Chicago-native Sara Niemietz has starred on Broadway (Carol Burnett’s Hollywood Arms), appeared in television and film (Akeelah and the Bee, Glee), recorded vocals for many scores and projects, released five albums, and sang in Times Square before 50,000 people.
In 2013, Sara was thrilled to return to the Mark Taper Forum to play the role of Wanda in Enter Laughing, a one-night production, fundraiser, and tribute to Carl Reiner. That year, she was also invited to sing with BJ Thomas at the Grand Ole Opry. Sara was honored to reprise the role of Wanda in the sold-out run of Enter Laughing at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in 2015. Melissa Manchester and Sara recently co-wrote Feeling for You, the first single from Melissa’s new album, You Gotta Love the Life. Sara’s rendition of At Last was featured in ABC’s Scandal Season 5 promo and her newest EP of original songs, Fountain and Vine, was released.
Sara was excited to join Postmodern Jukebox for two European tours, performing in over thirty countries, and their US tours of over thirty states. Her videos with Postmodern Jukebox have garnered millions of views. In 2017, Sara released her newest single, Monroe, and began traveling to spread her new music in live shows. Sara recently collaborated with Emmy-award winning composer, W.G. Snuffy Walden, and released a new EP, Get Right.
Sara enjoys playing guitar, bass, and piano, and is often engaged in both singing and writing sessions. She can be frequently found in her natural habitat: live shows. This spring, Niemietz will delight UK and European fans with a busy 15-stop “Hear Me Now” Tour.
In this one-on-one interview, Sara reveals her passion for music and some of the influences that helped her create such diverse and engaging repertoire of songs.
Who were some of your early influencers in music and songwriting?
Sara: I fell in love with singing before I fell in love with songwriting. So my early singing influences were Aretha Franklin and Janis Joplin. I was so blown away by Janis’ blues. I’m sure she listened to all those great blues and soul singers, but it was how she made it so rock-‘n-roll. I was a huge rock-‘n-roll fan. I wonder what Janis would have created had she lived longer.
What inspires you to create a new song? What do you draw from—externally or internally?
Sara: It’s changed over the years. When I was younger, I had less life experience, so I drew a lot more from literature and from the imagery of living in New York and L.A. But then this last album is probably the most autobiographical. I draw a lot from my experiences over the year. It kind of traces my arc of the last year for me. It starts out on the road and how excited I am to be there. Then I look forward to coming back home with all my friends and loved ones. In the middle of the album, there’s my break up, which was new for me. So it was learning from that experience. I drew a lot of material from coming to terms with the end of one era and looking forward to what was coming next.
What do you like most about live performances?
Sara: I just love the way you’re without a net. You know there’s no chance for you to do a second take. The pressure’s on but in a way, it’s so liberating. Especially when you’re on stage with friends and musicians you trust, so you know you can create something that is so one of a kind. It’s almost like collaboration with the audience because different audience members bring such energy. You can feel the different personalities mixing with yours. So you kind of create something together and I love that.
So now that you’ve recorded so many songs in studio, do you find it takes fewer takes or more takes? Or does it just depend on the song?
Sara: It depends on the song, but lately, it’s fewer takes. In the last album, Made to Last, Snuffy and I just recorded a really quick demo of it, so we knew what we kind of wanted to do and fill it in later, and then we ended up re-recording a bunch of vocals and guitar. But when we listened to what we had, we realized the demo was way more heartfelt so we went back to the old vocal and old guitar stuff. Sometimes you just capture that lightening the bottle the first time. Of course, I’ve had other times where the 17th take is the best take.
In your songwriting process, do you lead with lyrics or a melody?
Sara: I usually sit down in front of my computer with my guitar and just kind of start singing. I’m not really sure what I’m trying to convey. It’s almost like I’m trying to channel something. And sometimes, I wonder what that does that melody mean? I notice that the stuff I end up liking just comes out of nowhere and I just try to hold on to it and follow it. It’s also kind of like my vocals, the more I try to go over it and re-write it, the less it really helps.
Do you ever record those sessions where you’re just beginning and maybe starting out on a song and you realize ‘this doesn’t work but that works’?
Sara: Yeah, I started doing that a couple of years ago. My Dad’s not a writer but he sings, loves music and has this great knowledge of music. He said I wonder what it would sound like if you just recorded that process. So I’ve done that a couple of times and it’s interesting to go back and listen to that with fresh ears.
During our last interview, we talked about how Linda Ronstadt dramatically changed her singing style. Will you be exploring any different styles of songwriting or performing?
Sara: My style has become a bit more pop-focused over the last year, which wasn’t intentional. The first album was much more bluesy and jazzy and that influence is definitely still there. I definitely won’t go in a Brittany Spears direction, which is great, but just not my style.
In Waiting on the Day, were you inspired by the feeling of Dallas?
Sara: The feeling of Dallas, of being on the road, yeah. I wrote that one in Nashville with a songwriter named Jeff Cohen. It’s kind of the most country-leading piece in the album. We were just talking about writing a song that was inspired by the motion and excitement of being on the road.
Many relationships today are so temporary. What inspired you to create “Made to last”?
Sara: It’s looking at how temporary and how ephemeral everything is, especially with the Instagram and social media lifestyle we live in. It’s all instant gratification with likes and clicks. I’m just an old school girl from Illinois. That kind of fast-paced relationship is fun, but what I find most rewarding is something constant and honest. So I just wanted to write an ode to that.
Was there a life lesson you drew from that inspired you to create Get Right?
Sara: (laughs) There was! It was kind of the end of a long relationship. It was about someone I really cared about. I was very, very surprised and I just went into the other room and into my studio. I realized I needed to do something with the way I was feeling so Get Right was borne out of trying to make sense about what was going on.
What can you tell us about your busy European tour this spring?
Sara: I’m really excited about it. It’s going to be W.G. Snuffy Walden, who wrote a lot of these songs with me, and you can hear him playing all over the album. When we play together, we have this joke that it’s Sara and the uncles. So Snuffy will be on the tour and a friend of mine, Jonathan Richards, who is a great bass player, will also join us for the tour. We’re really excited to play the original stuff in London for the first time and then to go back to Germany to cities we’ve been to and see some friends. We go to some new cities and end the tour in Prague. It’ll be about 75-percent original music, a couple of covers and some new titles. We’ll also try to do some sing-alongs, which is sometimes a challenge for a non-English speaking audience.
Sara’s newest album, Get Right releases March 22.
