The continuing education of Sarah Jarosz

The talented folk/newgrass artist plays Eddie’s Attic Tuesday night

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Sarah Jarosz. $20. 8 p.m. Tues., Jan 10. Eddie’s Attic, 515-B North McDonough St. 404-377-4976. www.eddiesattic.com

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Growing up, you’re told that extracurriculars are the key to a well-rounded education. So you pick your poison: run track and work on the yearbook in high school, write for the campus paper in college. Sarah Jarosz’s choices? Tour the country and release records. It makes sense for Jarosz, 20 years old and in her third year of studies at Boston’s New England Conservatory of Music, and it helps that she’s quite good at both. Seven months removed from the release of her sophomore folk/newgrass album, Follow Me Down, Jarosz seems to be learning more every day — be it in the classroom or on the road.

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I’m sure you’ve had your share of these moments already, but has their been one particular moment that made you certain music was the right path for you?

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Sarah Jarosz: I was always pretty certain that I knew I wanted music to play some role in my life, and I knew it would be a big one. But probably one of the biggest turning points was in 2007, I got invited to play a set at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in Colorado. I had been going to that festival and others for years, so it was a huge deal for me. It was because of that set that I was able to meet Gary Paczosa with Sugar Hill Records, with whom I’ve produced the last two records. Meeting him was a huge turning point in my life, because so much has changed and he’s been such an incredible person and force in my life.

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Do you ever regret going to school, or wonder what might have been if you had just hit the road immediately and focused on your career?