Rachael Sage

Rachael Sage (born Karen Rachael Weitzman in 1971<ref name=Brands2007/>) is an American singer-songwriter and visual artist. She is the founder of indie label MPress Records. Sage has released fifteen solo studio albums. Sage was named one of the Top 100 Independent Artists of the Past 15 Years by Performing Songwriter magazine.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The New York Times describes Sage as "alternately channeling her inner Fanny Brice and Jewish Norah Jones".<ref name="NYtimes piece 2009">Template:Cite news</ref>

Early life

Sage was born Karen Rachael Weitzman in 1971 in Port Chester, New York, to shoe designer Stuart Weitzman and author Jane Weitzman.<ref name="Jazz Journal">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="The New York Times 2000">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Sage studied drama and ballet before switching to music. A self-taught pianist, influenced by her parents' doo-wop and Beatles records, as well as Broadway cast albums, she created demos on a four-track recording system she received as a bat mitzvah present. During junior high school, Sage gained admission to the School of American Ballet.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Sage attended Stanford University where she hosted a nighttime college radio show as "Full Moon Rachael".<ref name="CMJ 2002"/> She studied theater with professors such as playwright Anna Deavere Smith,<ref name=Curve2020>Template:Cite magazine</ref> and graduated in 1993 with a degree in drama.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Stanford 2004">Template:Cite magazine</ref> For one year, she was in the Actors Studio MFA program.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Her performance in their New York talent search won her a place on the Village Stage of the 1999 Lilith Fair.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Music

Sage's career includes the writing of jingles and theme music for film and television; her first notable jingle customer was Crystal Light.<ref name="Stanford 2004"/> She began using the name "Rachael Sage" in 1995,<ref name="Official Gazette">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Brands2007">Template:Cite book</ref> and in 1996 she started her own record label, MPress Records,<ref name="Stanford 2004"/> inspired by Ani DiFranco founding Righteous Babe Records six years earlier.<ref name="CMJ 2002">Template:Cite magazine</ref>

On April 23, 1996, Sage released her debut studio album, Morbid Romantic, on MPress.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> She toured Europe four times and released four more albums.<ref name="Stanford 2004"/>

For her 2004 song "Sacrifice" from the album Ballads & Burlesque, Sage won Best Folk/Singer-Songwriter Song at the 4th Annual Independent Music Awards in 2005.<ref name="Past IMA Programs">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> "Brave Mistake" from the album Delancey Street was nominated for Best Story Song at the 10th Annual Independent Music Awards in 2011.<ref name="Past IMA Programs" /> In the same year, Sage won OutStanding Producer for her song "Hope's Outpost" at the 7th Annual OutMusic Awards.<ref name="OutMusic Winners">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Sage wrote an editorial about homeless youth in New York City for The Morton Report. In her editorial, she mentioned a collaboration of artists, unveiling an album, New Arrivals Vol. 4: Artists Against Youth Homelessness, with proceeds going to the National Network for Youth.<ref name="Celebrity writer Sage1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

File:CJCS attends Roots of Resilience Gala 160908-D-SW162-0162.jpg

Rachael Sage performing in New York City in 2016

Sage appears on Both Sides Now: the Very Best of Judy Collins, performing a duet with Collins on the Neil Young song, "Helpless".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

On May 20, 2016, Sage released her 12th studio album, Choreographic, on MPress Records, featuring some of the songs that she wrote to accompany dance competition routines for Maddie Ziegler.<ref>"Rachael Sage Releases New Album CHOREOGRAPHIC", BroadwayWorld.com, May 20, 2016</ref>

On March 6, 2020, Sage released her 14th studio album, Character. Described as an "inspirational tribute to survivorship", the album was written as Sage was recovering from endometrial cancer. She expressed the hope that "these songs honor just how resilient the human spirit can be, and remind us that sometimes it's ok to not be ok."<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref> The album reflects on themes such as compassion, gratitude, authenticity, optimism, mindfulness, forgiveness, vulnerability, and resilience, as well as issues surrounding co-dependence.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Sage regularly tours in North America and Europe and has shared stages with A Great Big World,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Semi Precious Weapons,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Sarah McLachlan, Judy Collins, Marc Cohn, the Animals, Jamie Cullum, and Ani DiFranco.

