Sara Banleigh

Sara Banleigh is a young artist determined to have it her way. For her debut album, she disdained the usual digital DIY in favor of a recording studio with a well-tempered grand piano and a small ensemble of acoustic instrumentalists. Her approach infuses a set of traditional Anglo-Celtic ballads with an integrity that has less to do with historical accuracy than emotional authenticity. She sings the ancient songs of murder, love and betrayal in a voice that could have rung out around a peat moss hearth centuries ago. The piano is an enchantingly incongruous touch, as if murder ballads were played in the drawing rooms of Jane Austen.