Hello everybody! I hope everyone's having a great summer! This is my first official journal entry on my new website! I wanted to update you all on what I've been up to lately.

The month of June was packed with lots of fun shows and the official release of my debut CD "Song Up In Her Head" on June 16, 2009. I started out the month in Colorado at the Pagosa Springs Folk 'n Bluegrass Festival. It was such a great way to kick off the summer. I was joined by Samson Grisman and Alex Hargreaves during my set at the festival and for the rest of my shows in June. Many friends were in Pagosa including The Infamous Stringdusters, The Boston Boys, and The Belleville Outfit.

From there, I returned home to Texas for two amazing CD Release shows. The first was at the Cactus Cafe in Austin. It was a sold out show! Thanks to everyone who came out. It was truly a magical night. Thanks so much to Griff Luneberg. The next show was the following night at the gorgeous Blue Rock Artist Ranch and Studio in Wimberley, Texas. Thanks to Billy and Dodee Crockett for opening up their incredible home for such a fun show... there was even a thunderstorm towards the end of our set that knocked out the electricity for a second, but the lights came back on just as we played our last note!

[You can watch a short video of Blue Rock highlights here]

I then traveled to Nashville, Tennessee, were I had my official CD Release show at the legendary Station Inn. I had up some special guests during that show including Darrell Scott, Abigail Washburn, and Casey Driessen. It was such a blast and an honor to get to perform on that historic stage.

From there it was off to Telluride, Colorado, for the Telluride Bluegrass Festival. I hitched a ride from the Montrose airport to the festival with the Steeldrivers. It was great getting to meet them for the first time! Their car dropped me off in Mountain Village and I rode the Gondola into town. The beauty of that place never ceases to amaze me. I made sure to get in as many gondola rides as possible throughout the weekend.

From there I met up with Gary Paczosa, Tim O'Brien, Luke Reynolds, and The Greencards for lunch at a little Mexican restaurant on Main Street. The weekend was off to an amazing start. That night, Crooked Still invited me and many guests up during their rockin' set at Fly Me To The Moon Saloon. What a fun night! That brings us to Sunday. I was honored this year to have a duo set on the Elks Park workshop stage with Abigail Washburn. It it always such a treat to get to sing and play with Abby. That night, the Punch Brothers' first set at the Sheridan Opera house was exclusively Radiohead songs. They invited me up to sing "The Tourist" which is the last song on the album "OK Computer." Those Punch Bros. are incredible, and it was so much fun to get to sing with them. They had many amazing guests throughout the night including Bela Fleck, Sara and Sean Watkins, Bryan Sutton, Aoife O'Donovan, and Julian Lage. For the encore, The Punch Bros. jumped off the stage and into the crowd. Chris called me back to sing "Where The Soul of Man Never Dies" with him. This is the third year in a row he's invited me to end the show with that song, and Chris said it should become a tradition. It was also a special treat to get to meet Ed Helms from The Office and The Hangover. I've been a huge fan of The Office for a long time, so I was so stoked to meet him! Backstage after the show there was an epic arm wrestling match and jam that I'm sure will go down in the Telluride history books. It was an amazing weekend that I'll never forget!

I then returned back home to Texas and drove up to Dallas to open for the Greencards at Poor David's Pub. My grandpa and a bunch of my relatives came out for that show! On the drive back to Wimberley that night, Kym told my parents and I that we had to take exit 353 and check out the "Czech Stop" and told us we wouldn't regret it. At about 3:00 a.m. we finally arrived at this tiny little gas station, and lo and behold I had one of the best reuben sandwiches of my life, along with kolaches and several other assorted baked goods that blew my mind. Definitely something to check out if you ever find yourself on I-35 between Dallas and Austin. It's open 24 hours! The next day I opened another show for the Greencards at Threadgill's in Austin. It was a thrill to get to open for them!

Last week I gave a free in-store performance at Waterloo Records in Austin. A big thank you goes out to John Kunz and also everyone who came to the show!

[Watch the Waterloo video here]

Now I'm getting ready to hit the road again! I'm traveling up to Oak Hill, New York to play at the Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival! After that, I fly to Colorado where I'm playing my first main stage set at RockyGrass. I've been attending the RockyGrass Academy and Festival for the past seven years. It's really where it all began for me outside of Texas and it always feels like a big family reunion because I've made so many friends there over the years. So now to have my own set at the festival is such a dream come true. I can't wait!

Thanks for all of the support and encouragement so many of you have been giving me. Stay tuned for the next installment of my road journal!

Peace,

Sarah