Sara Groves (born Sara Lee Colbaugh, September 10, 1972 in
Vineland, New JerseyVineland is a city in Cumberland County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the city had a total population of 56,271...
, grew up in
Springfield, MissouriSpringfield is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It is the county seat of Greene County. On July 1, 2008, the estimated population was 156,206. The Springfield Metropolitan Area, population 426,144, is ranked 114th in the U.S., includes the counties of Christian, Dallas,...
, resides in
Burnsville, MinnesotaBurnsville is a city south of downtown Minneapolis in Dakota County in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city lies on the south bank of the Minnesota River, upstream from the confluence with the Mississippi River...
) is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
singer/songwriter,
record producerIn the music industry, a record producer has many roles, among them controlling the recording sessions, coaching and guiding the musicians, organizing and scheduling production budget and resources, and supervising the recording, mixing and mastering processes...
, and
authorAn author is defined both as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created...
.
Sara received her
Bachelor of ScienceA Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years ....
degree in History and English in 1994 from
Evangel UniversityEvangel University is the national Assemblies of God university of arts, sciences and professions in Springfield, Missouri. Evangel College was renamed Evangel University on June 8, 1998. The campus sits on that were originally part of O'Reilly General Hospital. The first President of Evangel was...
, a private
ChristianA Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic, religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, who Christians believe was the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible, and the Son of God.The term "Christian" is also used adjectivally to...
university in
Springfield, MissouriSpringfield is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It is the county seat of Greene County. On July 1, 2008, the estimated population was 156,206. The Springfield Metropolitan Area, population 426,144, is ranked 114th in the U.S., includes the counties of Christian, Dallas,...
. Sara spent four years teaching high school in
Rosemount, MinnesotaRosemount is a city in Dakota County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 14,619 at the 2000 census. Rosemount was established as a township in 1856 and incorporated as a city in 1972, encompassing the old village of Rosemount and Pine Bend...
before recording her first album,
Past the Wishing, in 1998. Since then, she has released seven more albums and appeared on several others. Sara has been nominated for three Dove Awards including "
New Artist of the Year" in 2002 and "
Special Event Album of the Year 2003" by the
Gospel Music AssociationThe Gospel Music Association was founded in 1964 for the purpose of supporting and promoting the development of all forms of Gospel music. There are currently more than 4,200 members worldwide...
. She was named one of the best
Christian music artists of 2005 and the album,
Add to the BeautyAdd to the Beauty, a contemporary Christian album, is the fifth album by Sara Groves. It was released in the United States on October 4, 2005 by Sony BMG.-Track listing:#"When It Was Over"#"Just Showed Up For My Own Life"#"You Are The Sun"...
, was named "
Album of the Year" for 2005 by
CCM MagazineCCM Magazine was a monthly magazine published by Salem Publishing, a division of Salem Communications. It was first published in July 1978, and it has always been a Christian music magazine. On January 16, 2008, Salem announced that the April 2008 issue would be the final printed issue of the...
.
Career
In 2001, she appeared on World Entertainment's
What a Mom album with the song "Generations", and also on World Entertainment's
New Music From Our Heart To Yours album.
In 2002, she performed with
Randy StonehillRandy Stonehill is an American singer/songwriter from Stockton, California, best known as one of the so-called "fathers of contemporary Christian music." His music is primarily folk rock in the style of James Taylor, but he has assayed other styles, with various albums focused on new wave, pop...
on the song "Take Me Back", performed with
Joel HansonJoel Hanson was the lead singer and guitarist for Christian rock band PFR. After the breakup of the band, he went on to a solo career with the albums Captured and Broken. Joel is a songwriter who has collaborated with several artists across the music industry, including Sara Groves, Geoff Moore,...
on the title song for the album
Traveling Light: Songs From the 23rd Psalm, and performed the song "Child of Love" for the album
City on a Hill: It's Christmas TimeCity on a Hill: It's Christmas Time is the third album released in the City on a Hill series of compilation albums by popular CCM musicians.-Track listing:#"I Heard the Bells On Christmas Day"#"It's Christmas Time" -...
.
