Heather Sarona

North Carolina-based Heather Sarona grew up in a small town in the Uwharrie Mountains where the tradition of folk music and bluegrass was an intrinsic part of the culture. Heather was selected by the International Bluegrass Music Association as a showcase songwriter for the 2021 and 2020 World of Bluegrass music festival. Her songwriting has been recognized in the Mid-Atlantic Song Contest, the Don Gibson Singer Songwriter Symposium, the Backwoods Beat Music Festival Songwriting Contest, and the WHIW Songwriting Contest.

The nine songs on Head Above Water make up Heather’s first full-length album, due out January 28, 2022, and also mark the first time she’s collaborated with other musicians in a studio setting. The album features Andrew Marlin (Mandolin Orange, Watchhouse), Libby Rodenbough (Mipso), Sarah McCombie (Chatham Rabbits) and Lizzy Ross (Violet Bell) on harmonies, as well as Hank Smith on banjo, Marcel Ardans on guitar, Alex Bingham on bass, and Jason Cecil on percussion.

Heather's debut EP album Waltz (7/28/2017) melds acoustic guitar, banjo and ukulele to create warm, folk-inspired songs, unified by a 3/4 time signature. The album "delves into the kind of crystalline folk depths that artists such as Gillian Welch and Alison Krauss have spent so many years wandering through and adapting." (Joshua Pickard, Nooga.com). Waltz is available for free download at heathersarona.bandcamp.com.