Sarah Baker

Sarah Baker is an American singer, songwriter, musician, bandleader and composer. Born in Parsons, Tennessee (September 17, 1943) and dubbed "The Voice" by music critic Phillip Elwood, she is associated with the Blues rock scene of 1960s/70s New Mexico and has been performing in the San Francisco Bay Area since the 1970s. Early life Sarah Baker was born in Parsons, Tennessee, the youngest of 4 children. Her father took young Sarah with him to perform at religious song-circles in the surrounding towns. Baker started playing piano at 5 and quickly gained attention for her singing voice. Trained in the classical tradition, Baker attended Union University in Jackson, Tennessee (BM, 1965), Baker performed during the summer seasons of Inspiration Point Fine Arts Colony in Arkansas (now Opera in the Ozarks at Inspiration Point), where she sang the leads in such productions as Così fan tutte and La traviata. After seeing Wilson Pickett perform at the Psycho Club in Memphis, Tennessee, Baker's career path shifted from opera to blues and soul. She moved to New Mexico and toured the US with the Kaleidoscope Players musical repertory theater company from Raton, New Mexico. In Taos, New Mexico, she fronted Dolly and the Lama Mountain Boys and was active in the Lama Foundation (known then as the Lama Spiritual Center). Recording and performing Baker performed with her band the Teen Tones on Channel 8 television in Tennessee at age 17 in 1960. Signed as a solo artist by London Recordings in 1976, Baker bought out her contract because she did not like the direction her album was being taken. Her feminist stance to walk away from a recording contract was revolutionary. "Not only am I a singer, I'm a producer, bandleader, songwriter and keyboardist ... I've had male producers before, but I wanted to get across my own vision from a woman's point of view, not a producer's vision of who I am." She became an independent recording artist, releasing albums with Take One Records (WBBH, 1981); Firenze (Sarah Baker, 1989; Maybe Someday with Charlie Musselwhite, 1995; Baker's Dozen, 2019) and appearing on 5 compilation albums with Jackalope Records including The Songs of Hank Williams, 2019; and the Sonoma County Covers Project, 2015). Phil Elwood wrote of hearing Baker: "Here is a voice, I decided; 90 minutes later, after almost 2 sets, I was even more enthusiastic—Here is a magnificent voice…Her band has a cohesive ensemble sound that provides a fine setting for The Voice."