Sarah Beth
About Sarah
With her debut album Alive, Sarah Beth is offering songs of profound worship to weary hearts.
Currently based in the greater Nashville area, Sarah Beth has refined her effortlessly pure vocal tones through a lifetime leading worship in church and on the road. Alive was recorded in Nashville with Redemption World Records’ veteran producer Jonathan Goodwin and Jody McBrayer (Avalon, Cana’s Voice). The album will be available on March 1, 2021.
Alive’s tracklist combines Sarah Beth’s own unique take on songs like “Living Hope” (originally by Phil Wickham) or “From This Valley” (originally by The Civil Wars) with originals from Redemption World’s outstanding songwriters. The musical throughlines are Sarah’s clear tone and organic instrumentation, reminiscent of artists like Natalie Grant or Kari Jobe. Sarah also follows in their footsteps with a heart focused on worship, whether the songs come from the mountaintop, the valley, or the pathway between. Title track “We Are Alive” is a song of celebration, a moment of victory. Joyful “Love Don’t Die” lands in that same musical vein, adding refreshing lightheartedness to the tracklist.
Throughout the highs and lows of Alive, the album presents a full picture of human experience while celebrating the character of a God who walks with us through the darkness. Framed by a season where the shadow of death was intensely present in Sarah’s own life, each track offers the reassuring perspective of someone who has been through the valley– and seen our resurrecting Jesus prove Himself faithful, over and over again. “In the Waiting” serves as a crossroads moment, a song for seasons of waiting and confusion. “There’s value in waiting, when the normal rhythms of life are not what you expected them to be,” Sarah shares about the song’s heart. “There’s value in giving space to every experience, even when things don’t seem to make sense. God’s not going to waste those.”
Sarah Beth has experienced her own fair share of messy. In the months before recording with Jody McBrayer and the Redemption World team, she and her husband endured job loss, health challenges, and a church transition. In the middle of so much unrest, even planning the recording process was shrouded by anxiety. “I just kept singing ‘In The Waiting’ to myself,” Sarah recalls. “It was really appropriate for the time, because so much was changing, and so much was unknown about what the process would be like.”
Ultimately, recording the album would be a powerful creative process. Surrounded by accomplished studio musicians as well as her production team, Sarah saw the songs come to life: “I was singing to keep the tempo or form of the song, and they filled everything around it. To have that amount of expertise in one room was really inspiring.”
Immediately after the recording experience, Sarah would have an experience that would lend even more weight to the songs. The anxiety spiraled to a suicidal crisis that would put her in a position to learn the truth of what she sang. Support from loved ones, mental health professionals, and the unshakable presence of God would ultimately carry her through the process. “I think that there’s value in where you’re at,” the singer shares honestly. “There’s value if you are depressed and can’t see past the next moment. There’s value if you’re on a mountaintop. There’s value in the in-betweens. God doesn’t waste anything. Even if it’s unexpected.”
That’s the kind of message that Sarah Beth is hoping to bring to other people of faith who might be walking through similar challenges. She’s been deeply rooted in music for the church her whole life– from growing up in a musical family, to leading worship in church, to a stint touring with the Continental Singers, to a year with Primary Focus/Living Proof ministries, to singing as part of World Help’s Mission. “Music is the language I’m most fluent in, and it makes the most sense to me,” she explains.
Beyond the musical maturity she’s gained through so much experience, Sarah Beth now has a rich full picture of spiritual experience to share in solidarity with listeners. “These darker colors are blending beautifully into this next part that’s a little bit brighter. It gives a lot of depth and dimension to the overall picture,” she says. “Everything’s messy and everyone is messy. But we’re in it together, and God is using the mess. He knows how to make sense of things: the bitter and the sweet and the hard and the triumphant.”
That’s the kind of picture painted by Alive. “If you strip everything away, God doesn’t change. He’s still trustworthy, He’s still loving, He’s still kind, and He’s patient,” Sarah concludes. “He’s patient with us, and gentle. He knows how to handle fragile things.”
