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Sarah Jane Nelson was born in Little Rock, Arkansas and raised in Monroe, Louisiana. Her eclectic, early musical influences in country, jazz, blues, musical theater, rock, and gospel had one thing in common: storytelling through song. Ella Fitzgerald, Dolly Parton, Billie Holiday, Eva Cassidy, Carole King and Aretha Franklin all connected to the emotion of a song in a way that made Sarah Jane want to tell stories like her idols.Nelson got her start in musical theater as she headed to NYC at age 17. In a few years, she starred on Broadway and in the 1st National Tour of the Tony Award winning musical, SWING! and critics took notice.

“The show's knock-'em-dead singer is Sarah Jane Nelson, a sultry blonde who can zero in on the ache in a lyric.” - The Miami Herald

“Sultry Jazz Goddess” - RAVE LA

“First Rate Singer” - Hollywood Reporter

“Nelson is sexy, funny, sweet, sultry, and intense all at the same time – a real tomato, as they used to say in the hip vernacular of the era when this music was first popular.” - LA New Times
After her career in theater, film, and television in LA and NYC, Nelson moved to Nashville and pivoted into songwriting and recording country and Americana music. In 2022 she released her 6th studio album and has been featured in American Songwriter, Wide Open Country, Americana Highways, and Country Music People in the UK, to name a few. She won Merefest’s Chris Austin Songwriting Competition, was a finalist for the International Song Competition, and is a two time finalist for the Kerrville Folk Festival Competition for Emerging Songwriters.

Nelson’s show at Rudy’s Jazz Room will harken back to her New York City Cabaret shows with an eclectic mix of jazz, blues, gospel, and original songs.