About

Sassafrass is a singing group performing original a cappella folk music, mostly with fantasy, mythology and science fiction themes.  Our pieces are set in close harmony, with a somewhat Renaissance feel, and for women’s voices or mixed.  Our songs usually tell stories, and have a lot of lyrical complexity, often with multiple different lines of lyrics woven together to communicate different characters or aspects of a story.  We perform mainly at science fiction and fantasy conventions, but also at clubs and other venues.

Our recent focus has been our Norse Mythology song cycle Sundown, an ongoing project which we performed with a full cast in 2013 and plan to perform again in 2027.

• Signature Songs (hear complete tracks streaming free online):
  • Somebody Will
  • My Brother, My Enemy
  • Hearthfire
  • Fall
  • Folksong: Final Ride
• Signature Albums:
  • Eclectic II: Prophecies and Lies
  • Firebrand
  • Sundown Project (in production)

Sassafrass is a large group, with many members now spread out across the country.  The core group is Chicago, but we have members in Boston, the DC area, and Minnesota. These days we primarily attend midwest and east coast conventions, but sometimes perform farther abroad, and members travel to perform together when they can.

Sassafrass is part of the filk community, performing sci-fi and fantasy music at fan venues.  We frequently perform at Windycon, Capricon, Scintillation, Boskone, and Balticon.  We usually perform at Worldcon, and have visited many other conventions.