Sarah Smout
Sarah is a cellist-singer and environmental activist, creating music and poetry deeply rooted in nature and place. Her music has been played on BBC Radio 2, BBC Look North, and has been used for campaigns by Greenpeace, COP26 and Yorkshire Wildlife Trust. Prior to her solo career, she toured and recorded internationally with renowned artists such as Michael Chapman, Bridget St John, The Mediaeval Baebes, Gren Bartley, The Magpies and many more. This led her to appear at many mainstream and folk festivals across the globe such as Primavera Sound, Shambala, Greenbelt, Cambridge, Green Man, Larmer Tree, and Folk Alliance International.
Yearning for adventure, and a tour that could go at a slower and more environmentally friendly pace, she embarked on a month-long odyssey to Iceland, travelling by boat via Orkney, Shetland and the Faroes. These experiences have inspired an entrancing and transportive solo show called Eyjar (Old Norse for ‘islands’) which explores our connections to place, the different lenses through which we view the land, and what that means for our relationship with
nature. Sarah’s performances are imbued with visceral story-telling, bristling with atmosphere created with live-looped cello, haunting melodies and deeply felt lyrics that are never too far from the sea. Eyjar forms the backbone of the 2023 tour together with exceptional new material.
Recent live highlights include a sold out show at RNCM supporting Sam Lee for Manchester Folk Festival, Timber Festival, and Just So Festival. 2023 saw her return to the stage with a sell out show at Hay Festival.
In 2022, Sarah made ‘Rooted’, a live recording and film that weaves together experiences of her journey to Iceland with a strong connection to her homeland of the Yorkshire Dales. It is a film about drawing strength from all that we have around us, performed in the ancient hamlet of Hubberholme. Rooted was officially selected to take part in Kendal Mountain Festival’s international film competition and was premiered at Skipton Plaza Cinema as part of Hinterlands Festival.
2023 saw Sarah embark on her first solo tour, and a variety of environmentally themed projects.
