Sarah Eugenie Dougher /ˈduːɡər/ (born September 15, 1967) is an American singer-songwriter, author, and teacher.
Sarah Dougher | |
|---|---|
 Dougher performing in Seattle, 2009 | |
| Born | Sarah Eugenie Dougher September 15, 1967[1] Eugene, Oregon, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Reed College University of Texas at Austin |
| Musical career | |
| Also known as | Dusty (while in Cadallaca), The Doog, Doogs |
| Genres | Indie, folk, alternative |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter, composer, educator, author, artist |
| Instrument(s) | Guitar, farfisa organ |
| Years active | ca. early 1990s – present |
| Labels | K Records, Kill Rock Stars, Mr. Lady |
Early life
editSarah Eugenie Dougher was born on September 15, 1967 in Eugene, Oregon. Dougher received a PhD in comparative literature from the University of Texas at Austin in 1997, and teaches in the women's studies department at Portland State University.
Career
editDougher began her musical career playing the Farfisa organ in the Portland, Oregon based band The Crabs, and later joined Cadallaca with Sleater-Kinney frontwoman Corin Tucker. She has also released multiple solo albums.
Dougher has released eight albums, a combination of work with bands as well as solo releases.[2] Since 2007, she has co-directed Portland's Flash Choir with Pat Janowski. The Flash Choir is free, no-audition choir that specializes in collaborative, audience-inclusive work. In January 2010 she debuted a 10-song composition called "Strangers Together," with a libretto from Oregon poet and pacifist William Stafford's book, Passwords. Portland's Regional Arts and Culture Council supported the creation and production of this work through a project grant. In 2009, she composed a choral work called Caesar's Gatebased on the collaborative work of poet Robert Duncan and collage artist, Jess, commissioned by the Cooley Gallery at Reed College.
The first of her solo albums, Day One, was released on indie label K Records in 1999; the latter two, 2000's Walls Ablaze and 2001's The Bluff, were released on Mr. Lady records. In June 2005, Dougher released Harper's Arrow on the Cherchez La Femme label. Beginning with "Day One", Sarah began a long-lasting collaboration with Jon Nikki (Prima Donnas, Gene Defcon, Mocket, Sir, Sarah Dougher, Puce Moment). Jon Nikki contributed guitar, keyboards and piano, bass and drums on many of Sarah's recordings as well as a songwriting credit on the album "Walls Ablaze" for the song "What's Good Is Better Than Gone".
Cadallaca
editDougher has also worked with Sleater-Kinney vocalist Corin Tucker and novelist sts in the band Cadallaca, where she provided vocals and played the Farfisa organ. In the tradition of 1960's girl groups, each member of the band assumed an alias, Dougher being credited as Dusty. The band put out two official albums: Introducing Cadallaca (K Records) and Out West(an EP, on Kill Rock Stars).
The Crabs
editThe Crabs were a Portland, Oregon-based indie-rock band. Originally formed as a duo in 1993 with John Lunsford (vocals, guitar) and Lisa Jackson (vocals, drums), the pair later added Sarah Dougher on keyboard following their 1997 release What Were Flames Now Smolder. Dougher contributes keyboards and vocals to the 1999 release, Sand and Sea
Other ventures
editDougher is an alumna of Reed College (class of 1990) and has a PhD in comparative literature from the University of Texas at Austin.[3][4] Apart from her musical endeavours, Dougher teaches courses on the History of Women in Rock music and Lyric Poetry in the Women's Studies department at Portland State University. She also teaches a course on homeless adolescents and food insecurity.
Dougher has been an organizer for the Rock and Roll Camp for Girls, and is currently involved with the Girls Rock Camp Alliance, an international coalition of girls' rock camps. Between 2006 and 2010, she worked as a full-time teacher and development person for p:ear, a mentoring program for homeless teens in downtown Portland.[5][6]
Dougher started the record label 'Cherchez La Femme', which centers around the same grassroots feminist ideals of the labels Dougher herself has previously recorded under.[7] In 2006, Dougher was hired to score a version of Euripides' classical Greek tragedy Orestes, which ran for five weeks in Portland.[8]
Between 2014 and 2015, Dougher taught high school in Oslo, Norway on a Fulbright Scholarship.[9]
Discography
edit- Solo
- Day One (1999)
- The Walls Ablaze (2000)
- The Bluff (2001)
- Harper's Arrow (2005)
- Orestes (2009)
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "United States Public Records, 1970–2009," database, FamilySearch (May 22, 2014), Sarah Eugenie Dougher, Residence, Portland, Oregon, United States; a third party aggregator of publicly available information.
- ^ Nelson, Chris (January 2, 2000). "Sarah Dougher: A One-Woman Indie-Rock Industry". MTV. Retrieved October 26, 2015.[dead link]
- ^ "Profile: Sarah Dougher". Pdx.edu. Retrieved October 25, 2015.
- ^ "Sarah Dougher: Folk music for the millenium". Archived from the original on October 22, 2009. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on April 5, 2007. Retrieved March 16, 2007.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Colton, Kim (April 8, 2003). "Beat the Press: Some handy tips on buttering up the media, from Prof. Sarah Dougher". Willamette Weekly. Retrieved October 26, 2015.
- ^ "Sarah Dougher Starts Women-Focused Label". Neumu.net. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
- ^ Radon, Lisa (July 5, 2011). "Sarah Dougher and Fin de Siecle". Oregon Arts Commission. Retrieved October 26, 2015.
- ^ "Biography: Sarah Dougher". Sarah Dougher.net. Retrieved October 25, 2015.
External links
edit