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Sara Bethany Ham — A New Voice with a Firm Mission
By Greg Hansen
A New Voice
Sara Bethany Ham may be one of the first truly new artists to hit the LDS market in years. Youth and parents who have heard her debut album, Wanna Be Brave , seem to bubble up adjectives like a fountain-”youthful, fresh, vibrant, sincere, upbeat, and wholesome — just what we've been wishing for.”
Sara, now 20, has been singing for years, and has always wanted to perform music that would uplift and inspire people. She was featured as a soloist on Jenny Phillips' theme albums, and toured with Jenny's group. Sara's warm, sincere and youthful voice is slightly reminiscent of Christian artist Nicole Nordemann. Memorable tracks include the title cut “Wanna Be Brave,” “Bring On the Rain,” “Awake,” and several new never-before recorded songs by noted LDS songwriters. It breaks the mold on what has gone before, yet is never inappropriate.
A Firm Mission
“I wanted young people to know they can still be cool without lowering their standards,” says Sara, who grew up in California . Her album is positive, motivating, and filled with powerful messages of faith, testimony and courage, with a sound both youth and parents will love. Look for it wherever LDS music is sold, online or in stores, or visit her website, www.SaraBethanyHam.com.
A New Label
Wanna Be Brave represents the first release of the new positive music label, Eagle Springs Records, owned by multi-award winning producer Greg Hansen and Pearl Award-winning engineer Steve Lerud. Eagle Springs produces music that is positive, refreshing, and multi genre-not necessarily tied to any single religion or sound. It is the next step of progression in music that appeals to a broad values-based audience. Its mission is to “create music that is excellent, edifying, and entertaining, leaving the listener better for having heard it.”
More to Come
The next Eagle Springs release, now in production, is a moving, beautifully orchestrated collection of original songs by veteran songwriter Julie Baird, entitled His Tender Care . Julie writes passionately, theatrically and emotionally, and the vocal credits read like a who's who list of top industry performers-Jenny Jordan Frogley, George Dyer, Barry Hansen, Jeff McLean, Jessie Clark Funk, David Osmond, Daniel Beck, Summer Smart, and Crystal Thibodeau, a new name on the scene from Las Vegas .
Perhaps one of the most powerful songs on His Tender Care is a new version of “The Touch of the Master's Hand,” done in a completely fresh, original musical setting, that brings a renewed life to the message of the familiar poem. Projected release of the project is February 2008.
Taken together, these albums represent a substantial new direction — a firmly committed move toward a new genre of positive music.
To learn more about Greg Hansen, visit his website: www.greg-hansen.com.
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© 2007 Meridian
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| About
the Author: |
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Greg Hansen is an award-winning professional composer, record producer/arranger, and new age recording artist residing in Utah. He is a 1998-2004 13-time Pearl Award winner. In 1986, he won the prestigious Peabody Award for Broadcasting, along with others for the radio drama series "Bradbury 13" (based on the science fiction stories of Ray Bradbury). That series also garnered two Gold Cindy awards. Later he also scored the music for the United States Film Festival's Silver Screen Award-winning film. He also arranged and produced several of the tracks found on the 2002 Olympic CD.
His album "Wilderness" went to #21 on the national airplay charts (Gavin, Radio & Records) in 1994. It has been reviewed as "one of the most stunning and varied albums of this genre."
Greg has produced and arranged more than 400 albums for various clients, and has more than 900 sheet music arrangements and compositions in print. He has three solo albums and five compilation albums with his and others' material. He has scored more than 80 industrial and dramatic films for clients including the Public Broadcasting System (PBS); National Public Radio; Disney movie trailers; Discovery Channel, NASA; Turner Broadcasting; National Geographic; the LDS Church; and a host of others.
He has arranged for David Foster; Sony Music (Nashville); EMI Records (New York); The Bellagio Hotel Watershow Theme in Las Vegas; Bob Hope; The Osmonds; Senator Orrin Hatch; The Mormon Tabernacle Choir; the Miss America Pageant; Children's Miracle Network; Andy Williams; Theodore Presser Company; Hal Leonard; Shawnee Press; Jensen Publications; and Hope Publishing. He also arranged an entire educational series of more than 1,200 songs from every phase of the United States' cultural pop music and world music history for Macmillian/McGraw Hill . His original music has been used in broadcasting worldwide, by all major foreign and domestic TV networks.
In the LDS music scene, Greg has arranged and produced music for Michael McLean, Janice Kapp Perry, Afterglow, Jenny Oaks Baker, Michael Dowdle, Felicia Sorensen, Hilary Weeks, Thurl Bailey, LDS church seminary films and TV commercials, Lex de Azevedo, Envoy, Especially for Youth, Gladys Knight, Kurt Bestor, Steven Kapp Perry, BYU, BYU-Idaho, and many others renowned in the industry.
He is a co-founder of the award-winning record label, Sounds of Zion/Inspirational Music Showcase, and a columnist for Meridian Magazine. He is also a board member of the Faith Centered Music Association, and has long been a guest presenter in the BYU School of Management MBA program, teaching classes in creativity and business.
If you are more interested in Greg Hansen, visit his website at www.Greg-Hansen.com. |
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