MEET SHARIS
Sharis Swartley is a singer, songwriter, speaker, storyteller, teacher, and expression guide whose work brings together original music, meaningful stories, live performance, and creative connection.
For more than 30 years, Sharis has written and performed music rooted in real life—songs of freedom, love, nature, remembrance, resilience, and the search for connection.
Accompanying herself on acoustic guitar, she brings soulful vocals, rhythmic energy, and a sound shaped by folk, Americana, blues, country, rock, and bluegrass.
Sharis performs as a solo artist and in a range of musical collaborations. She is a co-founder of Raising River Band, a Bluegrass/Americana group featuring original music, close harmonies, and acoustic instrumentation. She also performs with Huckleberry Holler, a Folk-Americana trio known for dynamic harmonies, storytelling, and entertaining material.
Her musical journey has taken her through California, Hawaii, Colorado, New Jersey, and the greater Philadelphia region. Along the way, she has performed in folk, rock, blues, country, bluegrass, and Americana projects—including the all-female bands Wild Reverence, Kashmir, and The Genies—and has released multiple collections of original music.
Beyond the stage, Sharis has spent more than two decades teaching music, choir, theater, guitar, and creative expression. Her work as a performer and educator now also includes speaking, songwriting and creative coaching, Remembered in Song tribute projects, and Stage Freedom—her music-led approach to voice, creative freedom, performance skills, stage presence, and authentic expression.
Whether she is performing a solo set, sharing a story through song, leading a workshop, or appearing with one of her bands, Sharis creates experiences that are heartfelt, welcoming, and alive with connection.
Current Musical Projects
Sharis performs in several musical settings, from intimate solo performances to harmony-rich Americana and bluegrass ensembles.
SHARIS SWARTLEY — SOLO
Acoustic originals, meaningful covers, soulful vocals, and rhythmic guitar for heartfelt live performance for venues, private events, ceremonies, and special gatherings.
RAISING RIVER BAND
A Bluegrass/Americana full band blending original songs, close harmonies, guitar, banjo, mandolin, dobro, pedal steel guitar, bass, harmonica, and acoustic roots instrumentation with an energetic, festival-ready live sound.
HUCKLEBERRY HOLLER
Folk-Americana trio blending dynamic harmonies, storytelling, original songs, and entertaining acoustic roots music.
SPEAKING & STORY PROGRAMS
Music-and-story-centered programs for libraries, women’s groups, conferences, community events, house concerts, retreats, and meaningful gatherings.
Musical Roots
Sharis’s musical life has always been collaborative and wide-ranging. Over the years, she has also performed in songwriter circles, harmony-driven ensembles, blues and rock groups, country projects, and Americana collaborations—experiences that continue to shape the range, warmth, and storytelling in her music today.
Sharis’s musical path has moved through rock, folk, blues, country, bluegrass, and Americana projects in California, Hawaii, New Jersey, Coloado, West Virginia and beyond.
Her earlier work included the all-female folk-rock band Wild Reverence and the all-female classic-rock band Kashmir, both formed with longtime collaborator Rebecca Copeland. These years of collaboration, songwriting, harmony, and live performance continue to shape the warmth and range of her music today.
Sharis Swartley & Rebecca Copeland
TARA
Sharis Swartley and Rebecca Copeland first began singing together as teenagers in Santa Cruz, California. Their musical connection has continued through decades of friendship, songwriting, harmony, performance, and shared creative projects in California, Hawaii, and beyond.
Both are distinctive songwriters and vocalists in their own right. Together, their voices create a rich, intuitive blend shaped by close harmonies, emotional storytelling, acoustic roots music, and a lifelong musical trust.
Over the years, Sharis and Rebecca have performed as a duo and collaborated through projects including Wild Reverence, Kashmir, and other shared musical adventures. Their work moves naturally through folk, Americana, rock, blues, original songs, and meaningful covers—always grounded in warmth, connection, and the magic of two voices that have grown together over time.
Wild Reverence
Wild Reverence was an all-female folk-rock project formed in California with longtime musical collaborators Rebecca Copeland and K Mello. Blending original songs, close harmonies, acoustic textures, and a spirit of creative freedom, the group helped shape Sharis’s early artistic voice.
The project reflected the roots of Sharis’s lifelong love of blending women’s voices, meaningful songwriting, collaboration, and music that carries both strength and heart.