The inimitable Sarah Potenza will be performing at Sundilla on Friday, April 6. Showtime at the AUUF is 7:30; advance tickets are available for just $12 at Spicer’s Music, Blooming Colors, and online at www.sundillamusic.com. Admission at the door will be $15. We’ll have free coffee, tea, water and food, and as always the audience is welcome to bring whatever food or beverage they prefer.
Some of you are already familiar with Sarah. She performed a Sundilla House Concert in April 2017, one that sold out so fast that we had to move more furniture than usual so we could add extra seats. If you missed that experience but the name “Sarah Potenza” still sounds familiar, it’s probably because you watch The Voice. In 2015 Sarah got the rare “four chair turn,” and when all was said and done she was a Top 20 finisher. Given the name of the show, her success is no surprise, because Sarah has a VOICE. She has been described as “a Janis Joplin-Aretha Franklin hybrid with a mic, but a Lucinda Williams – Bonnie Raitt hybrid with a pen.”
After her audition, a visibly moved Pharrell Williams told her she was “giving this generation something they’ve never seen before.” She gained a national following on the show; her trademark white framed glasses and colorful wardrobe made her a fan favorite and many of those new fans now flock to see her on tour. Potenza is to the blues what Adele is to pop: a colossal-voiced singer who merges her old-school influences with a modernistic sound. Her new album, Monster, solidifies endless Janis Joplin vocal comparisons but also colors between the lines of Memphis blues, Nashville Americana, and New Orleans funk.
In September 2016, Rolling Stone named her as one of “10 new artists you need to know,” and noted that fans of The Alabama Shakes, B.B. King and Mavis Staples would love her, too. But that list is too short; comparisons to Janis Joplin, Aretha Franklin and Lucinda Williams are also on the mark. And when it comes to personality and sense of humor, she leaves all of those in the dust.
We first became aware of Sarah when we saw her perform at the 30A Songwriter Festival in January 2017. Within a few days, the house concert was booked; we would have booked her for a regular Sundilla, but there weren’t any open dates close, and we wanted to bring her to town ASAP. There was the possibility that her powerhouse personality might overwhelm the room… and it did, but in a good way; in a very good way! There was no question that we would be bringing her to Sundilla at the first possible opportunity; as it so happens, that would be almost exactly one year later.
If you have friends who think that Sundilla is nothing more than old people trying not to fall asleep to some extremely laid-back music, drag them to this one. When it’s over, make them apologize for being so wrong.
Sarah Potenza will be playing at Sundilla on Friday, April 6. Showtime at the AUUF is 7:30; advance tickets are available at Spicer’s Music, Blooming Colors, and online at www.sundillamusic.com. Admission at the door will be $15, and employees of Auburn University and Auburn-Montgomery can pay just $12 at the door.