Tuesday, March 5, 2019

Sara Romweber, Rest in Peace


What can I say? In 1984 I was smitten with Sara Romweber.

Don't recognize the name? No problem. She was never a rock star or alternative music iconoclast. She wasn't a swimsuit model or a good looking talking head on the television. Not an actress.

She was a drummer. Not a Bill Bruford or a Neal Peart technique show-off. Not the next Ringo Starr, pioneering a brand new beat. Maybe not even the guy at the local music store who teaches high school kids how to hold the sticks properly and such. But a good, solid drummer. Good enough to find herself behind a trap set in Mitch Easter's Drive-In studio, recording the debut EP for his band Let's Active, Afoot. Her style and talent were on full display on that records 6 tracks, especially "Make Up With Me" and "Every Word Means No".

When Easter produced R.E.M.s legendary Murmur album he became the darling of that band's fans and consequently Let's Active gained a lot of exposure. Sara, as a female drummer, was already a rarity in pop/rock music. As the original drummer of Let's Active she added a distinct dimension, not only musically but in the energy she brought as well as her distinctive look, a shuffling, frazzle-haired pixie. If you were into that whole early 80s Chapel Hill, NC/Athens, GA music scene you were probably even more smitten with Sara Romweber than I was.


Romweber left Let's Active after recording the Cypress LP and hooked up with another trio, Snatches of Pink. SoP was a raucous affair whose debut Send in the Clowns was bursting with rockabilly energy and Keith Richards swagger. Her second album with the band, Dead Men, found the group even more focused, if every bit as gloriously sloppy as their first. Sara left them as well, allowing Michael Rank the opportunity to take the creative reigns, driving Snatches of Pink through at least a couple more albums.

Sara Romweber sort of disappeared from whatever scenes she was in that I'd followed. I know there was a Let's Active reunion show planned but only because I was googling for info on her passing. Apparently she always remained a fixture with the Chapel Hill lot. She'd played several shows with her legendary brother and was currently half of his artistic outlet, the Dex Romweber Duo.

A brain tumor took Sara Romweber away from us at the ridiculously young age of 55. Though her role in the musical universe was small she will be fondly remembered by many. Rest in peace, Ms. Romweber.