by Sabrina Andrews (with Cyrus Webb)
Everything great has a beginning. Somewhere along the way there was a spark that was ignited that led the way to something bigger and better to be born. For singer/songwriter Heather Powell that could not be more evident. When she joined Cyrus Webb on Conversations LIVE to introduce her story and music from her appropriately titled album BELIEVE IT TO LIFE she was aware of what had made her current state of being possible.
When talking about her love affair with words, Powell told Webb that "It has been a life-long thing for me." She then explained. "My mother is a poet, so words have been in my family forever. My father used to read to us at night as a family, so stories and words and language have always been a part of my life."
The actual process for her, though, came much later. "It just really came to me over the past year and a half," she revealed. "It's been an amazing journey of my life and completely unexpected." She then added: "It has been a true blessing for me."
That in itself shows that the path was there, but it was up to Heather to decide to walk it. She told Webb in the radio interview that she began her artistic journey as a actress and singer in the musical theater performing on stage. She admitted that she felt a little stuck. "My coach freed me to express myself in other ways," she says. She then began to wonder what would it be like to write her own songs. Her epiphany was this: "When you allow yourself the freedom other things bubble up. I started writing from my heart the songs that my soul told me that I needed to get on paper. That became the album."
The album BELIEVE IT TO LIFE shares not only the personal stories of Heather Powell's life but gives inspiration to those who are able to hear it and accept the message she is presenting. Webb asked her what it was like to perform her music for a live audience. "It is the most incredible experience," she gushed. "This album and this music are my baby. When I was getting ready to perform for the first time I was as nervous as parents are about their child going out and being judged." When it happened, though, she went on to say "it was beautiful to let the music stand on its own."
The lesson that Heather is able to share from her experience? "When you let go and truly do believe that what is meant to happen is going to happen then you'll be amazed at where you find yourself. You'll experience the joy of what you were meant to do. As artists we know who we are and who we were meant to be. We have no choice but to do it (music). This has helped me become the artist I was meant to be. If you continue to say it, express it and make the baby steps forward, it will happen for you."
"With all that is going on in the world, Heather says that she wants the music of BELIEVE IT TO LIFE "to have something that lifts you up,makes you smile, tap your toes, sit back and relax, smile and feel a little bit better." We think she has done that and then some!
Support Heather Powell's BELIEVE IT TO LIFE project today by purchasing yours at CD Baby, Amazon and itunes. You can visit her website at
www.heatherpowell.net and follow her on Twitter at
www.twitter.com/hpowellmusic.
