Long Island-based indie folk artist, Sarah Gross spent the past several months booking her own shows and learning about herself as an artist on her spring/summer east coast tour. These lessons now lead her to her next stage in life as she sets out for Nashville this fall.
Gross’ unofficial farewell tour through New York and beyond is an emotional goodbye to the places that shaped her into the artist she is today, she explained. The tour so far included locations ranging from several concerts on Long Island, where she grew up, to an intimate show in Syracuse where she found her passion for performing.
Leaving her hometown on Long Island, Gross studied audio engineering at Syracuse University where she expected to go on and spend her life behind a recording deck, helping other artist achieve theri dreams. While at SU, she caught the “performing bug” and realized she had artistic dreams of her own.
As a student, Gross said she found a community in the university’s prevalent house show scene, run completely by students from management to performance. She brought her experience of playing local bars at home and started performing at dirty basements and backyards with fellow students.
“The people I met going there are still out in the music industry,” Gross said. “Now we’re all playing real venues with real hardwood floors.”
Following her graduation in 2022, Gross returned home to Long Island with ambitions to make a name for herself. Booking shows at farmers markets and small venues in cities, Gross said she wanted to build her fan base while she geared up to release her 2023 album The Killjoy, known for songs like “State I’m In” and “Naturally.”
Since March, Gross has toured up and down the Northeast supporting her newest EP The Library and soon it’s alternative release The Library: In The Margins, out Aug. 15.
Gross said this tour, her biggest one yet, served as a learning experience. “So much of touring is what happens offstage. Playing the music is the easy part,” Gross said. Without a touring manager, Gross independently arranged a five month long tour, booked places to stay and made sure she and her bandmates had enough time between shows to recover on the road.
From an upscale restaurant overlooking the ocean to a tattoo parlor show shut down early by the cops, Gross said this tour helped her develop a flexible mindset for the unexpected whiplash of traveling to vastly different cities and venues.
Now, Gross celebrates her next milestone with a “graduation” from the New York scene. Following her summer tour, Gross said she plans to move to Nashville, a city she grew fond of while recording her newest album, expected to drop in spring 2026. After nearly a decade touring in the Northeast and living on Long Island, Gross explained she was ready for a switch from the hustle of “making it” in NYC to the collaborative nature of Nashville’s music scene.
With New York rooted deep in who she is, Gross said she will always find her way back. Gross will continue her tour through October with New York shows in Kingston, Troy and Patchogue.
“I think it’s going to be a very emotionally charged run of shows. Every place that I’m playing has some sort of sentimental value,” Gross said. “New York will always be home for me.”
To explore more on Sarah Gross, click here. To see the current tour dates, see below.
Sarah Gross Summer 2025 Tour
Aug. 8 — Riverhead Ciderhouse — Riverhead, NY
Aug. 10 — Wine Barn — Center Moriches, NY
Aug. 14 — Hotel Indigo — Riverhead, NY
Aug. 15 — Mauch Chunk Opera House — Jim Thorpe, PA
Aug. 16 — People’s Pub — Bayport, NY
Aug. 17 — Seven Beach Lane — West Hampton, NY
Aug. 22 — Touch of Venice — Cutchogue, NY
Aug. 23 — Johnny Brenda’s — Philadelphia, PA
Aug. 25 — Wonderbar — Ashbury Park, NJ
Aug. 28 — Goody Two Shoes — Bayshore, NY
Aug. 29 — Moriches Field Brewing Co. — Center Moriches, NY
Aug. 30 — Bradstock Music Festival — Center Moriches, NY
Sept. 6 — Good Things Are Happening Fast Festival — Scranton, PA
Sept. 13 — Patchogue, NY
Sept. 18 — Spruce Street Harbor Park — Philadelphia, PA*
Sept. 20 — Kingston, NY*
Sept. 21 — Troy, NY*
Sept. 22 — Burlington, VT*
Sept. 24 — New Haven, CT*
Sept. 25 — Hagerstown, MD*
Sept. 27 — Raleigh, NC*
* Opening for Shallow Alcove
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