Today I was listening to a sports documentary on Mickey Mantle. One of the great baseball players of all time, number 7 of the New York Yankees was born in Oklahoma and raised in the mining town of Commerce at the Northeast corner of Oklahoma. There are two stories of this great man. The first story is one of the hero that makes grown men cry for the promises of their youth. The second story is the one less told and never shown on the iconic photographs seen in baseball cards and black and white interviews. The affairs, the constant drinking, and the father that was never there weren’t the part of the Mick became eternalized in our minds those familiar with baseball heroes and greats. No the Commerce Comet that Yankee fans remember are those of seeing him glide around the bases after smashing a home run into the top row of Yankee stadium. We remember the angle of his smile while a wooden baseball bat lay on his shoulder. He was super human. He was a clean cut looking hero that stood not just for baseball, but the memories we shared with our parents.
Influenced lyrically by songwriters like Ani Difranco and Dar Williams, Sarah Popejoy’s folk introspection mixed with activism are the key ingredients that fuel her writing. At the same time, Sarah’s sound gravitates to the dirty, country blues akin to Lucinda Williams. Born into a musical family her father Brad Popejoy played bass guitar for a band called Front Page News released on Dial Records, while her Grandmother, Gwen Popejoy Bonnell, was part of a successful singing trio that toured Oklahoma in her younger years. With two studio albums recorded in Nashville under her belt, Sarah is no stranger to recording and producing. Her extensive touring credits include performances at Cambridge’s Club Passim’s Cutting Edge of the Campfire, Blue Bird’s Sunday Showcases, and opening for Debbie Campbell at her Summer’s Fifth night in front of a crowd of over 10,000 people. She has made appearances on BBC News, American Songwriter Magazine as a lyric contest honorable mention winner, her song "Father's Love for His Son" was talked about in Dar Williams latest book Writing a Song that Matters. Moving back home to Tulsa, what Rolling Stone calls the next Austin, Sarah is producing her 3rd studio album called “The Oklahoma Storyteller”, set to release at the beginning of 2024.