Sarah Faith – Sarah Faith

written words

November 18, 2020 by Sarah Faith

these are some of the exact words i wrote in my journal this morning. i don’t know why i felt so compelled to share them – i guess i thought maybe they could help someone. i hope they do…

i have a hard time delineating between something not serving me and needing to pivot away and choose a new path, especially when things don’t work out. i seem to gravitate toward something taking another course as something being wrong with me and i start thinking that it’s going nowhere. really, if i sit and think about the truth, there’s been at least a hundred times when something didn’t work out and it was for my betterment. a new option that i didn’t consider surfaces and i’m back clear sailing.

the mindset i want to practice is trust.

the mindset i want to practice is peace.

the mindset i want to practice is yes, chasing big things is hard, but there’s a difference between something being hard and something not aligning with your soul. sometimes it’s hard to figure out exactly what the difference between the two things is, but there’s a small voice, an intuition, a gut instinct that’s always had my back that i know i can trust.

♥,
SF

dear self,

October 7, 2020 by Sarah Faith

blog posts.

choose your legacy, meaningful music, mental health, mindset, mindset work, self care, self empowerment, self help, self love, self talk

the first letter to me, from me.

you know, it’s ok to not be ok. we’re all humans and sometimes we just have days when we’re not 100%. you don’t have to beat yourself up about it.

you don’t have to take everyone else’s opinion so seriously. shit, you don’t owe a single second to their opinion if it doesn’t serve you. none of this is really up to them anyway.

maybe it would be fun to try thinking for one whole day that you were a fucking epic creation. maybe it wouldn’t feel like you were being cocky or self-centered. maybe it would feel like you were just actually being yourself for once. beautiful, loud, outlandish, creative, vibrant, a little crazy, full of joy and energy, just the way you were created to be. just a thought.

you’re going to make it. even if you were stranded in the middle of nowhere with nothing left to your name but the shirt on your back and the shoes on your feet, you would figure out how to make it. what are you afraid of?

just because it doesn’t work out just like you think it should, doesn’t mean it’s not working. don’t you think it’s a little small minded to think that you have the master plan anyway? the master plan is controlled by someone much higher than you – no offense. you probably don’t want it to work out the way you planned anyway – there are much greater things in store. things you can’t even imagine. outcomes you never considered.

your dreams and aspirations are far from stupid, far from impossible, far from worthless. whatever visions were put in your head and heart are For you – chase them.

think back to a time when you were So Full of Joy, you could hardly contain yourself. do more of that.

resting isn’t for lazy people. it’s for smart people. running yourself to the ground seems like a great thing to do, until you’re actually in the ground, unable to move, unable to dream, unable to chase because you ran too hard. it’s a marathon; not a sprint.

there are trees, and rivers, and mountains, and sunrises, and sunsets, and oceans, and animals, and canyons, and a thousand other amazingly beautiful things in this earth. the same Creator that made all of that… also made You. don’t sell yourself short. you were made to fly and shine and be. you were made for this. whatever your “this” is…. whatever makes you feel like you’re the best version of yourself. that’s who you were created to be. don’t you dare put yourself in a small box. don’t you dare be afraid to take up all your space in this world. you’re the only you this planet has ever and will ever have.

♥,

SF

yea, but…..

September 18, 2020 by Sarah Faith

blog posts.

americana music, confidence, country music, female musician, meaningful music, music for healing, music with purpose, musician, nashville musician, new music, original music, sarah faith music, songwriter, vulnerability

just saying… i’m trying like hell to cut this phrase out of my vocabulary. the “yea but”s are gonna keep you from doing the things you’re put here to do. i don’t know a single person who has time for that.

i cannot count how many times i’ve been talking to someone and either i’ll suggest something to them that would be TOTALLY AWESOME, or they suggest something to me that would be SUPER AMAZING, and both of us kill the idea with a “yea, but….” a situation comes to mind where a friend of mine just wasn’t pumped with how things were going, and i simply presented the possibility of a change and i got a bunch of “yea, but”s in return. “yea, but i need the money. yea, but i don’t know where to start. yea, but it’s scary. yea, but what if it fails.?”

those are just a few that popped into mind immediately. they came up pretty fast actually because my “yea, but” muscle is a pretty dang strong one. the only thing is… my “let’s do it anyway” muscle is stronger.

