Sahara Smith

I was born in Austin in 1988, but did most of my growing up in the hill country where I started performing locally at fourteen. At fifteen I was selected to compete in A Prairie Home Companion's 'Talent from 12-20' contest and took home second place. Since then, I've been pursuing a career as a singer/songwriter, and am currently fortunate enough to be working on my first album with producer T-Bone Burnett.

Michael Ventura, Austin Chronicle, March 31, 2006: "My friend Jo Carol Pierce, a superb songwriter, told me (with a strange urgency in her voice) to catch a set by a young unknown at the Saxon Pub on South Congress. There was no cover charge. In the spotlight on stage was 17-year-old (!) Sahara Smith. Her musical sophistication and the uncanny maturity of her lyrics astonished me – gave me chills – and made me realize (a little sadly) that it had been a long time since I'd been enthralled. What a wonder, to be enthralled again. After the show I told her and anyone else who would listen, 'You're the most gifted young performer I've seen in 26 years.' "