. "I paid my bills waitressing, watching other singers and songwriters, and trying to figure out where I belonged."
