Photo by Belenen


I can’t believe 2010 is almost over! I mean, seriously?

The Cult Following is no longer around (at least not in the form that it was). Adrian Rhetts and Brian Teague are no longer playing with us full-time. There's no hard feelings and I have nothing but respect for both of them as people and as musicians. And please check out Eat the Sun, Brian's electronic project, which I’ve always been a huge fan of, and Electric Duane, who Adrian is now playing guitar with. (Electric Duane also features Matt Bradshaw and Monica Nicole - two of my friends and incredible musicians as well.) So you never know when they’ll make a musical appearance, but for the moment, bass player, Geoff Goodwin, and I are re-booting the project.

We’ve decided to form a two-person band using both my songs and songs that Geoff has written. We’re currently working on recording and expect to release a CD in early 2011. I’m really excited about where it’s going! This band will feature Geoff on drums, guitar, bass, bells, trumpet, piano, and I’ll be playing guitar, piano, maybe even a little bass myself! You can definitely look for some of the Cult Following favorites like “Tangled,” “Hipster Haircut,” and “August” on the upcoming release, and I’m sure Geoff and I will continue to play some of the tunes from Unsent Letters at the shows.

To see a preview of the new arrangements and where the music is going, you can come out to Smith’s Olde Bar - The Atlanta Room on Saturday, December 4th. We’ll be playing at 10:00 pm. This show will also feature other special guests such as Kyle Weisse (from Long Absent Friends) on violin. You definitely don’t want to miss it! It’s going to be completely different than any of the shows I’ve played so far this year, and with all of the focus on recordings, it’s likely to be my last show for a while. Also, we'll be playing with Sarah Mac Band and 1880's Dance Party!

Also, things are speeding along in full force on my Kickstarter page where I am raising money to go on tour in June 2011. So far, I have reached 60% of my goal! There are still 32 days left to donate so please check it out and donate what you can to help! (Every dollar counts!) If I don’t reach my goal by December 31st, I won’t receive any of the funds that I’ve raised on there so far, so please help me to reach my goal so I can make this dream a reality and share my music with the country! I had originally planned to make this an acoustic tour, but now it looks like it may be including “the whole band” (AKA Geoff). This is very exciting because now I can try to book the more indie music oriented venues as opposed to just acoustic coffee shop type places. Also, throw the little bro, Kevin Crawford, into the mix, and who knows what kind of shenanigans will ensue. Video blogs from the road, perhaps? A documentary about trying to make it as an indie band? Who knows? So many possibilities!

Sara Crawford Acoustic Tour June 2011 on Kickstarter - click here to donate!

Lastly, I just wanted to say thank you so much to everyone for making my 2010 so amazing. Thank you to The Cult Following for being the most fun band I’ve ever played with. Thank you to all of the booking people at the various venues for giving me the opportunity to play. I’ve played so many incredible places this year! MINT Gallery, Drunken Unicorn, Smith’s, Lenny’s, Red Light Cafe, Five Spot, Grant Park Summer Shade Festival, the Beatlanta house, Cool Beans...oh, and let’s not forget that tequila bar in Mexico...and playing two songs totally counts as a “show.” :-p Thanks to everyone who has come out to the shows and shown support. Thanks to everyone who has supported me by buying a copy of my CD or my poetry book. Thanks to everyone who has donated to my tour fund on Kickstarter. Thanks to all of the amazing musicians who I have had the opportunity to play with this year - Wade in the Rhythm, Callers, Lady Lazarus, Before the Solstice, CMAC... just to name a few. (And if you haven’t heard those bands, check them out! They’re well worth it.) Thank you to everyone who voted me Best Songwriter in Creative Loafing's Best of Atlanta issue! Thank you all so much for everything you do. You don’t know how much it really means to me.

Check back later this week for an events posting and restarting of the Poem of the Week!

Thanks for reading!