i caught myself just this week – i was trying to make a decision and i heard my mind coming up with all of these “yea, but”s – a bunch of BS, fear-filled worries, really. i know that when they’re all rooted in fear, their credibility isn’t that great. so… i’m writing this as a notice that “yea but”s don’t rule my life, and they shouldn’t have a say in yours either!

here’s another example – i’ve been in way too many relationships where “yea, but”s steered me wrong. i should have left long before i did, but i kept thinking, “yea, but what if i’m wrong? yea, but what if he can change? yea, but i’m not perfect either. yea, but just one more chance.” and each and every last one of those statements kept me in a toxic relationship that wasn’t serving me or helping me become my best self. i’m thankful to have learned the lessons, but i’m not gonna keep learning them the hard way, and i’m not gonna keep wasting time on “yea, but”s.

if we only get a certain number of times around the sun, and we don’t have knowledge of what that magic number is, i think we owe it to ourselves not to waste it on “yea, but”s. personally, i’d rather spend time finding out if the fears are legitimate than living paralyzed, never able to learn anything at all. if you choose a direction, you can always change it or pivot it or shift it or whatever. if you choose to do nothing, and are terrified of the fork in the road, well, a stopped car doesn’t usually have much direction or make much progress.

it’s all our choice, though. we get to Choose!! this is all why #ChooseYourLegacy means so much to me – it makes me So So sad to see people stopped dead in their tracks because of all these “yea, but” statements they can’t get off their mind. i’ll boldly state that i am Choosing not to let “yea, but”s rule my life. i would love to know what obstacles you’re facing that need to have their power taken away!

♥,
SF

when people just don’t “get” you

September 9, 2020 by Sarah Faith

blog posts.

meaningful music, musician

i’ve never been the kind to fit in. i’ve never been popular. i’ve never been the girl with the fancy clothes who had all the friends. that’s just never been me. i’ve been a thrift store shopper my entire life because growing up with an addicted single mother means an entirely different financial situation than most kids. and i’ve been made fun of plenty for it too. thrift store kids understand other thrift store kids but a lotta kids never stepped foot in a thrift store (their loss if you ask me…).

those kinds of interactions went something like this:

popular Abercrombie-wearing fellow school kid: i like your shirt, where’d you get it?

me (completely surprised a “popular kid” even knew i existed): oh…. uh… Salvation Army actually! on sale (proud, because saving money was a good thing…. a really, really good thing)

her: ……eew…..

***think Taylor Swift on Jimmy Fallon or Saturday Night Live or whatever kind of “eew.” short. sweet. to the point. horrifyingly embarrassing. nowadays, thrift store shopping is a somewhat “socially acceptable” thing to do – made a little cooler by Macklemore – but let me just take this opportunity to establish myself as an original thrift store and garage sale bargain hunter and price negotiator… formed out of necessity, not out of choice. although now, it’s completely by choice. first Saturday of the month, 50% off at the Goodwill, Who’s Coming With Me?!?!?!

i guess that’s where i got my initial sense of not fitting in. i just plain didn’t, and i still just plain don’t. i was always the girl with the “ew” clothes (until my situation improved dramatically thanks to some serious heroics from my dad). i was the girl with a mess waiting for her at home. i was the girl who usually smelled like smoke. i was ashamed to have friends much less invite them over or have sleepovers like most kids were doing. i was best friends with my younger cousin because at least he understood the dysfunction and i didn’t have to explain anything to him. i tried having a best friend outside of the family once. it got me yelled at because i was so desperate for a normal friendship that i was an extremely clingy friend. i wanted to do everything she wanted to do and i wanted to hang out away from my house all the damn time. i probably annoyed the living shit out of her. my bad. i didn’t mean to. i was just a young girl around the age of 8-12 trying to escape the reality of having to constantly be my own parent because the parent that was supposed to be taking care of me was more worried about consuming alcoholic substances than maintaining any sense of normalcy for me growing up.

this whole not fitting in thing has gotten me made fun of by peers, earned me some pretty good criticism from teachers, professors, and colleagues, as well as been the source of some commentary from coaches i’ll literally never forget due to the fact that the harsh words are burned into my brain as if scarred there by cattle prods.

i played soccer growing up. i had to basically beg, borrow, and steal in order for my mom to sign me up because it was so out of the budget, but i eventually convinced her to let me enroll in a recreational league. no way in hell i could convince her to let me tryout for a travel team. i played rec soccer for about five years, always feeling like i was faster, hustled harder, and was kinda just “better” than majority of the kids i played against. i always wished i could take on the challenge of travel soccer like a bunch of other kids i knew, but that was completely out of the question.

