Sarah Jarosz Serves Up Americana Masterclass at Chicago's Thalia Hall

Growing up in rural northwest Illinois, I was faced with a crucial decision as I entered my formative years: country or rock? In the mid to late 90's, there weren't many artists trying to straddle the line between the two, so it was a much more definitive choice than it is today. Taking a cue from my parents' taste in music, I went down the rock path, picking up Aerosmith and Metallica while turning up my nose at Garth Brooks and Big & Rich. Moving down to the even more rural central IL for my college years only reinforced this rivalry of sorts, and because of it I always avoided not only country music, but its closely associated cousins like folk and Americana. Why bother listening to dusty old Bob Dylan albums when 3 Doors Down has a new single?

I never claimed to be smart.

(Also, the irony that over the last decade or so, 3 Doors Down has slowly become a country band themselves is not lost on me.)

And yet over time, the mostly acoustic-driven American made blue collar sound started setting its hooks into me. For reasons I still can't really explain, the Bright Eyes album I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning really resonated with me and became my personal soundtrack to the second half of 2004. Inside Llewyn Davis might be one of my 10 favorite movies of all time. A significant amount of road trips my wife and I have made over the last decade have been set to Ryan Bingham albums. Clearly, the roots had taken hold (pun very much intended). And while traditional country music still isn't my cup of tea, it seems like I had unknowingly dipped much more than just a toe into the Americana pond. Might as well take the whole plunge, right?

And what better swim teacher to have for the evening than Sarah Jarosz? Talented multi-instrumental prodigy? Check. Ten time Grammy nominee (and four time winner) in categories like Best Folk Album and Best American Roots Song? You bet your ass. Bringing her Polaroid Lovers Tour into Chicago's famed Thalia Hall with Ballroom Thieves in support, it was the perfect opportunity for me to become a fully-fledged folk convert. Joining the folk folk if you will.

(That was awful. Please don't leave.)

Ballroom Thieves are absolutely a band that can throw down in a live setting. When they've got their entire band together, songs like 'Fistfight' and 'Can't Cheat Death' and 'Bullet' get better the louder they're played, and when they perform as a full band, they can definitely get people moving. But sometimes Calin Peters and Martin Earley perform as a duo, stripped down to just an acoustic guitar, their voices, and occasionally a cello. In these instances, like they did this evening at Thalia Hall, their music has the opposite effect in that I don't think a single person moved for their entire seven song set. Previewing a few songs off their upcoming album Sundust (due out April 12), as well as fan favorites like 'Bees' and 'Anybody Else' (stripped down beautifully for the setting), to say that the audience was entranced would be an understatement. Between the warm, inviting sound of Peters' and Earley's voices harmonizing, the gentle strum of strings, and plenty of engaging banter between songs, the whole set felt like a 35 minute long hug in front of a fireplace the size of a garage. If the rest of Sundust is like the preview we got, the album is going to be a good companion for those final chilly days of spring.

Roots. Country. Americana. Folk. If I was going to try and embrace this genre of music, shouldn't I at least know what it is I'm listening to? Getting an answer isn't exactly straightforward. A quick Wikipedia search claims that 'Roots music may refer to: folk music, Americana, roots revivial/roots rock, world music'. So 'roots' is the overall umbrella that all these other types of music fall under? Gotcha.

But wait...the term “Americana music” was defined by the Americana Music Association in 2020 as having “…the rich threads of country, folk, blues, soul, bluegrass, gospel and rock in our tapestry" and that "while acoustic instruments are often present and vital, Americana also often uses a full electric band."

So folk. And country. And rock. And blues, bluegrass, and world music? All on acoustic, but also sometimes entirely electric? I may have to check my notes, but I believe that checks just about every box. So essentially, we're looking at the greatest stew of musical influences possible? This just keeps getting better.

As varied and wild as that list of generes might seem, Sarah Jarosz was more than ready to deftly jump from one to the next throughout the course of the evening. Like the friend you had in school that had that knack for being good at everything, her 19 song set was set up perfectly to showcase the entire breadth of her talents. Swapping seamlessly between acoustic guitar and the songs she excitedly told the audience fell within the limits of "banjo time", Jarosz weaved together a night that didn't limit itself to genres, but just followed where each song went on its own as long as it sounded good.

This is clearest on songs off Jarosz's new album Polaroid Lovers, which she joyously told the crowd "is out there and belongs to all of you now." Making up a decent chunk of the setlist, the sounds from track to track off the new album could all owe their feel to a different genre. 'When The Lights Go Out' is a Haim-esque straight pop song. 'The Way It Is Now' is built on bluegrass DNA. 'Runaway Train' could slot into any country station's regular rotation.

Despite starting her set with four straight Polaroid Lovers tracks, Jarosz promised that it wouldn't be all newer stuff. Not only did she weave in fan favorites like 'Annabelle Lee' and 'Build Me Up From Bones', but even through in a few covers for good measure, leaning on that rock influence to deliver an absolutely electric version of Massive Attack's 'Teardrop'. Whatever the song called for, Jarosz's voice was up to the task, empty and haunting on '1,000 Things', sultry and inviting on 'Mezcal And Lime', easygoing and laid back on 'Maggie', absolutely convincing all of us in attendance to join her in her drive across the desert in a blue Ford Escape, each hoping together that the car would indeed "live up to its name". Where are we off to? Doesn't matter. The trip that Jarosz's performance takes you on is the journey.

So what's the destination? I couldn't shake the feeling throughout the night that Jarosz's music sounded like nostalgia. And not in that forced way that some modern country uses as a crutch, but actual, lived-in authentic nostalgia. It's not describing a past you didn't have and making you pine for it and more like conjuring up thoughts and feelings associated with the most vivid memories of your life, whether they be massive changes you've gone through or a random summer night relaxing next to an open window with the radio on.

The important thing I learned is that it doesn't matter what label you slap on a genre of music or what specific box that style of song belongs in. If it sounds like memories and feels like a long drive, it doesn't matter whether you call it folk or roots or Americana. Remember, there is no 'lost along the way' when 'the way' is the whole point, not where you're ending up. And Sarah Jarosz is the perfect soundtrack and co-pilot on that drive.

The Polaroid Lovers Tour continues through June. Tickets and tour dates can be found here.

Sarah Jarosz Setlist - Thalia Hall, Chicago 2.13.24

Jealous Moon
When the Lights Go Out
The Way It Is Now
Columbus & 89th
Green Lights
Annabelle Lee
Build Me Up From Bones
Lost Dog
Maggie
Dying Ember
Jacqueline
Morning
1,000 Things
Days Can Turn Around
Take the High Road
Teardrop (Massive Attack cover)
Runaway Train
Ring Them Bells (Bob Dylan cover)
Mezcal and Lime