Welcome
Hello out there!
I am so excited to announce that my newest album, A Simple Thing, is available at online retailers like Itunes and rhapsody, as well as CDBaby.com. The project was a labor of love....I love these songs, and I recorded them at my home studio with the love of my life, Park Chisolm. The album is very stripped down, and I hope those of you who have been asking me to make an acoustic album will be pleased.
And, in case you missed all the Emmy-winning hoopla, it was an eventful couple of years for fans of Kevin Costner & Modern West, and I got to be a part of it all. ! I had the opportunity to be involved in a really cool album called "Famous For Killing Each Other," Music from and inspired by The History Channel's Hatfields & McCoys. I got to sing the beautiful theme song for the mini-series, written by Kevin Costner, Teddy Morgan, and Park Chisolm, entitled "I Know These Hills." It's a haunting take on what it might have meant to be a woman watching the violence that went on during the epic feud between these two families in the years following the American Civil War. The song is available on itunes, and there are a couple of great videos in circulation; check out the official video here. Modern West even graced the stage of the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville to share the music from the miniseries, and I was thrilled to join them to sing "I Know These Hills."
I also recently produced an album of music for children all about kindness - to ourselves, to others, to the earth, and to animals. It's called "Join in the Song" by KindnessKids. Nashville's finest young voices helped me out, as well as some fellow songwriters like David Mead, Andra Moran, Jason Shelton, Lo Carter, and Park Chisolm. It was funded by The Vanderbilt Curb Center for Arts, Enterprise, & Public Policy, and written, recorded and distributed by me and fellow Vanderbilt PhD candidate Colleen Russo. The best part: it's FREE to download at www.kindnesskids.bandcamp.com! So check it out, and share it with friends!
Thanks for listening!
Sara
Beck has opened over fifty shows for Kevin Costner & Modern West over the past two years, and she credits the opportunity to play solo acoustic shows for appreciative audiences all over the world as the impetus for her stunning new release, A Simple Thing. "It was so liberating to go into the studio alone and basically do what I do when I play solo shows. There's so much freedom in letting melody and voice and simple guitar parts speak for themselves. It becomes all about the song and the performance. Some of my favorite artists - Bruce Springsteen, Jackson Browne, Stevie Wonder - are at their best when it's just them and a guitar or piano, and that aesthetic was my inspiration for this project." Beck co-produced the album along with her husband, Park Chisolm, and the two recorded it at their home studio in Nashville.
Beck's last two releases were pop albums, full of hooks and layered vocals. A Simple Thing showcases a singer-songwriter who has little need for ornamentation. The songs are spare but rich, featuring Beck's delicate acoustic guitar, her weightless voice, and atmospheric electric guitar work by Chisolm. Lyrically, the songs reflect a singer/songwriter who is continually searching; the dobro-tinged "Silver Lining" confronts shattered dreams, while album opener "Go West" captures a restlessness that every artist knows. Her cover of Springsteen's well-known 1984 hit "Dancing In The Dark" brings a new intensity to a familiar lyric.
Beck is excited to for people to hear the new album. "This project represents such a personal journey for me. Most of us who write songs started out singing all by ourselves in our bedrooms in the dark...I tried to capture that intimacy and immediacy with every song on this album." Beck and her husband also have another reason to celebrate; they are expecting a baby girl in November.