when my dad got custody of me, i was allowed to tryout for a travel team. i made the first team i tried out for, but i was cut the second year. so i tried out for another team and made it. played there for two years before changing teams again due to that organization folding. my third travel team was by far the most i ever felt like i belonged on a team my entire life by both the girls on my team as well as our coach. the only problem was, i was heading into my last two possible seasons of travel soccer before college. and i desperately wanted to play college soccer. having missed out on the luxury of playing high-level soccer since beginning to walk, this was somewhat of a far-fetched dream. i tried hard. i ran fast. i hustled. i communicated loudest on the field. i had the most passion on the team. i was the first one to practice and the last one to leave. i scratched and clawed to be on the field for as many minutes as possible….. and Holy Shit i got a couple college looks! no way in hell i was looking at being a scholarship player, but there were a lot of factors working against me in that department. like the before mentioned “not-playing-travel-soccer-since-learning-to-walk” bit.

i ultimately ended up playing DIII, but i was far from a super star. i played in 70+ games, our team was undefeated conference champions my senior year, yadda yadda, but i can honestly tell you that my main contribution was working my ass off in practice and screaming my ass off from the sidelines in games. i’ve got a lot of heart when i put my mind to something, and LOADS of passion. i could not have worked harder. i could not have screamed louder. i could not have given more of myself for my team. i was still the first to arrive, last to leave type. i truly felt like my first priority was the best interest of the team, even if it meant sitting the bench quite a bit. just to be completely honest, i hated the bench, but i got pretty brutally criticized for asking about my playing time, so i just shut up and played my role. i carry around many points of pride as well as resentment from my college soccer days, but no two memories are burned in my mind stronger than these next two….

the first happened during practice when, after our drill was explained to us and the team was asked if there were any questions, i raised my hand to ask mine. i wish i could remember what i asked, because i’d love to know if the response was actually warranted, but what i got was, “Merritt… sometimes i’m not sure if you ask questions because you legitimately don’t understand or because you’re asking just to ask. if you’re actually confused, ask one of your teammates for the answer.”

remember how i started this whole thing off by saying i never really fit in? yea…. i’ve never felt more like a gigantic asshole idiot than in that particular moment. i wanted to crawl in a hole and die. i was beyond humiliated. and i was so angry that i could allow myself to be recruited to a team by a coach that didn’t even understand me or respect me. oh, and i lied. this second memory made me feel even more like an asshole idiot:

each player had an annual coach-player, one-on-one meeting. we talked about how we thought things were going, what our weaknesses were, what our strengths were, and our overall goals moving forward on the team. this particular meeting wasn’t extremely productive, and was likely the reason my level of success in college soccer plummeted…. the opening statement to me was something along the lines of “Merritt… i’m gonna be honest. i don’t really know what to do with you. sometimes you’re the best player on the field, and sometimes you’re quite honestly the worst. i don’t know how to coach you….” just a side note…… if you ever find yourself in this situation of “not knowing how to coach” someone or interact with them or whatever….. i’m going to just advise that maybe you don’t start by telling them sometimes they’re the best and sometimes they’re the worst and you just don’t know what to do with them…… also. i would advise against pointing out the fact that they “always cry in meetings like this” because it’s just flat out not fucking helpful.

again. even on a team where i was asked to play. even in a situation where i was told i’d be an asset. i didn’t fit in. i wanted to transfer. i felt useless. i felt like an alien. i felt like an idiot. i hated a lot of things about a lot of years between the ages of 7 and 20 and this was by far the epitome of hatred. the stupid thing is i let it all mean that I was the problem.

im here to confidently say…… You Are Not The Problem. if someone doesn’t understand you or respect you, that is a THEM thing. NOT a YOU thing. and if it’s multiple someones…. there are 7 billion people in this world and your people exist even if you gotta turn over a lot of heavy rocks to find them. i promise you, they’re out there. for me, it’s been a shit ton of expensive therapy and a fucking all hands on deck search party to find people that vibrate at my frequency, but dammit, they exist. thank the Lord in Heaven.

