Only 19, the Nashville resident continues the female singer/songwriter tradition in the well-spoken manner of those who inspire her, women like Jonahtha Brooke, Jennifer Kimball and Amy Grant. Poised and confident with delicate features and radiant smile, Sarah's winsome attractiveness reflects the beauty of her aspirations. "Music is my passion, my art. I love it!" she says. "And that's what makes it cool for me, that I get to do what I love and what I feel like I was born to do." Sarah's first attempts at artful expression came in the forms of simple poetry and handwritten letters to grandparents, church camp friends and the underprivileged children sponsored by her family. Inspired by her father's trade, she wrote her first song at age 9, titled "I Will Pray;" two years later it landed on an Intergrity kid's record. And while many of her friends enjoyed playground swings and kickball games, recording studios served as Sarah's field of dreams. She spent time with her father there-a gift in itself-and stepped up to develop her vocal talents on and off mic. For a long time she thought she'd simply work as a songwriter in various genres. But as she grew older, she found satisfaction in performing, too. Most recently, Sarah lent her voice to "Oh Lord, You're Beautiful," on the Our God Of Wonders collection. Her work also includes "This Is My Prayer," a beautiful duet with Margaret Becker opening The Prayer of Jabez: Music … A Worship Experience, and a cover of "Draw Me," found on Your Love Broke Through: The Worship Songs of Keith Green. For Sarah, locating good songs to perform start with interesting people and the lives they lead. "I love life, and I want to get everything from it," she says, "and life is about people and relationships. I love having that buddy-buddy experience with people, so I think a lot of my songs reflect the relationships I have and how I view them. "There's a song called 'Simply Complicated.' The lyrics are: 'We read like a Magic book/Everyday a different look/Everything is black and white/Simply complicated.' It's about how you can think you know someone so well, but they are simply complicated, that sense of saying to them, 'You never fail to amaze me!' That's life!" she says. "As Christians we are called to love each other and to speak into people's lives," Sarah continues. "I think it's important to be artistic, but in a way that somebody can understand the art besides you. If it's not speaking into people's lives, you've almost failed as a songwriter in one respect. I want to reach somebody with my songs." Throughout the spring and summer, Sarah will continue to work with co-producers Pete Kipley and Dan Mukala to finish her September 10th debut record. She'll play select festivals this summer, too, including Atlanta Fest 2002 and Rock the Universe at Universal Studios Flordia. Finally, preparing to support the record with live performances throughout the fall. Though Sarah is beginning to develop her own musical legacy, what remains unbreakable is her resolve to love life, steadfastly rehearsing the lessons her father modeled-that faith and family are essential to leading a fulfilling life. "I know that before I die I don't want to look back and say I had this great career and I sold this many records. I want to look back and be able to say that I went everywhere that I ever wanted to go; that I met the weirdest, coolest people that exist. I want to fall in love, get married, have kids. I want to live life, because, at the end of the day, nobody cares what you do. You need to be happy with what you've done and what you're going to do. I want to have a good time and love people."
