Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Sarah Bentley. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Sarah, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your creative career sooner or later?
I have always loved singing, but in college I started to learn to play the guitar because I had a false belief that singing wasn’t enough. I thought I needed to play an instrument to be a musician. I also feared that classical training was superior to what I did, which was just singing from my heart. These biases really limited my growth as an artist. In my early 20s I was in a band (TreeRoot – roots, soul, folk) with some guys I worked with. We played around Austin,Texas and toured a bit, but eventually split up when the main male lead moved to Portland. In my early 30s, I started my own band (The Flo – folk, soul, electronic groove) with more co-workers. We performed for a few years around Austin, but I never liked playing at bars. Coffee shops were better as far as people paying attention but it was never quite right. So, I gave up music and focused my creativity on having a child (getting pregnant). Well, now I have a beautiful 10 year old daughter. So for the last decade, I’ve been focused on being a mother, singing lullabies and silly kids songs.
I actually never thought of myself as an artist until my “re-awakening” during the pandemic. During lockdown I discovered online community singing, specifically with Heather Houston out of Santa Cruz, California. Heather is now my teacher/mentor and a huge inspiration. Taking classes with her has helped me come home to my voice and really own my gift as a singer and song leader.
Do I regret taking a 10 year hiatus and wish I had discovered community singing earlier? To be sure, the deep belonging aspect of community singing would have been really helpful while I was a new mother. I also think it could have filled a gap in my creative life to be singing more during that phase of my life. But as other moms know, raising a child is the ultimate act of creativity. It may not feel like it when we are changing diapers and feeding fussy eaters, but our children will be our greatest creation. So, I am grateful I had so much energy to give my kid during those early years. But now that she is quite independent I find I am able to balance motherhood and my art (on top of my full time job).
Ironically, I think I was writing community songs all along. They were definitely unconventional both topically and structurally – more of chants and lyrical affirmations. I also feel like my current phase of life is in alignment with what I am doing – teaching, promoting curiosity, leading women to free and reclaim their voices. In my mid-40s I feel confident and have accumulated wisdom to share and it’s been really well received!
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I am a song catcher, song carrier, and song leader based in Austin, Texas. I thrive in sharing the art of embodied singing, mindful movement, ritual, and communal prayer through song with my participants. I started singing as a child and have performed as a singer/songwriter. I draw on my studies in qigong, yoga, meditation, behavioral science, and anti-racism to provide a rich, healing experience during my events, which consist of womens-only and inclusive singing experiences.
I grew up listening to my father (Jerry Sires, 1944-2022) playing guitar and singing. He was a singer/songwriter and performed in Austin and surrounding areas from the 1970’s until the pandemic. I remember falling asleep in a booth at the original Stubb’s BBQ when it was on the IH-35 frontage road. In the last couple of years, being a witness to my dad declining with Alzheimers and then passing away relatively suddenly in March 2022 was a grief-induced spiritual awakening for me. It felt like my father’s legacy was passed to me energetically. One of the ways my grief process manifested was through songwriting – actually what we call “song catching” because the songs come through me and to me. I don’t sit down to try to write them. When you are open to receiving inspiration and know yourself intimately, the songs [insert any creative expression] just come. The reason I think knowing yourself is crucial to the creative process is you need to know what the right conditions are for you to be an open channel. For me, driving alone has been one of the most consistent and prolific muses for me for decades.
In November 2021 I started holding women’s sacred singing circles in my backyard. First, it started with a few friends and now it has grown to many of my events selling out. In September 2022 I launched the inaugural Sisters in Harmony Austin group and now I’m already looking for a bigger space for this weekly offering.
The Sisters in Harmony Austin group is a weekly communal support system where we explore joy, grief, gratitude, sisterhood, authentic expression, and more through singing. Each week builds on the previous, as we learn lyrics, harmonies, layers, and parts. As we deepen our relationships with the songs, so too do our heart connections deepen with one another.
I have heard many participants share a sense of belonging in my circles. I think after so much social isolation/distancing, people are hungry for connection. My classes and circles aim to humanize us and allow people to feel connected to each other and to something larger than themselves.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
My mission is for people to realize their voice matters and the world needs their voice. All voices are welcome. I really want everyone to feel they belong no matter how their voice sounds. The time we spend singing and being together can be a respite from all the troubles in the world and our personal lives. Other times we invoke the pain and grief and allow it space to breathe and be metabolized in our individual and the collective. People cry, we co-regulate, we celebrate. It’s like a massage or yoga for the soul through singing and sharing our hearts authentically with each other – people always feel better after a session.
I strive to create a safe space for all and in order to do this I often acknowledge the harm that people of color have experienced and in some cases still endure. For community singing to be fully inclusive and safe for marginalized people, I am committed to standing/singing in solidarity by taking an anti-racist stance in organizing and facilitating all of my events. Community singing is a form of collective healing and without intentional action, the white supremacist inertia of our society will continue to perpetuate harm to those who are most oppressed. Without this stance, the community singing movement’s aspirations for a peaceful, loving, and sustainable world will only remain a reality for the people living in white skin. I’m sure people are wondering how you do this. For one, I have been committed to the cause for a while now as an ally and activist of diversity and inclusion, including being a Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation practitioner. I have experience leading intentionally diverse groups in circle processes and which have prepared me to recognize and facilitate discussions around race/microaggressions should they arise in the course of singing circles. Also, I am very intentional about the songs we sing. Just because I like a song from another culture isn’t enough reason for me to carry and lead that song. I make sure I know the origins and the significance of the song, then I really learn it and embody it before teaching it to others.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?
Creativity is my oxygen. I crave it, its’ all I want to do – well, besides sleep, I love my sleep! And the thing about singing is it comes from within. So each hum, each lyric, each song is like a creative inner massage. Unlike visual art, you can’t see these creations, but you can hear and feel them. Hearing is our first sense to fully develop and it’s not just the ears. We hear with our bones, we feel sound especially when it’s resonating within us – in our chest, throat, head.
As far as songcatching (song writing), sometimes I set aside time for my craft but often it just comes when inspiration strikes. Which means it doesn’t always come at a convenient time. Maybe I’m on my way to work or need to be focusing on my family. I try to capture the essence of the download (usually in a voice memo on my phone) and move on. Then, when I have time I come back and see if it still has a heartbeat. These are song babies that come through. Sometimes they arrive fully developed and ready to share and other times they need nurturing and time to evolve. Some songs aren’t for sharing, some are just for me or for the moment. Some take months or years to grow up. I have learned not to be attached to them – some will thrive and others may pass quickly. Khalil Gibran said “Your children are not your children. They are sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself. They come through you but not from you.” This is exactly the same for art and songs. Sometimes there are floods of creativity and other times droughts – just like the turning of the seasons. I don’t fret if nothing new comes through for a while. We all need time to rest and digest, compost and lay fallow. This isn’t wasted time, it’s part of the cycle.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://heartbodysong.com/
- Instagram: @heartbodysong
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heartbodysong
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahsiresbentley/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/heartbodysong
Image Credits
For the headshots of my – photo credit to Chrissy Dollar.