it took me a long time to learn this lesson and sometimes i’m still an ugly crying ball of mess trying to figure out what the hell i gotta do to stop feeling like such a fucking weirdo, but my recall time of remembering my unique abilities and why they’re pretty amazing is getting shorter all the time. for example, i mind haters less and less. i’ve already been to the bottom of “why are you here…?” and “your questions are stupid. stop wasting my time. go ask your teammates if you’re actually confused and not this ‘fake confused’ i believe you are.” i’ve listened to far too many “God, you’re so weird Sarah. what the hell is wrong with you?” and the, “gross, can you sit over there? you smell really bad…” comments to count. it’s getting more and more background noise-esque and that feels like a major win. i had someone message me on Instagram and tell me to keep my “day job” instead of pursuing a music career – that felt awesome. sometimes people type in “crying laughing” faces on my livestreams, which i just assume means they’re having a baller ass time instead of making fun of me, although i’m sure sometimes it’s because they’re making fun of me. who gives a shit. their negativity is THEIR problem.

for all the times i’ve been judged on my weirdness, vocabulary, and tendencies, accused of stupidity, and harassed for my shortcomings, be them my fault or not, i’m sorta thankful i guess. they’re just huge warning signs not to buddy up with those people. they don’t get me. they don’t have to. i quite frankly don’t get them either. and focusing on why on earth they don’t want to be friends with me robs me of the time i need to focus on my purpose in life. my purpose isn’t to go around making people like me. and it’s not to go around forcing myself to like assholes, either. if we don’t run in the same crowd, that’s fine. i’ll find my people. i’ll keep running around, being my weird ass self, wearing my thrift store wardrobe, shouting conversations louder than socially acceptable in public and the tribe will form.

shit, it’s already forming – you know who you are. but i’ll tell you this – it didn’t start forming until i dug myself out of my perpetual pity party and stopped wasting my energy on people that just didn’t get me. i didn’t start attracting my crew until i gave up trying to figure out why certain people didn’t “like” me. i had to start really truly believing that God doesn’t make trash and he made me this way one thousand percent on purpose. He doesn’t do anything on accident, and i certainly am not the exception. neither are you.

so here’s to not only accepting that there are gonna be plenty of people that just don’t “get” us, but also being grateful for them because it’s the easiest way to stop wasting energy trying to build our tribes with people that just aren’t on our same party line. no square pegs in round holes here. thank you very much. on to the next. truthfully, i’d rather be either alone or with one or two like-minded humans than trying to bang my head against a wall with a circle full of people that are all sucking the energy out of me.

what about you?

between the ears

August 4, 2020 by Sarah Faith

blog posts.

americana music, country music, female musician, meaningful music, mindset, music for healing, music with purpose, nashville musician, new music, original music, purpose driven, sarah faith music

i’ve been golfing since i was a kid – i believe my dad put my first club in my hand at 9. he would every so often lovingly suggest that i pursue golf more seriously because he really thought i could go somewhere with it – play in high school, get a scholarship, really do the damn thing – but i sort of laughed him off just about every single time. i was a soccer player. i didn’t believe that i could ever be good at a sport that relied so heavily on myself – i thought i needed the team and, if i’m being completely honest, i got quite a bit of aggression out… golf is not a contact sport, nor one that really involves any sort of aggression. final deduction – not for me.

but i’ve still played golf here and there my whole life, just not very seriously. as far as swings go, i’ve got a decent one. i had a great teacher growing up in my dad, and my husband aspires to golf professionally. but i just never could quite call it “my sport.” so it didn’t seem like a big deal a couple weeks ago when i literally said out loud….. “i think i’m just going to stop trying… i don’t know why i keep wasting all this effort trying to get better at this. i need to just accept that i’m a 90s golfer…” i understand that 90s is great for many, but i’ve got the most competitive spirit i’ve ever met, and i’m constantly golfing with people who are birdie machines and under par pretty often. i started feeling like a failure. i started telling myself how much i sucked in comparison. it made me mad. like, really mad. i started talking like a defeatist. i truly believed the game was a waste of time, and i wasn’t having any fun playing it.

TRUTH BOMB –> it’s all mental. not just golf. everything. all of it. it’s mental and you get to choose what kind of mentality you have and what actions that mentality inspires you to take. *carry on*

here’s why i know that little above part to be true. i was involved in a tournament this past weekend – a two-day, two-man tournament. the way it worked out, i was partnered up with one of our great friends and neighbors, and we were all excited to play this tournament, chirping each other, just all around amped. except for the thoughts i had in the back of my mind that whispered sweet nothings to me – things to the effect of, “you’re not even good at this game. your poor partner. hope his back doesn’t get tired from carrying the team…” you know, kind, helpful things like that…

i’ll say i fumbled through day one, trying my best, but ultimately, playing pretty average…. but on day two, i stepped on to the driving range and thought to myself, “i’m really tired of this sad sack of emotions i’ve turned into out here. i think i’d like to make today different,” and i took a swing. and it was different. so i took another swing. and it was different, too. pure. carefree. easy.

