about

Sage’s new single “Rainy April Afternoon” is finally here! Listen now:

artist’s statement

I’m Sage Harrington and I play American swing music on the ukulele.

I write songs. My singing voice is like a shiny silver bell.

I love lyrics that sound conversational and natural but also wink at you a little bit. I’ve also always loved a catchy melody.

I’ve never been content to sing about straightforwardly pleasant things. There’s always some kind of discomfort underneath the cheerful boppyness, and it’s always been my preference to crack jokes instead of wallow. There’s a resistance to being, hmm, shall we say, 100% earnest.

My current album-in-progress draws heavily on the form and structure of golden era jazz.

I love “discovering” the “lost” tunes that could have almost made it into the Great American songbook, but didn’t. A lot of magic can happen on the margins of the jazz oeuvre.

An old tune echoes through the years, rhyming with something I feel today. Rhyming with something I’ll feel tomorrow. Rhyming with something I’ll feel in 15 years when I finally understand what the singer meant the day they recorded it a hundred years ago.

I’m inspired by the delicate and precise playing of my favorite ukulele players. The ukulele is so easy to play, at any level of musical ability. It’s such a friendly and accommodating instrument. At the same time, I think it’s very difficult to play in a way that comports tenderness and a deep emotionality.

If you want to book me for a show, contact me. I look forward to hearing from you.

highlights and achievements

I’ve been featured as a performer at the best ukulele festivals and showcases across Europe:

trivia

  • Sage opened for ukulele player, vintage crooner, writer of piercingly political lyrics, and general dreamboat Nellie McKay
  • In a news story about how it got so cold that a constantly-shorts-wearing mailman finally had to finally put on long pants, Sage’s song I Am Gonna Put Some Pants On was featured in an episode of NPR’s Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me
  • In the most Portlandia thing ever, Sage helped her food-truck owning friend write and record a song wooing back the writer of a One Star Review
  • The city of Albuquerque, New Mexico awarded Sage’s band the highest bestowable honor on an cold and unexpectedly snowy March Sunday: the one and only Best Busker city tricentennial oil lamp
  • It can be verified that, yes, that lady playing ukulele in the park over there is, in fact, the one who sang her ukulele songs on YouTube with her pet rat on her shoulder
  • In 2022, Sage was scheduled to play in a castle and while the venue was switched last-minute to a cozy warm living room for logistical reasons, as an American this still feels very special to her
  • Wowee, she made all these albums, and completely independently, holy shit!

links

instagram @sageharrington

youtube @sageharrington

spotify Sage Harrington

bandcamp sageharrington

patreon /sageharrington

I teach ukulele at Ukulele Swing School