Raised in Eastern
Pennsylvania, Sapphire performed from an early age and debuted with the self-released album Elixir for the Human Heart (2005). She formed the group
Sisters 3 with her siblings Beatrice and Cassandra Sadler, which released two albums and found success in the
Philadelphia music scene. After Sisters3 dissolved, Sapphire moved to the
Mojave Desert and reestablished her solo career with the EP Sibling Rivalry (2015). She then relocated to Portland, where she released another EP, Omni Present (2020), and her long-delayed second album, Desert Car (2022).
Performing live by age 17,[7][10] Sapphire (under the name Anna Christie) self-released her debut album, Elixir for the Human Heart, in January 2005; the album was produced by
bluegrass musician Bob Harris and featured Travis Wetzel on violin,
Richie Cole on
alto saxophone, and Sapphire's sisters Beatrice and Cassandra Sadler singing
harmonies.[8][11] In 2011, she appeared solo with
The Loom at Danger Danger Gallery, alongside
Christopher Paul Stelling, Psalmships, and Former Belle.[12]
Move to California and Sibling Rivalry (2013–2020)
Amid the dissolution of Sisters 3, Sapphire launched the short-lived solo project Murchant in 2013, under which she toured locally, filmed a video of her
busking at a
G Line subway stop in
Williamsburg, New York, and re-released several songs from Coruscate as well as a demo entitled "The Man", intended for an
EP that did not materialize.[17][18][19] Eventually, Sapphire left Pennsylvania in 2014 and traveled the country before settling in
Joshua Tree, California, located in the
Mojave Desert, having previously visited the town while working concessions for
Coachella.[20][21][22][7][23] She would spend five years living and
meditating in the region, which influenced the direction of her music.[4] A new EP, Sibling Rivalry, was self-released on March 12, 2015, promoted by the singles "Thunderbird" and the title track, the latter of which received a music video.
In January 2018, Sapphire released the single "Cut The Line", intended as the lead single for the upcoming album Desert Car.[24] The song's music video premiered on May 9 via Folk Radio UK, who wrote of Sapphire "Her compelling songwriting style lends itself to an emotionally evocative experience for her listeners time and time again."[25] Another single, "Bonsai", recorded with producer Tim Sonnefeld (
Wanderlust,
Iva), was released on November 9,[23][26] followed by a music video in January 2019.[27] The following December, Sapphire returned to Philadelphia for a show at Kung Fu Necktie with Barney Cortez and
Pat Finnerty.[28]
Omni Present and Desert Car (2020–present)
Sapphire moved again, this time to
Portland, Oregon, where she recorded with
Kyle Craft and volunteered as a vocal coach at the
Rock and Roll Camp for Girls.[10] In January 2020 she released the single "Mini Tour" via Audiofemme, simultaneously announcing a new EP entitled Omni Present and now officially billed as AC Sapphire.[4][7] She also announced plans to tour in 2020, beginning with a March 12 show at
Pappy & Harriet's in
Pioneertown;[4] the tour was to feature Lauren Ruth Ward and Valley Queen on select dates and would raise money for Rock and Roll Camp for Girls.[20][3][10] On February 18, Sapphire released another single, "Desert Stars", with an accompanying music video.[29][3][30]Refinery29 included the song in their list of "New Music To Know This Week", describing it as "a mystical vocal ride through a place of great danger and allure".[31]Omni Present released on February 28 and premiered four days early via PopMatters, who wrote that the EP "never disappoints in its musical or emotional range."[10]
In early March, Sapphire revealed that the previously announced album Desert Car was slated for release on May 8.[20] The album's title track, written and produced with Tim Sonnefeld and featuring
Victoria Williams on backing vocals, was simultaneously released as a single via American Songwriter.[20][32][33][34] However, due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, the album was delayed, being tentatively rescheduled for a summer release, and the planned tour was cancelled along with an album release show.[35][36] Over the next two months, Sapphire released the singles "Stick & Poke Tattoo" and "Bag of Bones", as well as a music video for the latter edited from homemade footage,[36][37][38] and streamed a virtual concert entitled "Quarantine Songs From My Bedroom" via Facebook.[39] In June, to coincide with the
George Floyd protests, Sapphire released the
protest single "Police Brutality", originally written about the
killing of Eric Garner, to
Bandcamp.[40] In December, she premiered the single "Thrift Store Score", featuring Particle Kid, via Glide Magazine.[41]
Sapphire returned to Philadelphia in October to open for Christopher Paul Stelling at
World Cafe Live,[42] and the following month she and
Nick Perri were featured on Sharon Little's cover of
Radiohead's "
High and Dry".[43] In April and May 2022, "Stick & Poke Tattoo" and "Bonsai" were re-released as singles, with the latter receiving a music video,[22][21][35] and Desert Car was finally released on July 16, 2022, via American Standard Time Records.[44] In an interview the same month, Sapphire stated that she had no current touring plans but was looking for a booking agent to help schedule a sustainable tour.[21]