TRUTH BOMB –> it’s all mental. every. single. thing.

but it wasn’t just a few good swings on the driving range – those few swings turned into my second lowest round ever – 79. and i’ll even add that one bad hole cost me a 76 – which would have totally been badass. but the bottom line is… it was all mental.

i committed to myself from the very beginning that i was going to be locked in mentally for all 18 holes. none of this shit where i trail off and start telling myself how shitty of a player i am, how bad of a teammate i am, how one mistake leads to another, how you i can have one good hole, but probably not two, none of that. i was committedAF. i took as many deep breaths as it took for me to settle down – like 936 deep breaths, people. a SHIT TON of deep breaths…. because i’m a damn MENTAL case out there. i SWEAR. in my head the entire time…. it. was. hard. but you know what, it was worth it. and i proved to myself that for as mental as i think i am, i’m so much stronger than all of that crap that happens in the tiny space between my ears.

before every shot, no matter how difficult, i waited for my mind to clear all the shit before i acted. (side note: my life should be like that… let the shit clear before taking action.) on tricky shots, i waited for all of that crap to get out of the way that told me i would never pull it off, which led me to back-to-back birdies at one point. i stood on tee boxes and literally visualized the exact path of my drive – i probably looked nuts sometimes just staring at the fairway for like 10 seconds at a time. but i didn’t care, because 200+ yards later, i was ready for shot number two – set my up for eagle once and put me about 5 feet off the side of a green once… it’s all MENTAL!!! i stopped caring about how i looked, what other people thought, and i 100% bought in to that round – all four and a half hours of it. and for someone as off-the-walls as me, that’s a long ass time.

guys, i’m not an amazing golfer. sure, i’ve been playing a long time, and i’m better than average. i’ve got good mechanics and i can get around a course pretty well. but i one THOUSAND percent willed my way to that round – i know that without a doubt. it was my mental game that kicked so much ass that day.

and this is alllllll applicable to life. how many negative things do you tell yourself on a daily basis, sometimes without even realizing they’re there?? i’ll just fess up and say….. kind of a lot, like…. too much… way too much…. more than i’d like to ever admit – and the gross part is the some of the things i tell myself, i would NEVER utter to another human being, so Why in the Hell do i let that live in my mind…? how many times have i walked up to a golf course and been like “yup, i totally can’t wait to play this game today,” only to basically mentally give up entirely after my first mistake….. a mistake that probably isn’t that big of a deal and is probably normal for a girl who isn’t an aspiring pro golfer….. why does it take so LITTLE for me to cash it in??? no way, José. i realized some Powerful Shit the other day on the course, and it is STAYING!!!

Take as many deep breaths as it takes to calm down – who cares what you look like. it’s not about them, dammit. COMMIT mentally to what you’re doing! it’s the most powerful thing you can do! i learned, and literally proved to myself for the better part of 5 hours…. that my mind is SOOOOOOOOOO powerful!!!! not like i didn’t know that before, but i literally spent FIVE HOURS working this truth and it was like SCIENCE!!!!

so…. all that being said…. i truly hope that this fires you up and gives you a glimpse of your power. and i truly, truly hope it’s just as therapeutic of a revelation for you as it has been for me.

be well friends. love you all

♥
SF

focus.

June 2, 2020 by Sarah Faith

blog posts.

man, i’m so tired of saying, “these are weird times we’re living in,” and other various renditions of the same sentiment. also, another one that’s starting to really wear on me is, “hopefully we’ll be back to normal soon.” truthfully, yes, it is weird, it is unusual. and recently it’s gotten violent. it’s been scary. things took a HARD turn from strange into something that no one could have ever seen coming. but back to normal? what does that even mean… and why do we want it so bad? why do we always want something else? why do we need to create another reality than the one in which we currently live? we’re always searching, fixing, disagreeing… what even IS normal?!?!

one thought that i keep coming back to is that, as humans, we manifest what we focus on. and if you don’t believe that or know what i mean, think about that old thing we all say about cars… you know… you just bought a new Jeep, and all of a sudden Jeeps are everywhere you look, or whatever. the same thing is true for just about anything. if you focus on bad things, you see more bad things. and, surprise, if you focus on good things, you see more good things.

