KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / WEDNESDAY, JULY 21, 2010 / NEWS
15
LAWRENCE
Hometown country singer returns
BY HANNAH JENNISON
hjennison@kansan.com
Country singer Sarah Buxton is taking a break from her summer tour to stop by her hometown of Lawrence.
Thirty-year-old Buxton, who's song "Outside My Window" reached No. 27 on the Billboard Hot Country charts, will perform Thursday at a benefit for the Lawrence
Memorial Hospital Endowment Association.
Poetry became a passion of Buxton's when she was a teenager. She said music didn't lead her to writing or vice versa; the two were very much a part of her life.
As a child, Buxton played piano and flute, and sang in the Lawrence Children's Choir. She said she was always interested in the arts and creativity.
"I can't think of a more perfect place to grow up."
"I started writing stories when I was a small child and was always very interested in writing," Buxton said.
"Music had always been an escape
SARAH BUXTON Country singer and Lawrence native
for me and when I decided to marry the two, it was like the hidden secret door to a world where anything was possible," Buxton said.
Buxton once met former
Fleetwood Mac singer Stevie Nicks, who encouraged her to pursue music.
"One of my friends told her that I was a singer," Buxton said. "She asked me if I was good. She told me that if I believe in myself, well then it's that belief that will take me to the top. She said that's how she had felt when she was my age. Her words just validated my dream and made it
more tangible."
After moving to Nashville, Buxton started a southern rock band called Stoik Oak, which toured the region for three years.
John Rich from Big & Rich encouraged Buxton to be a country singer.
"I felt that I didn't have much in common with the female singers on country radio at the time and was unsure whether country listeners wanted to hear my style of music" Buxton said.
She applied herself to a more focused goal, getting a hit on the radio.
Not only did she accomplish her goal, she has recorded and or worked with Jedd Hughes, Martina McBride, Kenny Rogers, Julianne Hough, Dierks Bentley, Little Big Town, Jack Ingram, and other famous artists.
"These people are friends, too. They're great folks. I've been really lucky. Jedd's worked with tons of greats, too. He's been in Keith's
WHO: Country singers Sarah Buxton and Jedd Hughes (Buxton Hughes)
EVENT INFO
WHAT: A benefit concert hosted by the Lawrence Memorial Hospital Endowment Association
WHERE: The Granada
WHEN: Thursday, July 22
starting at 7:00 p.m.
band, Dierks, Patty Loveless, Rodney Crowell," Buxton said.
WHY: All proceeds go to the Lawrence Memorial Hospital Endowment Association
General admission tickets are $25 and VIP tickets are $100
Buxton also co-wrote Keith Urban's 2007 single "Stupid Boy."
For more information on Sarah Buxton and Buxton Hughes, go to www.facebook.com/buxtonhughes
Buxton said she recommended students be tenacious. Her advice was to not give up and to listen to your mentors and people you trust.
"Good things do come to those who wait," she said.
Although Buxton spends most of her time in Nashville and on tour,
she still makes it back to Lawrence four or five times per year.
"I can't think of a more perfect place to grow up. I come home and I see little bits of myself, which I take with me wherever I go. The funkiness of downtown Lawrence, the tradition of Lawrence Lions and KU Jayhawks, the safety of my parents' home," Buxton said. "It's all just who I am and it came from Lawrence."