Having just returned from a successful two-month tour in the USA, Cornwall-based singer-songwriter Sarah McQuaid is gearing up for a short “warm-up” UK tour starting on 16th January, and she’s already at work on her new album. “My new studio is nearly finished,” she says. “When I first got home from the US tour we had to get the builders to sort out a few places where water was still coming through the tanking — but they’ve done that now, so it’s just a question of getting the walls and floor sealed and decorated in order for us to be able to start tracking the new album over the Christmas break!” You can see McQuaid performing a cover of Radiohead’s ‘Fake Plastic Trees’ from the garage /building site below.
McQuaid continues: “In the meantime, I’ve got a bunch of half-written songs that I’m in the process of completing. Some of them are words needing music, others are little recordings I’ve made of guitar parts that might become either songs or instrumentals. As I finish more new tracks, I’ll be adding them to the set lists for my 2026 tours, and I’m really excited about that — it was so good to be able to try out the new songs I’ve already written on audiences during the autumn UK and US tours!”
In addition to the January-February UK outing, her tour plans for 2026 include a six-week EU tour in February and March, taking in Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark, followed by a longer UK tour that starts in April and doesn’t finish until early June. And somewhere in the middle of all that, she’ll be putting the finishing touches on the aforementioned new album.
“I’m confident that once the new studio is up and running, I’ll be able to really ramp up my recorded output,” she says. “I’m already looking beyond the new album to what comes next … maybe some shorter themed EPs exploring different aspects of what I do”.
McQuaid’s January-February concert dates are listed below and tickets can be obtained via this link.
Sarah McQuaid 2026 Tour Dates:
Jan 16 – Penzance. The Acorn
Jan 17 – Bodmin, Intobodmin @The Old Library
Jan 18 – Totton, Hanger Farm
Jan 21 – Eastbourne, The Lamb Folk Club
Jan 22 – Bridport, Shipton Gorge Village Hall (Artsreach)
Jan 23 – Stony Stratford, The Song Loft @York House Centre (Stony Words)
Jan 24 – Swanage, Studland Village Hall (Artsreach)
Jan 25 – Blandford, Milborne St Andrew Village Hall (Artsreach)
Jan 28 – Hertford, Backroads House Concerts
Jan 30 – Rugby Library & Information Centre
Jan 31 – Bishops Castle Town Hall
Feb 1 – Knutsford Little Theatre
Feb 3 – Tewkesbury, The Roses Theatre
Feb 4 – Topsham, The Bridge Inn
