Sarah Jarosz - 'Song Up In Her Head'

Sarah Jarosz is still a teenager—a fact that makes her Sugar Hill debut that much more remarkable. Joining a long line of teen talents to grow up in the contemporary bluegrass scene (Alison Krauss, Nickel Creek, more recently Sierra Hull), Jarosz draws influence no doubt from the teenagers who preceded her. She's also managed to surround herself with the same folks who helped launch those folks' careers. The result is a community effort album that seeks to lift Jarosz above the din of bluegrass-influenced artists breaking onto the national radar, and succeeds.

Artists who appear on Song Up In Her Head include some of the greatest contemporary pickers on the scene these days: Abigail Washburn, Jerry Douglas, Stuart Duncan, Tim O'Brien, Mike Marshall, Ben Sollee, Chris Thile and Chris Eldridge (Punch Brothers), and numerous others. Considering Jarosz's youth, it's almost difficult to tell how much of this incredibly impressive album is her craft and how much is the magic that unsurprisingly rises from such a superstar roster of collaborators.

No doubt, Jarosz's is a terrific interpreter of songs. Her vocal performance on this record is earnest and versatile, displaying everything from vulnerability to strength within a single song. Her interpretation of the Decemberists' "Shankill Butchers" (purchase/download) is an excellent example. She takes an already dark, ominous murder ballad, placing a spin on it that's like the sonic equivalent of a Tim Burton film.

While it may be difficult from this disc alone to discern whether the album excels because of Jarosz or her collaborators, it's hard to ignore that she has the attention of the entire contemporary bluegrass world. It's also hard to contest the judgment of this array of artists, as it's unimaginable that any number of them would participate on this disc if they didn't believe in Jarosz's innate musical prowess.

Indeed, Jarosz has a natural gift. From the playful mandolin introduction of the album's title track (purchase/download), to the terrific instrumentation on the disc's only instrumental track "Mansinneedof" (purchase/download), to her delivery of Tom Waits' "Come on up to the House" (purchase/download), which swings like it belongs on someone's front porch, she hardly drops the disc for a second. Not a bad first effort at all.