In October,
queercore group
The HIRS Collective announced that their new compilation album, We're Still Here, would release on March 24, 2023, on
Get Better Records, and that Sapphire would be featured on the title track alongside
Shirley Manson of
Garbage.[45][46] Sapphire also said in November that she had formed a new backing band, AC Sapphire & The Shoulderpads, who had won Relix magazine's "Sonic Showdown Contest" and were planning to record a new album the following winter or spring.[9][47] In December, she and fellow musician Kendall Lujan formed the duo Caliko and played their first show together at Portland's
Mississippi Studios the following February.[48][49][50] She was announced to perform both solo and with Caliko at the 2023
Treefort Music Fest in
Boise,
Idaho.[51]
Sapphire's solo music was shaped by her move to the
Mojave Desert and developed a more ethereal quality.[4][29] On her 2020 EP Omni Present, opener "Red Sands" "marries the vast expanses of Neko Case with the stomping fire of early
Velvet Underground",[10] "Mini Tour" features a
lo-fi sound reminiscent of
Liz Phair and the
Violent Femmes that "brings to mind an
Astro van full of guitars heading full speed across the sand",[4][10] and "Pictures of Yourself" and "Thirsty Willow" emphasize a rock sound.[10]Desert Car, meanwhile, exhibits a California-inflected blend of pop, folk, and Americana, among other genres and influences.[20][44] "Cut The Line" pairs the melancholy 1990s sound of Jeff Buckley and
Smashing Pumpkins with a brighter chorus derived from 1950s
doo-wop, creating a nostalgic sound that evokes
The Shangri-Las,
Spanish music, and the films of
David Lynch.[24][25][44][56] "Bonsai" features near-operatic vocals, rhythmic
picking, atmospheric
drones, and growling electric guitars;[44][35] Sapphire created the song's echoing sound on a vintage
Sunnspring reverbmixer and intended the melody to evoke
whale calls.[23][26] Other album tracks draw from 1960s girl groups ("Stick & Poke Tattoo"), classical ("Can You Feel What I Feel"), country ("35mm Camera"), and '70s punk/
new wave a la
Television,
Blondie,
Patti Smith, and
Joan Jett ("Bag of Bones", "Thrift Store Score").[44]
Lyrically, Sapphire's songs are often autobiographical, drawn from her experiences and
nomadic lifestyle and often dealing with relationships and
nostalgia. "Mini Tour" describes her first tour with Sisters3 and a breakup she experienced during it,[4][7] while "Desert Stars" was written about a deceased friend.[29][3][7]Desert Car and its title track were inspired by Sapphire's move to Joshua Tree, during which her car broke down in the desert and she purchased a 1992
Buick Roadmasterstation wagon via
Craigslist, which she saw as "marking a transformative time" in her life.[20][21] "Stick & Poke Tattoo" is a love song based on Sapphire's brief affair with a
blacksmith in Ireland who gave her the titular tattoo,[21][7] while "Thrift Store Score" reflects her love of
thrift shopping[41][7] and "Bag of Bones" describes her life of travel.[57] "Bonsai", inspired by a dream Sapphire had about "meeting different
muses in the desert that were helping me get married to myself",[27][35][21] uses this imagery to express a desire for real love in the face of a failed relationship.[27][23][26]
Personal life
Sapphire practiced
meditation while living in the
Mojave Desert,[4] a practice that her song "Mini Tour" makes lyrical reference to. In April 2020, she noted while discussing the
MeToo movement that "these topics are pertinent [to] issues in my life that I have been untangling for the past few years" and that her "eyes have been opening to a Reality that I have been trying to ignore my whole life" in light of the movement.[58]
During a
pandemic-induced break from touring in 2020, Sapphire obtained a long-delayed
high school diploma and enrolled at
Portland Community College to study filmmaking. She used this experience to direct her "Stick & Poke Tattoo" music video, and expressed a desire in 2022 to direct videos for other artists.[59][21]
Sapphire performed at a May 2017
rally on behalf of the Mojave Desert
Land Trust,[74] and in June 2019 she joined a benefit concert for the Immigration and Refugee Community Organization.[65][66] During the
Supreme Court nomination of
Brett Kavanaugh in September 2018, Sapphire spoke up about
rape culture, condemning Kavanaugh and supporting his accuser Dr.
Christine Blasey Ford.[61] In December 2018, Sapphire echoed fellow musician Chris Kasper's suggestion that streaming services like
Spotify should introduce a virtual
tip jar for artists, similar to what
Uber and
Lyft had done for their drivers.[75] In February 2021, proceeds from her single "Thrift Store Score" were donated to the
Prison Reform Initiative and the
Water Protectors Legal Collective.[41][76]
In September 2022, Sapphire voiced support for the
Mahsa Amini protests in
Iran, announcing that proceeds from a recent recording by her band would be donated to the non-profit
United4Iran.[77]
Discography
Solo
Studio album
Elixir for the Human Heart (as Anna Christie) (2005; Lothworth)
^"Desert Car Album, by Ac Sapphire". Bandcamp. Retrieved January 26, 2023. Special thanks to Victoria Williams for her studio and my mother and father Dennis and Cindy