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Sarah Brown

Sarah Brown’s bass has accompanied more recording sessions and bands than just about anyone else in town, making her the Austin equivalent of L.A. session superwoman Carol Kaye. Long before Brown hit Austin in 1982 and joined up with the Leroi Brothers as “Sister Loretta,” she was “Sister” Sarah Brown with the Boogie Brothers, as recorded for posterity on the 1972 Ann Arbor Blues & Jazz Festival album. Brown also took her love of blues singers such as Solomon Burke and Aretha Franklin with her the year she attended Berklee's College of Music in Boston. That brief experience sent her off and playing with some of the best of the day including Big Walter Horton, Geoff Muldaur, and J.B. Hutto. After her relocation to Austin and departure from the Lerois, Brown fell in solidly with the Antone’s stable of musicians and was the unheralded fourth voice and talent on the magnificent Dreams Come True album with Angela Strehli, Lou Ann Barton, and Marcia Ball. Brown was wise enough about her career to expand her creative output into songwriting. That effort paid off with her first (and so far, only) solo recording in 1996, Sayin’ What I’m Thinkin’, in which she composed 11 of its 12 tracks. Being an in-demand player pays off: She’s recorded and played over the years with Joe Louis Walker, Paul Carrack, Candye Kane, Ruth Brown, Ian McLagan, and Irma Thomas among others. Today, Brown keeps up her blues, rock, and country chops playing regularly and can most often be found with the all-star Lucky Tomblin Band. – Margaret Moser

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PAST RECOMMENDED SHOWS:
03/10/13 @ Continental Club
The Wagoneers

Took a mighty tough pair of cowboy boots to step into that Sunday Continental slot held by Junior Brown for decades. Four pair, in fact, belonging to Monte Warden, Tom Lewis, Brent Wilson, and Craig Pettigrew. When the reunited quartet two-stepped onstage, they swung their sweeping country just like the old days – pure, classic, Texan. Packed dance floors aren’t all they’re up to: The band’s upcoming album will send the Wagoneers to festivals, fairs, and other whistle-stops near and far.

MARGARET MOSER
12/27/10 @ Antone's
Women's Show
The weather’s been too mercurial to write about cozy nights lazing before the fireplace, but this bill, featuring some of Clifford Antone’s favorite women, will warm hearts with hometown Hill Country singer-songwriter Shelley King, ever-wonderful pianist Marcia Ball, and Kathy Valentine’s kickass BlueBonnets. In addition to the headliners, Patricia Vonne, Sarah Brown, Cindy Cashdollar, and more keep rocking around that Christmas tree, even after the presents have been plugged in and/or downloaded.
MARGARET MOSER
07/29/10 @ Antone's
For Clifford
Antone’s has reached out to the women of blues since it opened its doors in 1975, cultivating its own list of names over the years, so this night of femmesational talent is star-studded indeed. Antone’s queens Marcia Ball and Angela Strehli headline a royal roster that includes Carolyn Wonderland, Patricia Vonne, Toni Price, Teal Collins, Shelley King, Cindy Cashdollar, Sarah Brown, Livvy Bennett, and Kathy Valentine’s BlueBonnets. Need we say Clifford is beaming?
MARGARET MOSER
03/22/08 @ Antone's
The Guitar Women Show
Ready for some girl-on-girl action? Only Antone’s could put together a ladies’ night this good, as still-missed former local Sue Foley imports her Fender and Dobro and steel-guitar wonder Cindy Cashdollar, genre-bending drummer Lisa Pankratz, and bassist Sarah Brown gather for a night of blues-rock revelry. Later in the evening, Lou Ann Barton, Carolyn Wonderland, Eve Monsees, and Erin Jaimes join in for good measure.
AUDRA SCHROEDER
07/08/05 @ Antone's
Antone's 30th Anniversary
When Antone’s celebrates its 30th year, the ghosts of 10,000 blues shows raise their voices. Howlin’ Wolfman/guitarist Hubert Sumlin kicks off the Friday show, followed by the anticipated Soulhat reunion. There’s more rock & roll Saturday with Vallejo, Podunk, and Truth for Leo, while the blues return to form Sunday with Guy Forsyth and the Greyhounds. Derek O’Brien heads up Big Blue Monday with Sumlin, Paul Ray, Toni Price, Stephen Bruton, and guests. A freshly minted 92-year-old Pinetop Perkins kicks off Tuesday’s smokin’ Chicago blues show with Sumlin, Calvin Jones, and Willie Smith, plus Angela Strehli, Marcia Ball, Sue Foley, O’Brien, and the Eric Tessmer Band. Wednesday’s girls’ night out, bringing Marcia Ball and Strehli together with the divine Lou Ann Barton, Foley, Carolyn Wonderland, Cindy Cashdollar, Sarah Brown, Candye Kane, Eve Monsees, and Jane Bond, plus Cory Keller, Jay Moeller, Tommy Shannon, and O’Brien. Breedlove closes the Thursday show with Perkins, Smith, Jones, Strehli, and Foley opening. Hear the blues choral?
MARGARET MOSER
Last Updated: February 4, 2008

A B C D E F G H I J K L M
N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Born:
September 30, 1951
Genre: Blues/Gospel, Country/Bluegrass, Pop/Rock, R&B/Soul/Funk and Singer-Songwriter/Folk
Austin Music Awards:
2009: Hall of Fame Inductee
1993: Best Bass Guitar
1992: Best Bass Guitar
1991: Best Bass Guitar
1990: Best Bass Guitar
1985: Best Single
Full Discography:
Sayin' What I'm Thinkin'
Blind Pig (1996) 		 
From the Archives:
Rembitika (Music Story July 20, 2012)
BY MARGARET MOSER
Call it what you want, but to Johnny Nicholas it's the blues
Page Two: More Stars Than There Are in Heaven (June 2, 2006)
BY LOUIS BLACK
Honoring those who helped create, and now tend, the legacy of Clifford Antone
Charity Begins at Home (Music Story June 22, 2001)
BY JIM CALIGIURI
The Gospel According to the Imperial Golden Crown Harmonizers
ALL SARAH BROWN ARCHIVES