Everything You Need to Know: Sick of Sarah

by Heather Patterson

Sick of Sarah is an all female band out of Minneapo....booorrrrring.

You can read their bio dozens of different places, the story behind their name, their influences, that's all in the bio on their facebook , the bottom line is YOU HAVE TO CHECK OUT THIS BAND. I promise you will not be disappointed. Their music is catchy alt pop-rock combined with interesting, heart-felt lyrics.

I first heard of this band about a year ago when I saw Abisha on Brunch With Bridget, of course a few minutes of Abisha and anyone would want more. I immediately started checking them out and by the end of the first time I watched the music video for "Bittersweet" I was in love. Abisha, Katie, Jessie, Jamie and Jessica are talented, unique, hilarious, super sweet, and let's face it, smoking hot. I saw them live for the first time in September 2009 and I was blown away! These girls are AMAZING live. I've been to a lot of concerts and shows, but I have never seen a band that is as fun to watch as Sick Of Sarah, there is nothing I can say here that would do their live show justice, it's something you need to see for yourself. And make sure you don't leave without meeting them, they're very approachable and so nice. I adore each and every one of these girls, they're the sweetest people I know and even let me pretend we're friends.

Sick of Sarah is in the studio in El Paso now recording their next CD and I couldn't be more excited. They previewed some of the new stuff on their most recent tour and HOLY SH!T, so good....so so good. So check them out, buy the music, check out their HILARIOUS youtube vids and go see them as soon as you can.

If you've never heard them, start here:

Kickback (Youtube)

Kiss Me (youtube)

Bittersweet

Fall

Not Listening

Mr. Incredible

Autograph (youtube)

Breakdown

Common Mistake

Hardest Part

~ Heather Patterson (http://twitter.com/Heather_D_)

photo by Amber Mcdonald (http://photo.ambermcdonald.net/)

footage by Karyn Brawley

Band: http://sickofsarah.com

Aaliyah Dana Haughton: January 16, 1979 - August 25, 2001

You never know how you're going to feel when someone dies. I think we all assume if we don't personally know the person, then we won't feel too torn up about it. That's what I thought. I was wrong, I was so very very wrong.

Aaliyah died 8 years ago and I've never gotten over it. I can't....I don't listen to her music or watch her movies cause whenever I try it makes me so depressed. Every year I remember how I felt on this day. Every year it's like she dies all over again, except every year it has a little less impact on me emotionally, but it still hurts like hell.

So I don't want to focus on the pain. But rather do what I usually do: introduce or further educate some people on an artist they may not know about. And this is extra special because I think most people that read my blog are mostly into Indie Rock, as am I. But if you want to know what I listened to before I discovered Rock, Aaliyah is a good place to start.

I was 7 when I became a die hard Aaliyah fan! Tiny little fanboy I was! She was a hardcore tomboy yet SO pretty and graceful! I wanted to be just like her! I was in awe of everything she did! I couldn't believe she was from Detroit. I had hometown pride at a young age! Then in 1996 when One In A Million came out and she was everywhere, living in Detroit was like living on a fan base. Everyone had her poster in their room and everyone said only positive things about her. In 1999 she performed at the Oscars in a dress she got at Eastland! Eastland Mall, if you lived in "The D" you would know how hood that is. I mean it was the Oscars and she was huge she didn't have to do that but to her, a dress was a dress.

That one act was a testament to who she was. She was "cool". Everyone wanted to be her friend. I've run into so many of her friends from high school and they say she never let the success get to her head. I remember the day after she died someone said on a radio call in that she came to their birthday party and as a present got them something they had casually mentioned to her in passing. I mean at this point she has sold over 10 million records and she's in Detroit attending an old friend's birthday party! Amazing! She even continued to go school here through all this; graduated with honors!

She always did the opposite of what was considered cool at the time. Dressing like a boy, DEFINITELY not cool when she started doing it back in '94. Also around the time One In A Million came out there was all this controversy surrounding Tommy Hilfiger's clothing line. It was rumored that he said he only made his clothes for white people. So what does Aaliyah do? She models for Tommy Hilfiger...again..AMAZING!

In 2000 Aaliyah made history as the first artist to top the Billboard 100 chart solely on radio airplay with "Try Again", a song that also earned her a Grammy nomination. The video for that same song also earned her a MTV VMA. I've never heard an Aaliyah track I didn't at least like a little bit lol. Artists like that are so rare.

Her last record was doing well, but as expected upon her death sales sky rocketed, reaching over 24 million, why can't we appreciate people while they're here? She died in a plane crash with 8 other people, including the pilot after shooting a video for "Rock The Boat", off her last record.

She was indeed phenomenal if you're keeping up; her debut record went double platinum, her sophomore record sold ever 8 million worldwide and her last over 24 million worldwide. She was so much more than R&B, constantly experimenting with Pop and Rock elements in her music. Perhaps this is why she was deemed the "Queen of Urban Pop".

Here's my favorite song off her last record, Aaliyah:

Ok Hiatus-Over! Newest Obsession: Sleater-Kinney

Sleater-Kinney is ...was one of the best rock bands in the world! Period! They were not "the best gay rock band" or "the best female rock band", they didn't belong in boxes, not even ones fans attempted to place them in. They formed in 1994, and released their debut, self-titled album, Sleater-Kinney, in 1995. They came to us sort of towards the end of the uber famous "Riot Grrrl Movement". Like most bands at that time, their influences included Sonic Youth and Bikini Kill.

The first and second discs from the band, Sleater-Kinney and Call The Doctor, respectively, are pretty punk. But once we get into the 3rd cd of the 7cd discography, things start to change, tracks on Dig Me Out have a hint of pop, and just a dash of classic rock, it was the beginning of the classic rock/punk fusion that became S-K's truly signature sound. 

The last record, The Woods, is the perfect commencment to their career. Some fans didn't "get it" and this is where we get into the "fans putting their favorite bands in a box" thing. Sleater-Kinney is categorized as a punk band. I'd have to disagree I feel like once you cover different subgenres of Rock you can call yourself a "Rock" band! If you took a day out to listen to all 7 Sleater-Kinney records you would see the careful gradual steps from Punk to Classic Rock taken by the band. Every record put out by Sleater-Kinney sounds like was supposed to be the next record put out by Sleater-Kinney. It feels natural. I doesn't feel forced, the last record didn't feel like a legendary band wanted to "see if they still had it". The last record felt like "this is it, finally". 

This of course is a bittersweet discovery for all who feel this way about the record  because it was infact, the last step. 

On August 12, 2006 Sleater-Kinney played their last show ever at the Crystal Ballroom in their hometown of Portland, OR. They are on an indefinite hiatus. Carrie's spoken on it a few times since giving very little (but some) hope for a reunion or as she'd rather call it if it happens "the end of the hiatus".