Thanks for all of the support and well wishes from everyone recently! I really have appreciated that. I am so blessed to have so many awesome, wonderful, loving people in my life. (And I'm also really glad that I have so many diverse people in my life of all different ages, ethnicities, sexual orientations, and with all completely different political and religious beliefs - as was further solidified in the massive healthcare debate that exploded on my Facebook today. Haha. It really keeps things interesting for me, and I just love being around all different kinds of people!)

I'm doing much better. On top of everything else, I randomly got some kind of stomach flu over the weekend that my mom also had, which made for a pretty miserable past couple of days. But today, my flu is gone, I'm on the painkillers for my endometriosis, and I made an appointment with a new doctor for Thursday. So I'm feeling pretty good about things. I feel like it's all a part of a huge shift that I'm going through, even me getting sick and having these endometriosis issues. I can't really explain it, but I feel like something important is happening and there's a huge shift in my life, my attitude, my way of thinking, etc. I feel really good about it, though.

So. As you can see above, I'm playing a show on Friday! It's at the new Hearth Atlanta in Little Five Points, which I'm really excited to check out. I hear it's an awesome new venue. The address is 317 Nelms Avenue, Atlanta, GA. I'll be starting off the show at 8:00 pm. I'll be playing some new songs, some old songs, a new cover or two. And I'm really excited because the night is going to be such an incredible and diverse night of Atlanta music! Headlining the show is one of my absolute favorite Atlanta bands, Wade in the Rhythm. I've gotten a chance to see them a few times and even play with them (as Long Absent Friends), and they always, always put on an awesome show. They're a reggae band comprised of incredibly talented musicians, and I love how positive and spiritual their lyrics are and how they always have the whole crowd dancing. Even if you can't make it for my set on Friday, they are definitely worth checking out! This show is actually all ages! (For once!) And it's BYOB. 7 bucks at the door, 5 bucks in advance. I'd absolutely love to see you there! It's going to be such a fun night! And it will give me a chance to make up for the show I had to cancel last weekend, too! Here's the facebook event.

Sorry I didn't get my March events posting up, but here are some awesome things that are going on the remainder of the month:

Music - Shearwater - Wye Oak - Hospital Ships - The Earl - Wedneday, March 24th - 8:30 pm - 12 dollars - 21+

Film - 5th Annual Women in Film and Television International Short Film Showcase - Midtown Art Cinemas - Thursday, March 25th - 7:00 - 9:30 pm - 15 dollars

Music - Sara Crawford, Wade in the Rhythm, Dre Money, and others at Hearth Atlanta! - Hearth Atlanta - Friday, March 26th - 8:00 pm - 5$ in advance, 7$ at the door - BYOB - All ages - See above

Theatre - The Annunciation...Sort Of: Mary Says "No" by Celeste Miller - 7 Stages Theatre - March 25 - March 28 - Featuring Celeste Miller’s own famous talking dance in rare form, this lively, collaborative piece presents a different outlook on what might have happened if the world’s most beloved religious mother, Mary, had said “NO”. This world premiere is a combination of dance, live music, spoken text, and video, and draws its content from the Gospel of Luke and Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species.

Theatre - Fuddy Meers by David Lindsay-Abaire - Onstage Atlanta - March 19 - April 10 - It’s just another day for Claire... she wakes up and has no idea who or where she is. Her husband greets her with a cup of coffee and her book of memories. But on this morning, a man appears from under the bed and convinces her to go on a journey to find out who she truly is.

(Sorry. I don't have that many event listings for March, but all of these things are definitely worth checking out! Send me your events for April!)

On Tuesday, my band, Long Absent Friends will be opening for The Movement, Wade in the Rhythm, and other awesome bands at Lenny's! Long Absent Friends will be playing at 7:00 pm.

This is a benefit concert for the Haitian relief. The organizers of the show are collaborating with transformhaiti.org, UnitedForJamaica.Org and caribcentral.com. So come out on Tuesday, hear some diverse and awesome bands, have a beer, and most importantly, support a good cause!