so, as things have turned from weird to scary to violent, and every shade in between, i haven’t been a part of any protest, i haven’t been screaming at police officers, i haven’t been saying how awful Corona is, and i haven’t been immersing myself in news 24/7 or keeping up with every last dramatic story the media has to offer. and most recently, when my husband and i walked the streets of Nashville just an hour or two before the protests turned to violence and riots, i was in tears when i saw all of the mess that had been created. i wanted to see it for myself, and it was worse than i could have imagined. i didn’t know that the worst was yet to come. and yet, i kept my anger, my tears, and my thoughts to myself.

some may call me passive, opinion-less, or even ignorant. some may think i’m not using my voice. maybe i’m that classic white person that’s acting in white privilege that just doesn’t understand what it’s like to have the color of my skin affect my life. maybe i’m living in the clouds and i’m annoying for not seeing just how awful Covid-19 really has been and is for our world. but i just don’t see it that way. i see it as acceptance for a plan that isn’t mine, never was, and never will be, and doing the best i can to control what i can control – myself. that’s all any of us really, truly have control over.

i’ve experienced a wide range of emotions lately with all that’s been going on. we all have. ultimately, i stand true to one thing – i am not in control. i never am, and i never was. i cannot control this world. that’s a job that’s MUCH higher than me and my pay grade – that job isn’t even available, and it never will be. my job is to love. my job is to be a good person. to find my purpose and to pursue it tirelessly and bring glory to the One that created me. i cannot give to this world in the ways i was designed to if/when i’m preoccupied with hatred – truthfully, the more we focus on hatred, the more it enters in. dark cannot live in the light, so i’m choosing to focus on the light, because i know darkness cannot live there.

what would it look like for us not to criticize and scrutinize and judge each other for Every Damn Thing that comes out of our mouths?! what would it look like for us to TRULY lead with love?? not say we love each other in one sentence and judge one another the next. to stop putting each other in this “damned if we do, damned if we don’t” situation… it’s annoying. like, really effing annoying. and the only think i know that drives out all of that darkness – judgment, scrutiny, hatred, racism, violence, etc. – is love.

since we are going to see a lot more of whatever it is that we’re focusing on, i think right now, what’s most important is love. it sounds so cliché. maybe it sounds ridiculous to some. maybe you don’t think it will help at all. it’s too simple of an answer. it doesn’t solve anything. maybe you don’t feel that there’s anything about love that takes direct action against a pandemic or a government that a lot of people don’t agree with, or violent protests, or whatever the hell is going on right now. but i’m only saying this because it’s the only thing that makes sense to me. if everyone – civilian or law, black or white, high or low class, Every One…. Every Single Person… gave more love, i think we’d be in a much better place.

we cannot go around expecting perfection from each other. we just can’t because we’re humans, and we’re not gonna get it 100% correct all the time. or ever. but what if we sought first to understand – what if we led with a helpful heart as opposed to one that’s set on proving our own points and “getting justice” and punishing and consequences. it’s not currently working. we’re focused on the wrong things.

it’s time to shift our focus. focus less on what we don’t have and more on what we do have – less on what we can’t do and more on what we can. shift our focus toward the light – toward love. focus on spreading that light all over the damn place, because darkness can’t live there.

♥

SF

SARAH FAITH’S DEBUT SINGLE USES HARD LESSONS FOR GOOD THINGS

May 29, 2020 by Sarah Faith

news, Uncategorized

americana artist, americana music, before you, debut single, female musician, independent artist, nashville musician, nashville songwriter, new music, original music, sarah faith, sarah faith music, singer, singer songwriter, songwriter

Listen Now!!

Sarah Faith, a Michigan-raised, Nashville-based (Dickson, Tenn.) singer-songwriter, is dropping her debut single, Before You, to the music world. Having relocated to Middle Tennessee mid-2019, Sarah brought with her a past filled with family addiction and abuse as well as battles with anxiety and depression. With optimistic intentions of creating a bright future, Before You provides a powerful, upbeat head start, giving listeners a taste of the vulnerability and authenticity to come.

Growing up with a single mother who struggled with addiction, Sarah Faith was exposed to mental and physical abuse at a very young age. As a result, she developed mental health issues of her own, but always found a way to fight and make the best of her circumstances. “My music is infused with my story and where I come from. My goal is to prove that it doesn’t matter how crazy your family is or how dark your past is – you can overcome it and use all of those things for good outcomes.” Sarah describes her musical style as a genre-bending mix that draws inspiration from a diverse musical background including classic rock, alternative, and Americana. Vocally, she is inspired by the likes of Jennifer Nettles, Stevie Nicks, Sheryl Crow, and Grace Potter.

