BIO
Sarah Winchester was a TV actor in her native Los Angeles by the time she was a teenager, a network TV coordinator with both an undergraduate Acting degree and an MBA by her mid-twenties, and a hit songwriter for TV by 22. With movie-star looks and the kind of brain that says, “Writing songs poses certain challenges that I find to be so interesting. It’s like I have to use every side of my brain.” She also brings huge organizational skills and preparation – rare in artists and writers – to each new showbiz genre or endeavor she tackles, including country music and eventually writing for Broadway. “At least I’ve done my due diligence in being prepared,” she says, “and everything I want to do I’ve done, at least on a smaller scale. I haven’t written for Broadway, but I’ve written for smaller musicals in college and smaller LA theaters. I’ve written songs for the CW Network on TV shows and independent films, and I’ve written for myself as a country artist and as an indie pop band.”
Winchester was one of six children who grew up in the San Fernando Valley, an LA suburb. Dad is a building contractor, while Mom is a stay-at- home-mom and one of Sarah’s greatest fans. As a kid, Sarah loved riding horses and Girl Scouting. Even then, she was focused. “I’d write songs to journal, instead of writing in a diary,” she recalls. Her first professional TV experience was as an actor, playing small parts in huge hits including General Hospital. She worked in the Showboat Youth Theater, studied dance at Millennium and Debbie Reynolds Studio, and earned an Acting Degree at UC-Santa Barbara. Sarah went to work full-time in the Current Programming department at the CW Network in Burbank, where she spent a busy and exciting three years. While there, she earned an MBA on her own time and quietly began submitting songs for CW programs. “Did your assistant just write this song?” one showrunning TV exec asked Sarah’s boss after listening to her demo of “Saying Goodbye,” which has become such a favorite on 90210 that teen girls now post YouTube videos of themselves singing, playing, and learning the bittersweet Winchester tune.
Years of networking paid off handsomely when a top BMI executive became interested in her music. All the while, Sarah played clubs and writers’ nights in LA, showing off a rich alto and catchy, well-constructed songs. “Every single person told me, `you need to go to Nashville,’ ” Sarah recalls. Winchester released her first country EP, “Whiskey Revival” in 2018 which received much international attention via Spotify and other streaming services. She is now working on her next country EP set to release in 2021. She has performed all over the world from Ireland to and back to her hometown of Chatsworth and now spends time in Nashville working on Country, New York working on Broadway tunes and performing in Los Angeles with her own country band self titled “Sarah Winchester Band” as well as a country cover band, “Country Nation.” She loves being able to sing the hits of others as well as share her originals with the world while playing one of the five instruments she often switches off playing on stage. Her love for music of all genres continues to grow and wherever she performs, her reputation precedes her as an energetic, heartfelt, powerhouse performer.
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