We were lucky to catch up with Sarah Davison recently and have shared our conversation below.
Sarah, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?
When I first graduated from college with a piano performance degree, I knew it would be hard work but I was determined to earn my living doing what I had really felt called to do. What that meant for me personally was wearing a lot of different hats professionally to make a living doing it full time. Especially as a musician you will need to be prepared to do a lot of different types of musical jobs that pay well enough to make it work. For example, I worked in artist relations during the day and also at a church leading music, in the evenings I played studio sessions and work at restaurants or other venues. I had four jobs! I soon began to tour more full time and taught a few lessons for extra money. Now, twenty years later, I am making a living doing songwriting and touring full time. You have to be able to do lots of different things at different points if you want to make a living!
Sarah, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I started a musical group and ministry called High Road about 12 years ago with some friends I went to college with that also had a profound love for old style gospel music and country music. We eventually added some members and now we consist of 4 girls that play instruments and tour full time. We play fairs, churches, festivals, concerts overseas and even doing mission work with our music. We record and write our own music which is unique in this industry of Christian based music.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
It’s really hearing the stories from people that attend our concerts or hear our music. I love hearing from a person “I was able to battle anxiety last year when I listened to your music” or seeing young kids attend and say “I am taking guitar or piano lessons because of your music”. That’s a true gift. God has designed us each so uniquely and called us to share our song and story with others so we can share joy like that together.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
There was a time in my career where things got really hard and I had to ask myself is this working or is it Gods way of saying this door is closing. I prayed about it and really drew close to the Lord and He never gave me peace about closing it up. Not once. Every little sign and encouragement was to keep going. It was then that I decided to rebrand and rebuild again and that next album we did was our most successful in a long time. It was the album that ended in us signing a record deal and touring more. So I am very grateful for the hard times even though they are really difficult. It’s sometimes the only way to get back to the drawing board and in the end it will be worth it all!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Www.highroadmusic.com
- Instagram: High Road Music
- Other: None
Image Credits
None