Many folks over the last seven years have performed at Java City and done a splendid job entertaining the crowds. At Java City we always try to bring in a wide variety of artists and performing styles.  Every once in a while we get someone who has an unmistakable stage presence that pervades the music and makes the person unforgettable.  Such a person performed recently and as I looked out over the crowd, I saw an unmistakable enchantment had taken over those listening to the magical, mystical presence of Sarah Elizabeth Burkey.

Sarah, can you tell us a bit about your personal and musical history?

Thanks for asking. I was born and raised and still this very day live on Rural Route 4 Kevil, Kentucky in the farthest reaches of Western Kentucky near the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. The Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers are also close by. The natural resources, the history, and the people of Kentucky have influenced and inspired my writing and music beyond measure.

I started taking piano lessons when I was four. At sixteen I taught myself to play an old guitar my boyfriend’s mom got from a yard sale.

My grandmother gave me a four string banjo and zither she’d had in her attic for over half a century. I learned to play those plus the mountain dulcimer, Native American Flute, and struti box. From there, the stories go on and on. I would love to learn the fiddle. I’ll give any stray instrument a home and learn to play it.

 How did you get started performing? 

I wrote a song called “Play it for Me” and recorded it on my album “When the Redbuds Bloom.”

The song tells the story best:

Mom bought an old piano when I was born

She cleaned folk’s houses to pay for lessons I learned to play that piano long before I could read Sarah, sit at the piano and play me to sleep…

The men drank beer as much as they pleased Played guitars and sang shaded by maple trees Five gallon buckets and milk crates to sit on Far back as I remember I hear them old songs Would you get out your guitar and play it and sing…

This river boat banjo was given to me

At the age of twenty by Nanny Burkey

She said you’re the musician of this family Won’t you take this old banjo and play it for me…

Last night Grandma came to me in my dreams She died ten years ago but still visits me She sang a wordless melody And as the sun came up I awoke with this song…

I have performed music in the most elegant and majestic cathedrals, theaters, auditoriums, and historic music halls. I have also performed in old time Jamborees where the ceiling was leaking and dripping into buckets during the show. I have jumped in, lived life and played music everywhere I have gone, from bait shops in Kentucky to music clubs in Portugal and huts on mountain tops in Costa Rica.

Who influenced you as a musician?

I am influenced by rivers, rain, the wind, and bare feet on cool fertile soil. If I had to name a who, I would say my spirit has found a kinship with Jean Ritchie. Ray Charles also speaks to me—his voice and energy lift me up and carry me wherever I need to go. Over the past several years I have been enjoying the passion of Damien Rice and when I need a pick me up, I turn to the music and creativity of the Muppets.

What is your favorite sort of gig?

A paying one!  I’m kidding. But honestly, I have a life full of performance experience. I played the French horn and Mellophone everyday for ten years. I worked my way through college at Campbellsville University on a music scholarship and worked at the television and radio station on campus. I earned my Bachelor of Arts in Music and English. I just celebrated my 30th birthday November 15, 2009 and I support my family entirely through the creative arts—selling my CDs, performing concerts, and combining entertainment and education by giving talks and teachings on culture and storytelling. I had the honor of giving the keynote address at Ohio University’s 8th Annual Women of Appalachia Conference in 2006. I really enjoyed that.

There is a time and place for so many different kinds of gigs. I put a great deal of energy into every performance I give. I put my heart and soul into my music and writing. I do everything I can to make a difference with positive uplifting energy. I give all I can give to the audience and sometimes I get my heart broken if I give and give and am not also being fed. I truly appreciate each time someone buys one of my albums and pays to hear me play. It is an exchange of energy, a circle, not just take take or give give give. It is expensive to travel around all the time. Good solid paying gigs help me to create more work, write more songs, and record more albums. Paying gigs also let me know my work is appreciated and meaningful to the listeners. Otherwise, I leave the gig feeling used and left out in the cold alone to figure out how I can continue giving with an undernourished heart.

Your music seems a blend of traditional and modern folk, how do you define your sound?

I write and play what comes naturally. I started putting on concerts for my family as soon as I could walk and talk. It has always been my passion, dream, and focus.

God/The Great Spirit/Holy Spirit taught me to sing through the experiences of life and learning from nature. I sing to convey energy where all other forms of communication fall short.

I sing to break down barriers.

Music is medicine. I sing to heal and celebrate all of life.

I sing to fill the void words cannot express.

I sing stories that never find words.

I sing to make people smile, to ease suffering, to express pain and loneliness, and to move people to dance.

I sing prayers.

I know you write a lot of your music, where do you get the ideas for your songs?

I sing the songs of my ancestors and the songs whispering winds have inspired me to write to soothe, uplift and inspire. I sing for those who sang the songs before me and those who will sing the songs when I am gone.

In 2005 I walked across Kentucky. I wrote songs as I walked. You can hear footsteps in the songs. I recorded them at a natural walking tempo. These songs are on my album “When the Redbuds Bloom.”

I’ve been called to sing for people on their deathbeds and for babies when they are first born. I sing for weddings, funerals, on back porches, front porches, tailgates of pickup trucks, hay wagons, gondolas in Venice, stadiums and arenas, concert halls and pubs, national and state parks, kitchens, universities, tour buses, cruise ships, general stores, cemeteries, hospitals, record stores, rooftops of skyscrapers, railroad tracks, art galleries, garages, Union halls, Indian Reservations, ceremonies and churches. I just sang at the 14th Annual Festival of Faiths celebration of Sacred Water.  I write my songs from all those places.

Sarah, I know you’ve been touring for a while.  I also know you have a new family.  How does that work out?

It is joyful. I have a ten month old son and he goes with me nearly everywhere I go. His dad or another member of the family takes good care of him back at the hotel or guest house wherever we are staying while I perform. I couldn’t do it without that support. My son even gets to participate when I play outdoors at festivals and such. It always warms my heart to look across the way and see him smiling and playing in the energy of the music.

I have toured alone. Now that I have a child, I love sharing everything as a family. I want them to get to see the world and experience the beauty of people and cultures all over the world. Music enables me to give this kind of life to my family. What better education for my son than to experience the world through the energy of his own feet walking the earth. What better gift is there for my spirit than to get to spend time with my son and love him while fulfilling my calling as an artist?

Where do you want to go with your music?

Everywhere! I have performed in 18 countries and am very much looking forward to the 19th! I have work on 15 CDs now and am very much looking forward to the 16th!

 Tell us about your latest CD?

My latest album is available online at www.cdbaby.com/Artist/SarahElizabeth2

I recorded the album “Don’t Die Yet” immediately upon returning from the Sacred Black Hills of South Dakota in 2007. I spent a great deal of time on the Sioux Reservation with The International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers where I was honored to participate in the Sundance and many other sacred ceremonies. This spiritual energy is present in every song on the album. Grammy Nominated Musician, Tony Redhouse accompanies me on this album with Native American flute and drum plus many other instruments from indigenous cultures of the world.

Are you working on another recording?

I have two different albums in the works right now. One is an album of night songs—a very passionate romantic album. The other is a day album of upbeat work songs and such. Look for them in 2010.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Thank You for including me in your newspaper. I look forward to the next time I perform in your neck of the woods. I am now booking shows for 2010. Drop me a line if any of you out there have a good paying gig you’d like me to play. email: publishedinheaven@yahoo.com See you all down the road soon…

Jack Montgomery is a librarian, author and associate professor at Western Kentucky University where he handles bookings for musical acts in University Libraries, Java City coffeehouse. Jack has also been a professional musician since 1969 and performs with a celtic quartet called Watersprite. Visit him at MySpace/shadowdancerjack