In 2003, she appeared on the
City on a Hill: The GatheringCity on a Hill: The Gathering is the fourth album released in the City on a Hill series of compilation albums by popular Contemporary Christian musicians.-Track listing:#"Shall We Gather at River" - Prelude...
album with the song "Come Be Who You Are", and the following year's sequel
City on a Hill: The Collection album, with the song "Jesus Went to the Garden".
Groves was recognised by the Alumni Board from
Evangel UniversityEvangel University is the national Assemblies of God university of arts, sciences and professions in Springfield, Missouri. Evangel College was renamed Evangel University on June 8, 1998. The campus sits on that were originally part of O'Reilly General Hospital. The first President of Evangel was...
in 2004, for her significant achievements in the years since graduation.
In September 2005, Sara, her husband Troy, her father-in-law, a neighbour, and a Minneapolis ER doctor delivered a tour bus and trailer load of baby supplies to victims of
Hurricane KatrinaHurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the costliest hurricane, as well as one of the five deadliest, in the history of the United States...
in
Slidell, LouisianaSlidell is a city situated on the northeast shore of Lake Pontchartrain in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 25,695 at the 2000 census. The Greater Slidell Community has a population of about 90,000...
.
Sara was chosen as the subject of a film released in August 2006, titled
Sara Groves - Just Showed Up For My Own Life, the first installment of a new reality film series called
Nomad: The Show With No Home produced by Fearless Films Inc. Included in this film were video of the Katrina relief effort by Groves in 2005 and a subsequent trip to
RwandaThe Republic of Rwanda is a small landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of east-central Africa, bordered by Uganda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania. Home to approaching 10 million people, Rwanda supports the densest population in continental Africa, most of whom...
,
AfricaAfrica is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area. With a billion people in 61 territories, it accounts for about 14.8% of the...
with Pastor
Rick WarrenRichard Duane "Rick" Warren is an American evangelical minister and author. He is the founder and senior pastor of Saddleback Church, an evangelical megachurch located in Lake Forest, California, currently the eighth-largest church in the United States...
and a group from
Saddleback ChurchSaddleback Church is an evangelical Christian megachurch located in Lake Forest, California, situated in southern Orange County, affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. The church was founded in 1980 by pastor Rick Warren...
to learn about the challenges of reconciliation and economic development 11 years after the mass
Rwandan genocideThe Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass killing of hundreds of thousands of Rwanda's Tutsis and Hutu political moderates by Hutus under the Hutu Power ideology. Over the course of approximately 100 days, from the assassination of Juvénal Habyarimana on 6 April through mid-July, at least 500,000...
. Bonus features included Sara's live set from the 2006
Jars of ClayJars of Clay is a Grammy Award winning Christian rock band from Franklin, Tennessee. They met at Greenville College in Greenville, Illinois....
Tour, Nomad vignettes for small groups and more.
Sara gave birth to her third child, a girl, on July 13, 2007 and named her Ruby Cate. Sara and her husband, Troy, also have two sons Kirby (born in 2001) and Toby (born in 2003). On October 30, 2007, the first single from the upcoming album
Tell Me What You Know, titled "When the Saints", was featured as a free download from Apple's
iTunes StoreThe iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple Inc. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, it was as of April 2008 the number-one music vendor in the United States. As of January 2009, the store has sold 6 billion songs, accounting for 70% of...
.
INO RecordsINO Records is an American record label based out of Nashville, Tennessee, specializing in Contemporary Christian music. It is distributed through Sony Records , and has been owned by Integrity Media since 2002...
released the album
Tell Me What You Know on November 6, 2007.
Tell Me What You Know held the #1 sales spot for Christian music on iTunes for one week and landed at #2 for iTunes album of the year. Sara produced her father's, Dwight Colbaugh, first album titled
Beautiful Story. Groves ended 2007 in the lineup with
Andrew PetersonAndrew Peterson is an American singer-songwriter of Christian folk music and author. He lives in Nashville, Tennessee with his wife Jamie, sons Aedan and Asher, and daughter Skye.Peterson is a founding member of the Square Peg Alliance...
on his
Behold the Lamb of God Tour in November and December 2007.
