Ac Sapphire - Dec. 32nd (2024)

The road is a wild place where a restless traveler can find refuge, inspiration and the companionship of strangers. Even with our interconnected lives and instant access to every product and service, for many there is no greater thrill than setting out on a journey of the unpredictable. Portland folk artist Ac Sapphire knows this well from a life spent moving, feeling and drinking in life on the road.

“I am constantly collecting moments and thinking about them in the context of songwriting,” Sapphire tells WW. “I love to travel and observe life as a traveler.”

Sapphire, whose real name is Annachristie Sadler, chose her current stage name as a tribute to her sisters, with whom she formed her first group, the Sapphire Sisters, when she was only 6. Visualizing a bunch of 6-year-olds in a band seems silly, but the creative spark led her to a life of music that has now stretched well over a decade.

That journey inspired her new album, Dec. 32nd. Hiding within this collection of dreamy indie folk songs that carry seemingly mundane titles like “Weed Money,” “Highway Hum” and “Check Engine Light” are vivid, often personal lyrics that capture the spirit of an artist who has rambled from the desert to the forests and just about everywhere in between.

Approaching songs almost like a novelist or a Beat poet, Sapphire weaves in friends, vagabonds and poignant observations on life throughout the album. Even the name was inspired by friends both living and passed.