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6–10: AC Sapphire
Sounds like: A ’60s Greenwich Village artist traveled through time, gathering a hard outer shell along the way.
When asked how she would describe her sound, AC Sapphire doesn’t mince words: “This has been the dreaded question,” Sapphire admits. “I’ve come up with ‘ethereal folk Americana with teeth.’ I feel like there’s an edginess to my stuff, or maybe that’s just wishful thinking,” she adds with a laugh.
It’s not. At times, she’s reminiscent of Karen Dalton, an artist known for delivering world-weary, honeyed vocals. At other times, one hears Sharon Van Etten, with more driving accompaniment and fuzzy guitar. And those teeth she mentioned aren’t just bringing a bite to her sound. Wherever she goes, Sapphire seems to sink them into causes she cares about—just like the folk artists of decades past.
Even though she calls Portland home, she was reached by phone in Asheville, N.C., where she’s currently recording her fourth release, an EP titled Heavy Flowers, under the Sapphire moniker. In between recording sessions (fully funded as part of her grand prize package as the 2022 winner of the NewSong Music Performance & Songwriting Competition), she’s played showcases to benefit disaster recovery after Hurricane Helene. In March, she was in her native Philadelphia, playing a benefit show to raise money to open a bookstore and community space in upstate New York owned by Black trans historian Awa-Moon Barnett. Locally, Sapphire organized a benefit showcase for the Immigrant & Refugee Community Organization and says she’s eager to do more when she gets back to town this summer (her next Portland show is July 2 at The Lollipop Shoppe).
“I really love hosting benefit shows,” she says. “It’s a way that’s accessible for me to gather people, help raise money, and also raise awareness.” Sometimes, the sharpest tool is a song (with teeth).