Popular music is the voice box of culture; it tells our stories in present tense. And every day, new voices chime in with perspectives either generic or poignant, chaff or wheat. As a culture, we're listening for the real thing: we want the hope, and we want the song to resonate. Once in awhile, we get what we long for. Once in awhile, someone like Bethany Dillon comes around.
From the first listen of her self-titled Sparrow Records debut it is obvious that Bethany Dillon possesses the rare gift of balance between flowing lyrics and moving melodies. With a voice equally at home with soaring strings and mandolins as it is with upbeat electric guitars, Bethany has an accessible sound all her own: She is the exuberance of Michelle Branch and the weightiness of Aimee Mann. As she sings in "Move Forward": My eyes are soft and wise. They tell a story.
Bethany feels a strong calling to speak to the heart of women: "I want women to know that God has placed a crown of beauty on their head," she says. And so she writes songs of longing and empowerment, struggle and victory. "I want my music to come from a place of rawness and honesty," she explains. Songs such as "Beautiful" are both confessional and resolute, as Bethany sings about "fighting to make the mirror happy," only to realize that "You say who I am is quite enough."
It is this same vulnerability that makes her music so accessible to all ages. Already, Bethany has developed quite the fan base amongst teens. "The people who come up to me after shows are girls in college and high school. And every night I have a good conversation with girls my age. They relate to the music because I'm not singing about being fifteen five years ago. I am fifteen." Also, Bethany can relate to what it means to be a teenager in the context of family. She is the middle child of five, with an older brother and sister and two younger brothers who were adopted into the family after coming to live with them ten years ago.
As she embarks on such a promising journey, Bethany Dillon is embracing her story with purpose and vision. "God is teaching me that it's not about me. I need to be faithful, and He will speak through me. I'm not going to worry so much about being successful or relevant." She goes on: "I want to awaken in my generation something that's been dead. I want to make the Word flesh and blood for my generation, to show them that living out the Gospel is something greater and more mysterious, with more adventures than we've learned." She strives to unearth what has yet to be unearthed.
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