I wasn’t sure I would make it to see 28. The age of 27 has a terribly tragic history for music

I wasn’t sure I would make it to see 28. The age of 27 has a terribly tragic history for musicians, and the struggle to just survive this world seems to come with increasingly difficult challenges everyday that often feel insurmountable. “Dead at 27” — just this week another headline bears these grim words. Afraid to say it out loud, I often feared I might be one in the number of young artists gone before their time.

And yet, somehow, I am still here. 28.

No one thought 2020 would look anything like this, right? I am saddened, frustrated, filled with anxiety, and depressed by the weight of this pandemic on our nation (and by the selfish decisions made daily by local and federal powers that exacerbate it): the mass sickness and death, the increased financial instability, the effects that indefinite isolation have on our most vulnerable, and the loss of the ability for people to safely join together in community and witness the healing power of live music. The uncertainty and lack of control over what the future holds make for a sobering birthday indeed.

However, I am personally grateful to be creatively empowered by isolation. Prolonged time alone is what allowed me to write my first two albums, and sure enough this pandemic, while restricting in so many ways, has allowed me the freedom to return to my first love of songwriting. I do not take this privilege for granted. For the first time in many, many years I feel I’ve reconnected to the heart of what I really love about music. In 2011, I made a choice to take a hiatus from gospel music. Today, I can finally say the hiatus is over. My faith and ability to write songs are two things that I once thought I’d lost forever: I am overwhelmed with joy for this restoration.

At 28, I still have a lot that I want to say. I wish I could promise a date and time when new music will be complete enough to share, but for right now, I’m just enjoying this renewed creative streak and happy to be able to move sound through my mind, body and soul—today and, hopefully, for the remaining days of my life.

Photography: @laurenelizwalters
Makeup: @desrambomusic
Hair: @1realsunny
Location: @westlightstudios
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