At the final of four Stars Over Wimberley concerts at the Wimberley Playhouse last week, six-time Grammy winner Sarah Jarosz delivered a luminous and unaffectedly personal performance, made especially touching by sharing the stage with her childhood mandolin teacher and mentor, Mike Bond.
Born in Austin and raised in Wimberley, Jarosz took to music early. At ten years of age she began attending weekend campfire jam sessions organized by Mike Bond. Former Wimberley View editor Dalton Sweat remembers, “I remember the campfires. . . Sarah was the kid who hung out with the adults while the rest of us ran around having fun.”
In June 2009, she released her debut album, “Song Up in Her Head,” recorded while she was still in high school. One of the songs on the album, “Mansinneedof,” earned Jarosz her first Grammy nomination for Best Country Instrumental Performance.
Since her debut album, she has been a consistent presence at the Grammy Awards for her songwriting and skills on mandolin, guitar and banjo. To date she has earned six Grammys and more than 15 nominations.
Since 2014, Jarosz has collaborated with Sara Watkins and Aoife (pronounced “effie”) O’Donovan. Their group, “I’m with Her,” released their debut album in 2018. In 2020, the group won a Grammy, followed by three additional Grammys in 2026.
Accompanied by acclaimed bass player and composer Jeff Picker, who became her husband in 2023, Jarosz chose songs from her 2013 “Build Me Up From Bones,” 2016 “Polaroid Lovers,” 2020 “World on the Ground” and 2024 “Undercurrent” albums. She also selected a few of her favorites to share,“Time to Move On” by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and “I Wish it Would Rain,” by Nancy Griffith.
Relaxed and smiling, the pair, who make their home in Nashville, shared their superbly polished musicianship and Jarosz’s poetic prowess to an audience ready to embrace them. Between numbers, Picker charmed the crowd with well-timed bons mots that kept the house laughing and contributed to the evening’s intimate atmosphere. After singing “When the Lights Go Out” from “Polaroid Lovers,” Jarosz told listeners, “It’s so nice to play in this intimate setting and perform these songs the way they were written. We usually perform with a full band and enough sound to fill a football stadium.”
By way of introducing her song, “The Way it is Now,” Jarosz observed the degree to which the world is caught up with their phones “and the dark narrative,” she said, only to find Picker staring at his phone. His miming drew appreciative laughs from the audience as she began to sing, “This is the way it is now. Even with the darkness nippin' at my heels, the goodness is still dancin' me around.”
Opening the show was “Mike Bond and Friends,” a quartet of accomplished, long-time Wimberley musicians, with Mike Bond on mandolin and guitar, daughter Annie Bond on vocals, Mark Fowler on fiddle and Tim Wilson on mandolin. Annie Bond sang in a beautiful alto voice Roy Orbison and Joe Melson’s “Blue Bayou” made iconic by Linda Ronstadt’s 1977 cover. It was followed by “Mohair Sam,” “Don’t You Think I Feel it Too?” “Wild Rose of the Mountain” and Bond’s wonderful tongue twister, “Wayward Willoughby.”
To cap the evening, Bond joined Jarosz and Pickers on stage to perform with his famous prótegé. Their reunion was palpably joyful as they launched into several numbers, made full by Picker, Wilson and Fowler. At the end of it, Bond was heard to say on stage, “I sure love this girl. I’m a happy old man right now.”
After her performances, Jarosz told the Wimberley View, “It was a true delight to get to return home to Wimberley and perform four sold-out shows at the Playhouse. What made it extra special and full circle was having “Mike Bond and Friends” open the shows. Mike welcomed me into the Wimberley Bluegrass jam with open arms when I was barely ten years old (circa 2001) so it was especially meaningful to have him sit in with me all these years later. We played “Where the Soul of Man Never Dies” and “Buck’s Run” which were two tunes we used to regularly play at the jam. It’s a memory I’ll carry with me for years to come.”
Parents Gary and Mary Jarosz, who attended all four performances said, "It's always a joy to have Sarah and her husband, Jeff Picker, back in town to perform in the place where her musical journey began. It was extra special to have Wimberley’s own, “Mike Bond and Friends,” open all four shows for Sarah and Jeff.”
“Sarah would not be the person she has become without the loving support of this amazing community, friends, and all of her teachers, and music teacher at St. Stephen’s Episcopal School, and Wimberley High School over the years. We’d like to give a shoutout and big thank you to Denise Renter and all the good folks who dedicate themselves to Making “Stars Over Wimberley” such an amazing gift to our town.”
Following a lengthy standing ovation and double encore, Jarosz and Picker left the stage. In a word, the performance was a triumph, made richer over time, distance and circumstance, but no less complete, of beloved connections for this acclaimed hometown musician.
