Rachael Sage is a former ballerina who, as a teenager, studied at the School of American Ballet. Over the past several years, she has been thrilled to see her music being embraced by the lyrical dance community; some videos of lyrical dancers who used her music have gone viral on Youtube. Along with being a former dancer, Sage is a self-taught pianist, soulful vocalist and innovative multi-instrumentalist, singer/songwriter and producer. She performs over 100 shows a year both solo and with her band the Sequins throughout the United States, United Kingdom and Europe, making her one of the busiest touring artists in independent music.

Sage has shared stages with Sarah McLachlan, A Great Big World, Judy Collins, Shawn Colvin, Marc Cohn, Jamie Cullum, the Animals and Ani DiFranco, and she even had the opportunity to perform at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2009. She’s been awarded numerous songwriting awards including the grand prize for The John Lennon Songwriting Contest and several Independent Music Awards.

Her forthcoming debut album Choreographic is due out May 20. The album is a tribute to her first love: dance. It is musically ambitious and well-put together. Her vocals, lyrics and rhythms create a magical experience for listeners. “Making this album was a meditation on my lifelong relationship to ballet and more recently, to lyrical dance,” Sage said of the album. “Connecting to music through dance is what prompted me to become a songwriter in the first place. It was time to get back to my roots.” Each song was envisioned “as a fully-choreographed multi-media experience” to connect her roots in ballet. The result ended up being an explosion of piano-based chamber-pop merging orchestral elements and her signature blend of pop, folk and rock. Sage and Grammy winning producer Andy Zulla co-produced this album.

Check out “I’ve Been Waiting,” a track from her upcoming album, below.

– Emilee Gorshe

Enter below to win a signed copy of Choreographic!