Before You released on all major music purchasing and streaming platforms on May 29, 2020.

About the Song

Why did you write this song? Where did it come from?

This song is very personal to me. It’s written about the dark outlook we sometimes get on relationships before meeting our “person.” It’s actually a very true story, even though I’m not sure we intended for it to be from the very start of writing it. Personally, I had all but given up on the concept of a successful relationship, much less marriage, and this song talks about that a little bit. I had a grim outlook on the world, and I honestly thought I’d be better off alone than continuing the fruitless search for a worthwhile partner in crime.

Originally, when we sat down to write this tune, we were thinking of a fun Friday happy jam, and I think we still came away with that, but it ended up being really infused with my story. Maybe that’s why I love it so much – it’s fun and catchy, but still really personal for me and uses my story as part of the overall message.

What does this song mean to you? What do you want listeners to take away from this song?

This song makes me smile every time I play it. It’s really the beginning of my “happy” with my husband – he really did randomly walk up to me in a bar with those pretty blue eyes and change my plans. I know it sounds crazy, but it was definitely the epitome of “when you’re not looking” and “when you least expect it.”

I guess I’d like to just give people hope that those two cliches actually are true – or they can be. I was in no way looking for a relationship, but out of the blue, my person came along just when I felt all hope was lost.

How would you describe the sound of the song to someone who hasn’t heard it before?

As an artist, I truly believe in blurring the lines between genres as much as I can get away with. I grew up on a sort of weird mix of classic rock, 90s alternative, country, and pop music, plus I was involved in choral music so there’s a good bit of classical influence mixed in as well. Sonically for this single, my vision was lots of guitar and lots of drums. I’m super inspired by The Lumineers and Grace Potter, among a bunch of others, so I really wanted to pull some roots, Americana, and vintage sounds out of this tune. I think overall, that’s where I feel I fit in as an artist – mixing a bunch of things together that feel good and hopefully sound good too!

eight days left.

only eight days stand between me and release day. i’m VERY excited – i can’t wait for everyone to hear what i’ve been working on, thinking about, tweaking multiple times, listening to probably about a thousand times, dreaming about, and completely pouring myself into. this song means the world to me, and i think the largest reason is because it’s the beginning of many many more.

it’s the start of my purpose. it’s the first time i’m addressing the world and letting the universe know i’m here for real and ready to be used, ready to serve, to give my heart, soul, stories – really ready to give all of myself to leave this place a little better than when i came. to help people put into words things they can’t themselves understand. to really spread the message that just because you come from a mess doesn’t mean that you are a mess. you can have a dysfunctional past without the necessity of a dysfunctional future. i truly believe these things, and i’ll keep repeating them over and over again, reaching as many people as i possibly can.

i always said if i impacted one person, all of this would be worth it – everything from the good to the bad. for all the times i was going through stuff with my family, with my mental health, with everything that comes from being a child of an alcoholic… it was all worth it – so worth it that i’d do the same thing over and over again. when i’m asked what the one thing is that i’d do for free – my answer is undoubtedly share my story. looking back, i spent so much time trying to act like everything was fine, trying to fit in, be the hero, take care of everything, when all i really wanted was to tell people how confused i was and how much of a toll my home life was taking on me. all i wanted was someone to understand my confusion. shit, i’m still confused sometimes and my mind is still caught up in where i’ve been now and again. the difference is now i know where i’m going and i know there’s a greater purpose, so it helps with some of that confusion.

where am i going? i always love talking with people about this. i was chatting on the phone today and i could feel myself get really amped at this point of the conversation. for me, this isn’t just about making pretty music and laughing and having an easy life. my journey as a singer-songwriter is about doing things i never thought i could do. saying things i never thought i’d be able to say. seeing things in a way i never thought i’d see them. i thought i was hopeless, useless, and pointless, and as i continue to wake up to the dreams inside my soul and start looking at them as not only possibilities, but outcomes, everything shifts. everything changes. the shit show that i used to drown in becomes a platform that holds me up – my weaknesses become my strengths.

can’t wait to have you on this journey with me. it’s about to be one amazing, unbelievable, unapologetic ride.

♥
SF

in the midst of overwhelm.

