World weariness for real people" is a phrase that has been used to describe Landymore's songs. The Washington Post has said she "presents her songs on her own terms, with conversational ease and refreshing honesty."
Not quite folk and not quite pop, Sara Landymore knows how to stand out in a crowd and has made her mark as one of the most memorable songwriters to come out of Washington, D.C.
With a strong right hand and percussive guitar style strongly influenced by folk and blues guitarists, she's been called a powerful and moving songwriter with a love of storytelling. Fans have compared her to Bob Dylan, Nick Drake and John Prine.
Now based in Indianapolis, Landymore has a solid resume of performance, awards and recordings representing more than a decade of work.
Landymore has appeared at the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville, TN, The Birchmere in Alexandria, VA, and The Ram's Head Tavern in Annapolis, MD. She performed her way through open mikes, showcases, and bar gigs, ultimately opening for stellar songwriters such as Loudon Wainwright III, Colin Hay, and Dan Bern.
She won numerous regional honors from the Washington Area Music Association (WAMA) in their annual Washington Area Music Awards (WAMMIES). Garnering eight nominations, she was named Songwriter of the Year in 1997, an honor she shared with Tom Prasada-Rao in a rare tie vote. Her CD, "Corner of the World," received nominations in the categories of Best Contemporary Folk Album, Best Debut Album, and Album of the Year, while Landymore also received a nomination in the category of Best Female Vocalist in Contemporary Folk.
Both "Corner of the World" and Landymore received nods of praise from The Washington Post when the newspaper included the recording among the year's Top 20 releases and compared the power of Landymore's songwriting to that of John Prine.
Although Corner of the World is the singer/songwriter's first CD, it is not her first recording. She also released a pair of cassettes, A Choice of Days in 1989 and Tattoo in 1990, which both received review in The Washington Post, as well.
Throughout the '90s, she accrued a total of seven prizes from the Mid-Atlantic Song Contest. Categorization of her work is sometimes difficult, and her songwriting awards range in genres from alternative rock, country, and folk.
Her work as a sound engineer during her years on the scene in D.C. also brought her notice. For three consecutive years, she took top honors in the category of Live Sound Engineer in the Washington Area Music Awards. She was the first woman to receive the Live Sound honor in the WAMMIES.
One of her compositions, "Little Visions," became the title-track of a regional compilation released by the Baltimore/Washington Songwriter's Association. She's contributed two tracks to compilation CDs released by Hungry For Music, a D.C. area non-profit. Her festival appearances include the Washington Folk Festival, the Takoma Park Folk Festival, the Northeast Regional Folk Alliance Conference, the National Folk Alliance Conference in Washington, D.C., the Northern Virginia Folk Festival, and the WAMA Crosstown Jam.
After a seven-year hiatus, Landymore has resurfaced in Indianapolis with plans to perform and is currently working on re-releasing the two early cassettes on CD, as well as releasing an unfinished project started in 2000.