Long before she was performing for national audiences or appearing on TV shows like The Voice and America’s Got Talent, powerhouse vocalist Sarah Potenza was cutting her teeth in small clubs, building a reputation as one of the most commanding voices in modern music. The Rhode Island native, who now resides in Nashville, is constantly evolving artistically, from a cowboy hat-wearing roots/Americana singer-songwriter to rock goddess on The Voice, belting out Rod Stewart’s “Stay With Me,” to her current “disco diva dance era.”
A lesson in perseverance, Potenza has been busy of late, touring with Scott Bralee’s Postmodern Jukebox and working on her own music, which she’ll feature prominently when she visits alongside her longtime friend, guitarist David Robert King. She’s playing two shows locally, April 2, at Pumphouse Music Works in Wakefield and April 4 at Chan’s in Woonsocket, “because I know that people who live in southern Rhode Island will not drive north, and people who live in northern Rhode Island will not drive to the south,” laughs Pontenza on a recent phone call. “In any other market, you could never get away with doing two shows that close.” In between, on April 3, she’s presenting a Masterclass at The Met in Pawtucket, from 11am-2pm, along with King.
What can fans expect? “We do sort of a retrospective,” continues Potenza. “A bunch of songs from all my albums, and then we do a bunch of tribute songs that influenced me, that I grew up loving -- big diva songs and stuff like that. We've been best friends for like a decade, and we just have such a great time and such good chemistry on stage. And yeah, he's an amazing guitar player.”
Americana Roots - Diva Dreams
Potenza grew up immersed in music and theater, developing a voice that could swing from gritty blues to soaring soul. After graduating from Rhode Island College, she moved to Chicago and formed Sarah and the Tall Boys, a roots/Americana band with ex-husband Ian Crossman. “I was really into Americana at the time; it was what was speaking to my heart artistically, and that was what I was then putting out there,” says Potenza.
She later moved to Nashville, where she began performing regularly and collaborating with local musicians. It was in Music City where her sound began to evolve. “You go through phases as a human being and change along with life, I mean, no one's the same person they were 10 years ago,” she says. “I won't be the same person 10 years from now.”
These days, she’s increasingly shifted toward a showstopping diva model. “I grew up loving Bette Midler and Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey and Tina Turner and all these influences that had sort of gotten buried in the background in a way,” continues Potenza. “As you get older, I think you turn more to your roots in a way, sort of the true north, the true you. And that feels really true to me right now.”
“I love getting dressed up. I love the glitz. I love the glam. I love the big diva sound. I love getting to sing songs that are challenging and with a big, huge vocal. That's what's in my heart right now. And this next record is all like disco, diva, pop, dance, music, which is so the opposite of anything I've ever done.”
Potenza knows a career in music means keeping your act fresh and your options open. It’s led to gigs she never would have expected back in her early days as a singer-songwriter. “What’s fun about doing the diva thing have been the opportunities that it's afforded me as a singer, like singing on cruise ships and doing a residency in Hong Kong every year,” adds Potenza. “It's just me stepping out onto a stage and delivering songs. I'm not playing guitar, and I'm not trying to come up with these clever country-Americana lyrics. It's about standing and delivering the song. It's just been very powerful and really fun for me.”
Tickets are still available to Potenza’s upcoming shows - Click here for details.
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