Together Alone

Sarah Borges is a rock & roll singer who splits the difference between blues and hard country influences, while pairing it with songs that take an unfiltered look at the realities of life for a working woman juggling responsibilities, relationships, and her love of music. Borges is, like many independent musicians, also a road warrior, and the ups and downs of taking the show from town to town inform several songs on 2022s Together Alone. Thats a bit surprising, since the album was written and recorded while the COVID-19 pandemic kept her at home for significantly longer stretches than usual. For Together Alone, Borges cut her guitar and vocal parts in her bedroom (using the closet as a vocal booth) and sent the files to her producer and musical partner Eric "Roscoe" Ambel, who then added his lead guitar and recruited other players to fill in their parts. If Together Alone was pieced together like a jigsaw puzzle, it sure doesnt sound that way. Borges tough, regular-gal vocals are outstanding here, facing lifes peaks and valleys head on and sounding fully in control even when she lets her vulnerability show on "Something to Do" and the title track. The annoyances of isolation provided the inspiration for "Wasting My Time" and if she was just thinking about playing shows instead actually doing it, "Rock and Roll Hour" is a passionate testament to the allure of time on-stage, while "You Got Me on the Boat" is a rowdy celebration of her experiences playing a roots rock theme cruise. (She also celebrates her day job as a delivery driver on "Shes a Trucker" -- her passion for the highway is a good match for rolling the van to the next show.) If the making of Together Alone was largely dictated by what Borges and her collaborators couldnt do at the time, the final product is a superb example of what she can do, and she does it very well here: this is roots rock thats never short on soul or good songs, and Borges sings like she was born for this. ~ Mark Deming