In 2008, Groves toured throughout the year to promote her new album
Tell Me What You Know and to benefit several Christian ministries. Sara and Troy Groves teamed up with
Charlie PeacockCharlie Peacock is an American singer-songwriter, pianist, record producer, session musician, author, and advocate for social justice. He is often noted as a unique musical and lyrical voice, intelligent, innovative, and difficult to categorize...
,
Derek WebbDerek Walsh Webb is a Christian American singer-songwriter who first entered the music industry as a member of the band Caedmon's Call, and later embarked on a successful solo career...
,
Sandra McCrackenSandra McCracken is an independent singer-songwriter. She currently resides in Nashville, Tennessee with her husband and fellow singer-songwriter Derek Webb.- Background :...
and
Brandon HeathBrandon Heath is a contemporary Christian musician from Nashville, Tennessee. He has released two studio albums: Don't Get Comfortable and What If We . He is best known for the number one hits "I'm Not Who I Was" and "Give Me Your Eyes". He was nominated four times at the Dove Awards of 2008 and...
in September and October 2008 for the
Art*Music*Justice Tour to benefit both the
International Justice MissionInternational Justice Mission is a U.S.-based Christian non-profit human rights organization that operates in countries all over the world to rescue victims of individual human rights abuse, working to combat human trafficking, forced labor slavery, illegal detention, unprosecuted rape, police...
and
Food For the HungryFood for the Hungry is an international relief and development organization working in more than 26 countries around the world. Food for the Hungry was founded in 1971 by Dr. Larry Ward...
. Sara released her first Christmas album,
O Holy Night, in October 2008. The album contains both Christmas standards and newly written material. Groves was in the linup in December 2008 of the
Love Came Down Tour: A Christmas Pageant with
Jars of ClayJars of Clay is a Grammy Award winning Christian rock band from Franklin, Tennessee. They met at Greenville College in Greenville, Illinois....
,
Sixpence None the RicherSixpence None the Richer is an American rock/pop band that formed in New Braunfels, Texas, eventually settling in Nashville, Tennessee. They are best known for their song "Kiss Me", and their covers of "Don't Dream It's Over" and "There She Goes". The name of the band is inspired by a passage from...
and
LeelandLeeland is an American Christian rock band from Baytown, Texas. The band was formed in 2004, although lead singer Leeland Mooring had been writing songs beforehand. Leeland is composed of Leeland Mooring , Jack Mooring , Matt Campbell , Jake Holtz and Mike Smith...
. She ended 2008 with a free concert at the United States Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in
Springfield, MissouriSpringfield is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It is the county seat of Greene County. On July 1, 2008, the estimated population was 156,206. The Springfield Metropolitan Area, population 426,144, is ranked 114th in the U.S., includes the counties of Christian, Dallas,...
. The USMCFP is the same prison that Sara's grandparents, Lloyd and Nita Colbaugh, have visited for 39 years and to which they took her as a baby at Christmas-time 1972. Sara said later about this concert, "More than anything I wanted to say something of encouragement, something to remind these men that they are the art of God, especially in this place. Like always, I left encouraged myself."
Groves' ninth album, "Fireflies & Songs", will be released on November 17, 2009.
Albums
| Year |
Album |
Chart |
Number |
| 1998 |
Past the Wishing |
|
|
| 1999 |
Conversations |
|
|
| 2001 |
Top Contemporary Christian |
35 |
| 2002 |
All Right Here |
Heatseekers |
18 |
| 2004 |
The Other Side of Something |
Top Christian Albums |
29 |
| 2005 |
Station Wagon: Songs for Parents |
|
|
| Add to the Beauty Add to the Beauty, a contemporary Christian album, is the fifth album by Sara Groves. It was released in the United States on October 4, 2005 by Sony BMG.-Track listing:#"When It Was Over"#"Just Showed Up For My Own Life"#"You Are The Sun"...
|
Top Christian Albums |
19 |
| Top Heatseekers |
28 |
| 2007 |
Tell Me What You Know |
|
|
| 2008 |
O Holy Night |
|
|
Publications
- Essay in The Art of Being, 2004 original essays and stories from a diverse list of contributors (compiled and edited by Constance Rhodes)
External links