HOUSTON – For many artists, music is a form of self-expression. This is especially true for musician, songwriter and multidisciplinary artist Sara Van Buskirk.
As a queer church kid, Van Buskirkgrew up with minimal resources to navigate their identity and often felt the need to hide to survive. But through music, they found their voice.
“There’s such internalized, so much repression that goes into telling who you are. It just doesn’t belong, and there’s no representation. And so you kind of go into hiding,” Van Buskirk said.
“If I’m not singing, I don’t really feel like I’m breathing,” they added.
That connection to music began early. Van Buskirk’s father died when they were just 6 months old, leaving behind a guitar that would become a defining part of their life. At age 8, Van Buskirk picked up that guitar, determined to teach themself to play.
Raised in Alief, Texas, by a single mother, Van Buskirk didn’t have a traditional upbringing or formal musical education. But what they did have was unconditional love and unwavering encouragement. Their mother fostered Van Buskirk’s natural talents, even going so far as to dumpster dive to find their first guitar.
That dedication paid off. Over the years, Van Buskirk’s raw, dynamic voice and genre-blending style — shaped by influences like Nina Simone, Bonnie Raitt, Joni Mitchell and Emmylou Harris — have drawn comparisons to Janis Joplin and Bonnie Raitt.
Their career has taken them to stages at SXSW, Free Press Summer Fest, the Bayou City Arts Festival, the iconic Anderson Fair and more. But one connection helped open even more doors: meeting Kam Franklin of The Suffers.
Van Buskirk co-wrote Franklin’s upcoming solo album, and Franklin encouraged them to pick up the electric guitar. Through that collaboration, Van Buskirk met and recorded with their hero, 14-time Grammy Award-winning country legend Emmylou Harris — a moment they describe as a dream come true.
Now, Van Buskirk is working on their second full-length album since their 2010 debut, “The Place Where You Are.” The self-titled project is fully self-funded, but they’re seeking community support to help with mixing, mastering, vinyl pressing and promotion.
If you’d like to contribute, visit Sara Van Buskirk’s website for details on how to get involved.
Before the album’s release, fans can catch them live this weekend. Van Buskirk will perform Saturday, Aug. 16, at 9:30 p.m. at McGonigel’s Mucky Duck in Houston’s Greenway/Upper Kirby area. Virtual tickets are also available for $30 plus fees, with the show livestreamed on YouTube. Tickets are available at mcgonigels.com/shows/sarah-van-buskirk.
For Van Buskirk, the performance is another opportunity to connect, share their story and remind audiences that music isn’t just their passion — it’s their oxygen.
Watch Van Buskirk’s complete interview in the video above, along with a performance from their latest album.