Biography

Sara Spade grew up 85 miles North of London in a place called Daventry, which is a small market-town in the heart of a rural district famous for its historic houses and a stone’s throw from Warwickshire, also know as Shakespeare county.

Born into a family of three she taught herself guitar from a very young age. Sara was a tenacious student and would often listen late into the night to any station her radio would pick up. ‘I loved finding new music that I thought no one else had heard of. I made countless tapes of my favourite songs from the radio.’

As a child, her interest in the arts was encouraged by watching her mother paint and draw and by trips with her father to see live music. Also she was a passionate presence in stage plays and musicals at school, being awarded the Governor’s award for commitment to her studies and outstanding contribution to music and drama.

‘I played the role of Mary Magdalene in ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ when I was 13 at my comprehensive school and from that moment I knew where my place was in the world, that I’m a performer, that I’m totally comfortable on a stage and exited and interested by all that it entails. I also suddenly discovered what it is to lie awake at night with song ideas going round and round my head! Shortly after that I was on a family trip to see a distant uncle who had a guitar sitting around and, whilst the grown ups were out of the room I picked it up and instantly bonded with it. They came back in and said they thought I’d had lessons and played before. That was weird. But I saw it as a good sign! My best mate at School had a guitar in her attic and because I kept going on about wanting one she thankfully got it down and gave it to me. Then I started this long journey of discovering how to channel my inspirations and craft them into something better. I’m still working on it.’

Sara left home at 17 in search of adventure and inspiration and found herself headed for Rose Bruford Acting School in Deptford, London. A few years of acting classes and living in Blackheath and she had found a friendly audience for some of her songs in the form of late night gatherings with fellow students. They encouraged her to play some open mic nights and she soon realised that her heart really lies with music.

‘So as soon as Acting School was over, I decided I wanted just wanted to go to another country and see if I could find an audience for my songs. I chose Key West in Florida because a friend recommended it as an inspiring and uplifting place and I wanted some sunshine anyway. I landed this residency in a Duval Street Restaurant, swam in the sea every day and played songs all evening. It seemed like a dream come true. Then a really, really sweet and generous man called Joe showed up at a gig and offered me some recording time in a local studio. That’s where I made the album ‘All you want’.

14 months later and Sara returned to Northamptonshire, England. Since then she has
toured Germany, writing an online tour diary for BBCi along the way. She was a nominee for BBC Radio Northampton’s Weekender Awards three years running and won second place in ‘best solo artist’ category in 2004. She made the EP ‘The Stables Sessions’ (at The Stables in Wavendon). She has played as support for Miles Hunt, Kyle Eastwood and Jim Moray and this summer played Camp Bestival and Bestival with her new band 'The Joyful Noise' after they caught the ear of Radio 1 DJ Rob Da Bank. Paul Heaton is a fan and has played the song ‘Down’ on his radio show. So if you like Sara’s music then you are in good company:

’F****** superb’ - Miles Hunt (The Wonderstuff)

’Like the voice, like the style ’ - Paul Heaton (The Beautiful South)

’World class stuff’ - Gaz Birtles (The Swinging Laurels, The Beautiful South)