Sarah Ryder is a country singer with a big open heart. She’s humble, full of positivity, and has a comforting voice that makes listeners feel like everything’s gonna be okay.
Sarah started her musical journey in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. She’s a country girl through and through. Growing up, she listened to the Top 40s and took a special interest in Trisha Yearwood, Martina McBride and Faith Hill. Little did she know that one day, Trisha Yearwood’s guitar player would be her producer and guitar player as well—but we’ll get to that later.
Now residing in Nashville – a humbling and inspiring town with so many talented people, according to Ryder – she’s an extroverted girl’s girl who, even over the phone, can light up a room. She’s a lighthearted soul who spreads love and joy. When she’s home, she’s snuggling up with her cats and a glass of wine. Times are hard right now, but she’s chugging along, making music, and even releasing a creative music video for her latest song “Woman”.
I was fortunate enough to get to talk to her more about her music and how she’s holding up at home in Nashville.
I wanna talk about your most recent song, Woman, which I think is gorgeous! I love your voice, the message, and everything. Can you tell me what the song means to you and what inspired you to write it?
Honestly, I was just leaving the studio one day and I was driving down the road and it’s weird that the melody and the idea kinda hit me. So I had the recorder out and I was driving, starting, stopping, recording, and thinking of ideas. I brought the idea to my co-writer and we just kinda went off to the races with it.
Who are some of the women you were thinking about?
For me, the song is a true story. Every line in that song is about a woman in my life—whether it’s my mom, my cousin, a dear friend, a coworker—it’s about somebody that’s impacted my life. When I tried to record it, I had a hard time on some of the lines not getting emotional. I’m just so grateful for the women that have been by my side and I’m very lucky in that way to have such a strong group and a support system like I have; so it just felt natural to write a love song to them. It means a lot to me, really.
I watched the acoustic version on YouTube and can see in your performance how much it means to you. I also loved the music video! I saw that you did a call to action to your fans to get the footage. How did you get the idea for the concept?
Originally, we had a whole other video that is halfway done. Like a full scale, full production video that we had to stop filming because of social distancing. With all this coronavirus stuff going on, we couldn’t have extras, friends, or anybody there. This was kinda us thinking outside the box. What better way to celebrate women than to show them?
I like the way you show everyday women doing everyday things. I appreciate the representation and think it’s really important.
Yes. Truth be told, I got the final cut back today and I can’t not choke up watching it. Some of the women I know, some I don’t, but it doesn’t matter. It’s really emotional and really cool, and I’m so excited for it to be out in the world!
It’s cool that you found a creative way to put out a video despite the pandemic. How would you say the quarantine has affected you both personally and professionally?
Professionally, it’s weird. I don’t know if this is right but I tend to equate if I had a successful day or week based on productivity. I ask myself “How many shows did I play? How many writes did I have? How much studio time did I get in? What did I do that I furthered myself?”. So now I’m kinda retraining my brain to think outside the box. It’s learning to be comfortable over Skype and doing things that I don’t prefer to do but it forces me to stay positive and get through it, since we’re all in this together. And personally speaking, I am such a total extrovert–it just drives me up a wall to be home alone. But it makes you appreciate the small things!
That’s a good point! A lot of people are saying that this quarantine has helped them be more self-aware. Have you learned or realized anything for or about yourself from the quarantine?
I think I’ve learned that it’s healthy to slow down sometimes. I’m not very good at doing that so this has kinda forced me to do that. I will say, I do feel quite rejuvenated so this has taught me that I should probably start scheduling a little bit more time and not feel guilty about downtime.
Well, I’m glad to hear that. So, as far as music goes, who have been some of your favorite artists or songwriters to work with?
Marc Copely! He is such a bad mamma jamma!. He’s a guitar player, he’s toured with everybody, he’s an amazing human being and he really understands my style and can pull it out of me. Every time I get to write with him, it’s a total pleasure. He actually co-produced Pullin’ Weeds and Another Fool with Jonny Garcia, my producer and other favorite person to write with.
How would you say your upbringing has impacted your music now?
I grew up listening to country. My parents aren’t country music fans or at least they weren’t at the time and so I just kinda came by it honestly and really enjoyed it. It was my favorite. I used to listen to the top 40 countdown in my room on my radio all summer long. I grew up listening to 90s music and I couldn’t even imagine another way of being or writing, it’s just who I was from day one.
Who were some of your favorite artists back then, or even now?
Miranda Lambert has been one of my favorites for a long time. I just love her authenticity and boldness. Brandy Clark has been a big one of mine lately. That woman can’t write a bad song—it’s not even possible. She’s been a huge inspiration. Of the 90s women, definitely Trisha Yearwood! It’s funny having Jonny as my producer and guitar player since he plays for Trisha Yearwood too. It’s like “Wow, there’s one degree of separation!”. If you would’ve told 9 year old me that, I would’ve been like “huh?”
Last but not least, is there any chance you can share some future plans you have for your music?
We have a plan for an EP coming out, we were gonna have it out already but things changed. It’s written and ready to be recorded so hopefully we’ll have it out this year!
Sarah ‘Ryder
