Quiet Takes Releases Debut Album with Anticipated Live Showcase
Ever find yourself doing a mental replay of life’s greatest hits, only to stumble upon the regret reel? Regrets are a difficult part of the human experience, and musician Sarah Magill is finding new meaning in them.
Sarah Magill, who plays as Quiet Takes, is releasing her debut album, Regrets Only. It comes out on February 15th and is all about that all too-familiar feeling of dread when you discover that a regret is lurking in your mind, and the different paths in life. This happened to Sarah at a show in Eau Claire. She sat in the audience and a panicky feeling overwhelmed her as she realized she regretted her choices surrounding music. It might have been a bad feeling, but as she says, “it was good, because it was very motivating.”
That experience inspired the song “Oxbow Shower,” and the track even includes crowd noise from that exact show. This was Sarah’s jumping off point for her new album, and she’s redeeming herself by facing her regrets and reversing them. “Sometimes you realize the life that you let go is actually the one you wanted. And you have to reverse, or change course,” she says.
Sarah finds herself coming back to Eau Claire, even as a nomadic traveler, because of the music community. “Something that’s really special about this music community is that people seem to value emotion and earnestness,” she notes. She loves that residents in the 715 participate in the music community, whether or not they play themselves. “People go to shows here, that’s what people do.” This is one of the reasons she chose to record the album here, with local musicians.
Sarah is joined on the album by musicians and producers Zach Hanson, Jeremy Boettcher, Ben Lester, Tim Sullivan, and S. Carey, with whom she recorded the album at The Hive. She describes the recording process as “easy” – it was recorded in 10 days, and she says everyone was on the same page musically and perfectly grasped the big picture. Intermixed with the music are environmental sounds, including sounds from her travels as a nomad, geese from the farm she grew up on in Iowa, and wind chimes from a friend’s house in Kansas City. “Wherever I’d go, I’d just pull out my little recorder and record something,” she says. It’s a full culmination of Sarah’s experiences over the last couple of years.
She’ll be playing a show on Saturday, February 17th, hosted by Farewell Transmission Radio, at the Gibson Street Entry at the Pablo. Ben Lester will be opening. This is the first time Regrets Only will be played live, and with a full band. It’s a show you definitely don’t want to miss.
As far as what’s next, Sarah is full of ideas and eager to grow her skills. She’s got a trailer in the works to travel with and play shows out of, and is excited to record more music. But for now, she’ll enjoy the release of Regrets Only.
Regrets Only is now out on streaming platforms. Check out the music videos that accompany the album here. The live show poster is below.
