Sarah Morris is a Minneapolis-based Americana singer-songwriter whose crystalline voice and benevolent storytelling have earned her recognition as one of the Midwest’s most compelling musical voices. Over the course of six albums and a decade-plus of steady, determined songwriting, Morris has made a practice of allurement. Her new album, Say Yes, is a suggestion and an encouragement, a delicate search for the honest way forward.
Winner of the prestigious Kerrville New Folk Competition in 2018 and three-time Midwest Country Music Organization Songwriter of the Year, Morris creates music that gracefully balances technical precision with profound emotional resonance.
A graduate of the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music, Sarah Morris has spent her career immersing herself in the art of writing enduring Americana melodies. She honed her craft during formative years in Nashville before returning to Minnesota to influence a new generation of songwriters. Her approach dwells somewhere between vocal precision and the contours of a heart that remains pointedly human, with a lyrical sensibility that lies just beyond what can be expected of mere syllables and sound.
In addition to Kerrville, Morris’s songwriting has garnered national recognition. She was second-place winner of the Chris Austin Songwriting Competition in Wilkesboro, NC, a top four finalist in the NewSong Music Competition, earned honorable mention at the 2018 Telluride Troubadour contest, and placed third at the 2023 Songwriter Serenade near Austin, TX. L’Etoile Magazine’s Jon Hunt called Morris “a bright, clear, brilliant songwriter…pure and crisp and perfect.”
Sarah Morris maintains a robust tour schedule, staying true to her palpable love for singing. Her band consists of Twin Cities elite players: drummer Lars Erik-Larson, fiddle and background vocalist Haley E. Rydell, multi-instrumentalist and album producer Dave Mehling, and bassist Nick Salisbury. Morris’ active recording career is a light dance between her own projects and sparkling collaborations. Following an eight-year stint hosting a spirited YouTube series featuring over 100 performances with musicians from near and far, Sarah Morris continues to seek ways to partner with artists such as Doyle Turner, Nikki Lemire, Matthew French, and Jillian Rae in live settings.
Morris’s lyrics contain an empathy that convinces listeners that she knows of what she sings. The Star Tribune’s Chris Riemenschneider praised her “Norah Jones-like approach to Americana, smoothing over its rough edges with a butter-velvety voice and an intimate songwriting style.”
In the years since her 2011 debut album Lonely or Free, Sarah Morris has maintained a devout dedication to songwriting and recording. In 2014, she joined an online prompt-based songwriting group, producing 150+ songs that found homes on albums including Ordinary Things (2015), Hearts in Need of Repair (2017), and All Mine (2020). These albums, recorded with bandmates Thomas Nordlund, Andrew Foreman, and Lars-Erik Larson with producer Eric Blomquist, earned international airplay and considerable critical acclaim, reaching notable positions on both the Americana Music Association and Euro Americana charts. In 2023, Morris released her fifth album of originals, Here’s To You, which was awarded Album of the Year by the Midwest Country Music Organization.
Produced by Dave Mehling, Dave Franklin of The Big Takeover said of Here’s To You,
“It’s a triumph. An album of space and restraint, any note played, every word uttered feels perfectly and purposely placed. The album is a beautiful blend of groove and grace, intimacy and entertainment, fun, and feeling. What more could you ask for? What indeed?”
“Rootsy singer Sarah Morris offers a Norah Jones-like approach to Americana, smoothing overs its rough edges with a butter-velvety voice and an intimate songwriting style.” Chris Riemenschneider, Star Tribune.
Deeply committed to the Twin Cities’ life-giving music community, Morris has hosted two online interview programs – Toilet Tunes, and Hey, I Miss You, to amplify the work of her peers, and currently can be found asking questions of her fellow songwriters with the blog ‘About That Song’ at Adventures in Americana. On the 4th Wednesday of each month, you can find her in St. Paul, MN, at White Squirrel Bar, with Doug Collins, hosting Family Dinner. Additionally, Morris is head cheerleader for a local songwriting collective. She loves a good oversized cardigan, coffee, the morning sky, Ely, MN, checking out more books than she could possibly read at the Library, and is a fan of YOU.
Previous Performances:
Festivals
Minnesota State Fair – St. Paul, MN
Fischer Fest – Fischer, TX
Merlefest – Chris Austin Songwriting Competition, 2nd place – Wilkesboro, NC
Kerrville Folk Festival, New Folk Winner 2018 – Kerrville, TX
Roots, Rock, Rhythm & Blues Festival – Minneapolis, MN
Stone Arch Bridge Festival – Minneapolis, MN
Midwest Music Festival – Winona, MN
Silverwood OnStage – New Brighton, MN
Songwriter Serenade 2023 – Schulenberg, TX
Storyhill Fest – Deerwood, MN
Lutsong – Lutsen, MN
Rock Bend Folk Fest – St. Peter, MN
Venues (Local)
Dakota Jazz Club & Restaurant (headliner & opener)
The Cedar Cultural Center (headliner & opener)
Turf Club (headliner & opener)
Icehouse
The Parkway Theater
7th Street Entry
Fine Line Music Cafe
Hell’s Kitchen
Aster Cafe
The Hook & Ladder Theater – sold out release show
Bryant Lake Bowl – sold out release show
Lakeville Center for the Arts
Rieder Homestead
The Warming House
331 Club
Amsterdam Bar and Hall
Venues (Outstate)
Lincoln Center, NYC (NewSong Music Contest, top 4 finalist)
Blue Rock Studios & Artist Ranch – Wimberley, TX
Sycamore Creek Concerts – Dripping Springs, TX
Open Arms Concert Series – Austin, TX
Reif Center – Grand Rapids, MN
Hotel Donaldson – Fargo, ND
Douglas Corner Cafe – Nashville, TN
Belcourt Taps – Nashville, TN
Uncommon Ground – Chicago, IL
Cafe Carpe – Fort Atkinson, WI
Crescendo Music Cafe – Madison, WI
The Root Note – La Crosse, WI
Leo & Leona’s – Bangor, WI
Laughing Goat – Boulder, CO
Olde Glory Theater – Seward, NE
Hotel Utah – San Francisco, CA