May 11, 2020 by Sarah Faith

blog posts.

americana artist, americana music, country music, independent artist, nashville musician, nashville songwriter, new music, singer, singer songwriter, songwriter, up and coming artist

i swear…. sometimes i feel like i’ve taken enough deep breaths to fill a dozen oxygen tanks and none of them seem to make me breathe any easier. i get to the point where i feel so stuck in my own head that i get WAY past the point of even caring that i got there in the first place. it’s like i’m sitting in a straight jacket of self-doubt and i’ve lost the interest in finding a way out of it. so i’ll just sit there. because eventually something will come along and let me out – free me from…. well… myself, really.

i was doing some mindset work earlier this morning, and i had woken up in a funk – i do that from time to time. by time to time, i mean a few times a week… sometimes more. sometimes less. i just don’t like mornings all that much, okay?!?! sheesh…. but i was doing some mindset work dealing with self-compassion, and i just Was Not Feeling It…

so i stopped doing it. because know what? part of loving yourself is knowing your own limits. part of loving yourself is giving yourself a break. part of loving yourself is knowing that the work will be there later, or even tomorrow, and it doesn’t have to get done right this very minute. part of loving yourself is loving yourself right where you are in any given moment and caring about yourself enough to know you’re enough. whether you feel like doing what you’re doing or not, whether you’re wearing sweats or real clothes, whether you ate lunch or not, whether you’re rocking the same messy bun for the fourth day in a row, or you’re full face looking fly – you’re just enough. no matter what. it’s okay to just be you and be enough just by the sheer fact that you’re alive and a part of this world.

“what would it take to believe you were made for more? and what would it look like to see this place up in smoke? these temples made by man, made with human hands. temples made with broken dreams and the stories that keep us in.”

^ that’s part of a song i wrote that came to mind when i was thinking all of these things this morning. like, what will it take for me to believe that i was made enough, i was made Just Like This… not by accident. not by some fluke. not flawed and messed up. carrying some baggage, yea maybe, but so is everyone else. so whether you’re killing it today, or getting by, i want you (and me) to know, you’re (we are) enough. and we’re gonna take these temples that we’re confined by and just frikin’ torch them, okay? set fire to them and watch them go up in smoke.

check out the video below if you wanna hear the tape from the day i wrote the song – “temples made by man.”

♥
SF

the importance of imperfect days

May 4, 2020 by Sarah Faith

blog posts.

i’d described the space i’m in this morning as kinda… “blah.” sort of existing, i’ve got a list of a couple things that i’ll probably get done at some point today, but i can’t say i feel particularly like “attacking” this day. urgency? not a thing today…. much more tortoise than hare.

i’ve been here before. many times. as someone who’s battled anxiety and depression what feels like my entire life and continues to do so (*though the battle does get easier, Thank. The. Lord.*), it’s just not rare for me to feel this way. in this space, sometimes i start wondering what it’s all for. i feel myself feeling a bit…. pointless or hopeless…. not to be a complete Debbie Downer or anything! there is a point to this.

honestly, if not for the imperfect days, how in the hell would i have such a GIGANTIC appreciation for the days that totally kick ass? i’m pushing myself to realize that the highs aren’t nearly as cool if you’re walking around like every day is the best day on Earth. you can’t be at 150% all the damn time. you just can’t. or at least i can’t…. so why would i pretend like i am or that i can??

am i going to sit around today and get nothing done? well, that’s just not me, regardless of how sloth-like i feel. i’ll get some stuff done. that’s for sure. but i’m not going to lie to you and say i feel Super Motivated to do ALL THE THINGS OMG!!! i’m really comfy in this blanket right now, and the last thing i feel like doing is looking presentable. honestly, could not care less. but if i just let myself feel this way, be this way, sit right here without completely SHAMING myself for it, i guarantee it’ll make this blah mood a helluva lot easier on myself.

so….. cheers to sometimes just not feeling like doing a whole lot of things. and letting that be okay. because it’s not permanent. nothing really is. and i’ll still be “killin’ it” even if i don’t accomplish 5,000 things today. i have a LOT of energy. but i do NOT have it in me to do 5,000 things every. single. day. not if i want to do them well, anyway! and trust me when i say – nothing’s worth doing if you’re not 100% in it and doing it well.

really hoping maybe a sentence or two of this hits home for someone – if not, then it’s a really good reminder for myself that a slow day now and then is just fine. embrace the space you’re in, be okay with the pace you’re moving, because a small step is still a step. if you’re moving the needle, then small moves still count.

♥ SF

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