Sarah Lentz

SARAH LENTZ

Nashville, late-1990s. Classically trained pianist Sarah Lentz sits in a coffee shop, listening to some advice from a friend. “Girl, pick up your pen and write some poetry.” And write she did, creating the songs that would eventually comprise her first breakout CD, No Going Home, startling listeners with her deft, nimble piano playing underneath a contralto voice that melts like caramel. Produced by jazz composer Mark Zubek, No Going Home became a favorite on websites such as MP3.com and Soundclick, and songs from the record appeared on compilations including “The Best of Women on MP3.com” and “The Top 100 Bands of MP3.com.”

Lentz quickly became a favorite on the competitive New York City club circuit, wooing listeners with her intense live performances. She never performs a song the same way twice, and audiences soon realized that her songs reveal more layers each time Lentz performs. Her most requested song from No Going Home is “Sailor Song,” a haunting, energetic song that fuses melancholy hesitation with a hopeful yearning.

It’s this particular quality- Lentz’s ability to craft her songs around paradox- that developed and grew into her sophomore effort, Everything’s All Right. At first, the title appears ironic, as Lentz the songwriter is most known for navigating the terrain of broken hearts and dashed hopes. In “Boomerang,” she writes: “You push them all away to find out who will be the one to fight back, to stick around. And I’m the only one who stayed away.”

Lentz could have remained in her comfort zone, but after successfully battling Lupus, a debilitating auto-immune disease, Lentz knew she had to open herself up to the new hope that she had found. Everything’s All Right gives us a Lentz who sings from a position of strength. No longer does she wonder about going home – she’s found her center, and her true home, writing in “Come to Me:” “There’s hope for tomorrow and some rest for today.”

Lentz’s music defies easy categorization, and she transcends her influences in a way that constantly reminds the listener that Lentz makes music because she has to. In “All Right,” she asks, “Can you blame me for a flaw in my heart? So it beats faster, is that such a disaster?” Emotions come so easily to Lentz, and the wisdom and maturity she brings to her feelings make her songs more than just confessions.

Also produced by Zubek, Everything’s All Right brought Lentz to a new level of recognition. She was given a coveted artist-in-residence spot at acclaimed downtown New York club Fez, and performed as part of the New York Songwriter’s Circle, which has also featured such singer songwriters as Lisa Loeb, Jill Sobule, and Vanessa Carlton. She toured on college campuses nationwide, and Everything’s All Right charted at #83 on the CMJ Top 200. For Lentz, a gifted performer and accomplished pianist, the increased opportunities to play live have exposed her music to new audiences, and she’s been well received wherever she’s played.

For Lentz and for her listeners, her songs chart an emotional landscape at once alien and familiar. She brings color and definition to the inchoate longings that all of us have for love, for safety, and for security. But she doesn’t stop there. She’s not content to show us a world where something’s always missing. Rather, Lentz points us to the ordinary pleasures and common joys that make up our lives. In “Mirror,” she gently chastises a friend for only seeing the negative in life. “Put a mirror in your hand so you can see what I already understand,” she sings, inviting her friend to “enjoy the journey and see what transpires, and I’ll be right here to bask in the design of your life.”

Lentz’s genuine affection for her listeners and the joy she takes in performing give her music a quality of abundance. When facing the sorrows of life, Lentz weeps, and when contemplating the richness of her life in New York City, her face breaks out in a loopy, lopsided grin that shines with light from within. Her energy is contagious, and her songs reveal corners of the world that are usually dusty and undiscovered. She shines her light on secret places, unspoken pain, and quiet, unexpected love.


Written by Annie Young Frisbie