Resilient to her core, Sarah Leete is a singer songwriter whose music is shaped not just by her setbacks, but by her ability to bounce back and keep moving. A country girl through and through, armed with her guitar, she tells it like it really is, in a world where a carefully manicured façade is more important than the truth.
It is this ability to adapt, borne out of necessity, that has shaped Sarah’s life, career, and music. A graduate of the CMAA Academy of Country Music in Tamworth, she enlisted the help of Golden Guitar-winning songwriter Catherine Britt to produce her debut self-titled EP, released in 2017. She booked her own four-week tour to support the EP and as her reputation grew, she found her way onto support slots with The Viper Creek Band, Bill Chambers and Fanny Lumsden.
Sarah’s habit of making her own opportunities become a reality has seen her create her own showcase performance at the Tamworth Country Music Festival. She created the “Write Like a Girl” Songwriters Round performance with Hayley Marsten, in response to her fellow female performers being overlooked for similar gigs. She has also organised her own tours of Central Australia 2016 and 2018.
Life has a way of presenting challenges, and losing her father to cancer, her mother to Lewy Body Dementia and her beloved canine companion Grace within a short space of each other, has the power to take the wind out of anyone’s sails. While she was knocked around by these events, her tenaciousness has seen her channel those emotions into powerful new songs.
The first of these songs were recorded in Brisbane with producer Michael Muchow (Catherine Britt, Melody Moko) between border closures. These sessions resulted in the singles ‘Nothin’ Special’ in March 2021, and ‘One That Got Away’ in July. The latest release ‘Used’ brings out Sarah’s melodic pop influences, wrapped in a bright country twang.
The unique ability to overcome adversity has shaped Sarah Leete into one of the most honest, real, and relevant storytellers in Australian Country music, with a sharp wit and an honest approach to her songs. “I really have tried to be quite intentional with being honest and relatable, both who I am as a person and in my music,” she says. Thinking about the future, Sarah Leete is aching to bring her music to as many stages around the country as she can get to.