Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Country singer Sarah Buxton is taking a break from her summer tour to stop by her hometown of Lawrence. Thirty-year-old Buxton, who’s song “Outside My Window” reached No. 27 on the Billboard Hot Country charts, will perform Thursday at a benefit for the Lawrence Memorial Hospital Endowment Association.
As a child, Buxton played piano and flute, and sang in the Lawrence Children’s Choir. She said she was always interested in the arts and creativity.
“I started writing stories when I was a small child and was always very interested in writing,” Buxton said.
Poetry became a passion of Buxton’s when she was a teenager. She said music didn’t lead her to writing or vice versa; the two were very much a part of her life.
“Music had always been an escape for me and when I decided to marry the two, it was like the hidden secret door to a world where anything was possible,” Buxton said.
Buxton once met former Fleetwood Mac singer Stevie Nicks, who encouraged her to pursue music.
“One of my friends told her that I was a singer,” Buxton said. “She asked me if I was good. She told me that if I believe in myself, well then it’s that belief that will take me to the top. She said that’s how she had felt when she was my age. Her words just validated my dream and made it more tangible.”
After moving to Nashville, Buxton started a southern rock band called Stoik Oak, which toured the region for three years.
John Rich from Big & Rich encouraged Buxton to be a country singer.
“I felt that I didn’t have much in common with the female singers on country radio at the time and was unsure whether country listeners wanted to hear my style of music,” Buxton said.
She applied herself to a more focused goal, getting a hit on the radio.
Not only did she accomplish her goal, she has recorded and or worked with Jedd Hughes, Martina McBride, Kenny Rogers, Julianne Hough, Dierks Bentley, Little Big Town, Jack Ingram, and other famous artists.
“These people are friends, too. They’re great folks. I’ve been really lucky. Jedd’s worked with tons of greats, too. He’s been in Keith’s band, Dierks, Patty Loveless, Rodney Crowell,” Buxton said.
Buxton also co-wrote Keith Urban’s 2007 single “Stupid Boy.”
Buxton said she recommended students be tenacious. Her advice was to not give up and to listen to your mentors and people you trust.
“Good things do come to those who wait,” she said.
Although Buxton spends most of her time in Nashville and on tour, she still makes it back to Lawrence four or five times per year.
“I can’t think of a more perfect place to grow up. I come home and I see little bits of myself, which I take with me wherever I go. The funkiness of Downtown Lawrence, the tradition of Lawrence Lions and KU Jayhawks, the safety of my parents’ home — It’s all just who I am and it came from Lawrence,” Buxton said.
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