The signs are looking good that Sara Petite's intermittent love affair with taking her music overseas will transcend into something more regular. This San Diego-based artist has many recording years behind her and flirted with fans in the UK for close on a decade. Now we are entering a phase where there has been two tours in just over eighteen months and plans afoot to return to our shores within the next year. This is good news to those well acquainted with her music and for the heaps of dormant fans who will no doubt be smitten once the stars of connection align. Previous solo trips now seem consigned to the past as evidenced by hooking up with three established, adaptable and rather excellent musicians who added an essential dynamic to the Sara Petite Band. The prime conduit for re-acquainting herself with the UK in recent times has been multiple bookings at the Maverick Festival where her several sets went down a storm. There is even an adage here that the Friday night Peacock performance at this year's staging was the best set witnessed in thirteen straight visits to the event. However let's bring things up to date with a reflection on her return to the Kitchen Garden in Birmingham.
Sara Petite will always be hailed as one of the pioneering American touring artists who bravely stepped into the post-pandemic gig world in the Autumn of 2021. This was not just home shows but ones thousands of miles from her Californian base. That gratitude will never be forgotten at a time when we wondered whether the live music community would even survive. On that short September tour, Sara made her Birmingham debut in a trio format with Joe Coombs on lead guitar and Scott Warman playing bass. These two fine musicians are well known figures on the British country and Americana scene backing many artists both home-grown and touring. This time the band added a missing piece in drummer Jamie Dawson and the rocking festival set up was in place.
Of course the Kitchen Garden is far from a rocking place, but quality musicians know how to play the acoustics to a tee and the trio backing Sara this evening polished the task into a smooth operation to give the songs an optimal sheen. Those songs spanned the entire length of her recording career with the fabulous title track from the 2006 album TIGER MOUNTAIN getting a regular airing on the current tour. This song hones in on her roots and is one of many songs getting a brief background introduction. The inter song chat is a mix between innate wit and a desire to expose what drives the music of Sara Petite. With that in mind if you strip away the instrumental layers, a succinctly gifted songwriter appears who isn't afraid of tackling wider issues. Alongside raucous family get togethers we were also left to contemplate the balance of masculine and feminine energy, more so re-addressing the imbalance.
The title track from her latest album THE EMPRESS is the song mode for this writing dive and one of eight tracks shared from a record still fresh off the block. The barnstorming instantly hitting prime number from the new pile is the rousing 'Bringin' Down the Neighbourhood'. Three live listens so far have a steep upwards trajectory of appreciation. An old Sara Petite track from 2000s has been resurrected to bring the new album to a close. 'Lead the Parade' was one of the early songs played in a single set that spanned an hour and a half. This new incarnation of a previous album title track makes a welcome return. Now all we need is 'Doghouse Rose' to re-appear on the next tour to complete the album titles from the embryonic days of Sara Petite.
The bar for this Birmingham show was placed exceedingly high from the start with the exceptional 'Feeling Like an Angel' kicking things off in sumptuous style. This track sends shivers especially in the chorus melody which melts upon every listen. This song opened 2021's RARE BIRD, an album sending several other numbers into the Birmingham air this evening. 'Scars' is raw and candid, 'Working on a Soul' never fails to get everybody singing or at least muttering its chorus, and 'The Misfits' embodies a fiery independent spirit. The latter closed the show in the encore spot preceded by the middle of this trio shining a bright light on an album's riches.
Setlist songs start to thin out as we go further back. 'Good 2 B Me' represented ROAD LESS TRAVELED with its Tom Petty references. The title track appeared in the second Maverick set, but sadly was omitted this evening. So many songs, so little time. There was time for some more vintage Sara Petite as 'Little House' showed its longevity in surviving many years and fighting off hoards of other fine tracks to make the cut.
It is recommended that you delve into her back catalogue. There are seven full length albums to check out. I discovered her music in 2010 with DOGHOUSE ROSE and immediately tracked back to LEAD THE PARADE and TIGER MOUNTAIN. 2013's CIRCUS CAME TO TOWN actually had some UK press and a review was posted in the early days of this site. There has been some evolution leading to the present, but a trademark sound retains including a voice that soaks rich into the entity of her music.
Labels hover around the music of Sara Petite without overwhelming her. She is country to the core minus the definition. Widening the touring band to include some pedal steel would shift more in that direction. She is wholeheartedly rock 'n' roll in moments of exaltation and a brash thrashing of honky tonk femininity in other quarters. Streaking through her veins is a songwriting passion. Americana embraces her. Ultimately she hits all the right spots for many.
A surprise addition to this show was the invitation for Savannah Gardner to open things on the stroke of eight. This half hour set coupled with the 90-minute main fare rewarded a modest outlay with a ridiculous amount of return, especially for those with many years investment. She is also an American swallowed up in the country-Americana calling, but has lived in the UK for five years. An appearance at this year's Ramblin' Roots festival introduced her to me as a live act, although others recall her from Long Road. There is certainly plenty of raw talent to play the long game that would benefit from packaging some of the streamed singles into a longer record. More exposure on the live circuit and continuing to hook up with others will help. Sometimes you can get lost in festivals, so playing more intimate sets can work wonders. I look forward to checking more of her music in the future.
Sara Petite rightly hails and praises the work of Joe Coombs, Scott Warman and Jamie Dawson in the role of re-inventing her UK presence. They are a band home-from-home and hopefully will remain close at hand as this love affair grows. These are now halcyon times for following the music of Sara Petite from afar. Good things comes to those who patiently wait. Sets like this in Birmingham both nail the here and now and frame a little part of the past when you found new artists by any means available.