Sage's sound has been described as theatrical.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Producer Phil Ramone said of working with Sage that he was reminded of collaborating with Bob Dylan and that "She has a very unusual way of treating a pop song. I admire her editorial and musical ability when it comes to crafting a tune."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Visual arts

Sage's paintings and collages have been shown in small galleries in Lower Manhattan,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and she has also contributed original artwork to her own CD package designs.<ref name="CMJ 2002"/>

Personal life

Sage's sister Elizabeth is a film critic and children's book author in New York.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Sage told Curve magazine in 2020 that she came out to her parents as bisexual in the mid-1990s. She said her songs portray her "full-range of life-experience, including having loved both men and women".<ref name=Curve2020/> Sage has been celebrated by the LGBT community, winning OutMusic Awards multiple times, hosted by the LGBT Academy of Recording Arts. In 2016, she teamed with cellist Dave Eggar to produce a benefit concert to help victims of the Orlando nightclub shooting, a hate crime against gay people.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2018, Sage was treated for uterine cancer; she was in remission two years later when she organized an online benefit concert to fight cancer, with appearances by Lisa Loeb, Paula Cole and more. Sage stayed in New Haven, Connecticut, during the COVID-19 pandemic.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Discography

Studio albums

• Morbid Romantic (1996)
• Smashing the Serene (1998)
• Painting of a Painting (2001)
• Illusion's Carnival (2002)
• Public Record (2003)
• Ballads & Burlesque (2004)
• The Blistering Sun (2006)
• Chandelier (2008)
• Delancey Street (2010)
• Haunted by You (2012)
• Blue Roses (2014)
• Choreographic (2016)
• Myopia (2018)
• Character (2020)
• The Other Side (2023)

Acoustic albums

• Choreographic (Acoustic) (2016)
• PseudoMyopia (2019)
• Another Side (reimagined) (2024)

EPs

• Haunted by You – Acoustic EP (2012)
• New Destination (2014)
• The Tide (2017)
• Character (Acoustic) (2020)

Collaborations

• New Arrivals Vol. 1: Artists For Gulf Coast Hurricane Relief (2006)
• New Arrivals Vol. 2: Artists Against Hunger & Poverty (2007)
• New Arrivals Vol. 3: Artists For Eating Disorders Awareness (2008)
• New Arrivals Vol. 4: Artists Against Youth Homelessness (2011)
• New Arrivals Vol. 5: Artists For Hurricane Sandy Relief (2013)
• Both Sides Now – The Very Best Of Judy Collins (2014)
• Poetica (2021)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Awards and nominations

Sage has received numerous awards and nominations, which includes winning the John Lennon Songwriting Contest in 2001,<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> three wins at The Great American Song Contest, and six wins at the Independent Music Awards.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Selection of awards and nominations received by Rachael Sage

Year	Award	Category	Nominee/work	Result	Template:Abbr
2001	The Great American Song Contest	Acoustic	Rachael Sage	Template:Won	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	John Lennon Songwriting Contest	Rock	Rachael Sage	Template:Won
2002	Billboard Songwriting Contest	R&B	Rachael Sage	Template:Won
2005	OutMusic Awards	OutStanding Songwriter	Rachael Sage, Ballads & Burlesque	Template:Won	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Independent Music Awards	Song – Folk/Singer-Songwriter	Rachael Sage, "Sacrifice"	Template:Won	<ref name="Past IMA Programs" />
2006	The Great American Song Contest	Contemporary Acoustic/Folk	Rachael Sage, "93 Maidens"	Template:Won	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2008		Grand Prize	Rachael Sage, "Hunger In John"	Template:Won	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2009	OutMusic Awards	OutStanding Producer	Rachael Sage, "Vertigo"	Template:Won
		OutStanding Songwriter	Rachael Sage, Chandelier	Template:Won
2011		OutStanding Producer	Rachael Sage, "Hope's Outpost"	Template:Won	<ref name="OutMusic Winners" />
	Independent Music Awards	Song – Story	Rachael Sage, "Brave Mistake"	Template:Nom	<ref name="Past IMA Programs" />
2019		Music Producer – Pop	Rachael Sage & John Shyloski, Myopia	Template:Won	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2021	Pop Awards	Icon of the Year	Rachael Sage	Template:Nom	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>

MPress Records

Rachael Sage started MPress Records in 1996 to release her own music.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> She is the label's president.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Notable artists include:<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• Rachael Sage
• A Fragile Tomorrow
• K's Choice
• Melissa Ferrick
• Seth Glier

External links

• Official website
• MPress Records