On her Epic Records debut Hopechest, Stephanie Bentley sings with the unadulterated passion and power of a woman who has loved and lost and seen the promise of a dream reduced to ashes. But what also emerges from this landmark first album is the spirit of an artist who has fought long and hard to see her musical dream come true.
I feel like this is my destiny, says the graceful beauty simply of her country debut. This has always been my dream and it has been my love of music that has gotten me through the hard times. Ive been rejected and knocked down a lot but its easier to get up and go on when you have a love for what you are doing.
That fierce devotion and indelible determination to fulfill her long-held hope is clearly abundant on Hopechest, a breathtaking collection vividly exploring loves complexities and lifes disappointments. Produced by Sony Music Executive Vice President Paul Worley and Todd Wilkes, the album runs the emotional gamut from the sad romantic dissolution expressed on If Promises Were Gold to the sass and vigor of Whats Wrong With You. At times dramatic and tough, as exhibited on the fiery Think Of Me, Stephanie also astonishes listeners with her sheer vulnerability on such gems as Once I Was The Light Of Your Life and the devastating Half The Moon where the singer sounds fragile as a petal.
And on the centerpiece title track, the singer touchingly evokes a bittersweet nostalgia of the treasured mother/daughter relationship.
The little girl is only a little girl so long/and tender hearts need their stars to wish upon/cause one day you will turn around and shell be gone/a little girl is only a little girl so long.
It is her uncompromising strength and aching vulnerability, all gorgeously served up by her lilting vocals, that easily sets Stephanie Bentley apart from the current crop of female country singers.
Born and raised in the small town of Thomasville, GA, Stephanie and her younger sister Camille grew up in a loving, close-knit family in a home filled with music.
My mother has a beautiful voice and she always sang to us when we were little, she recalls. I definitely had music in my life from a very early age. My mom says I was singing in my crib before I was talking.
I used to listen to the radio and mimic whoever was singing the songs that I liked. I would get together with my little friends and we would pretend we worked at a radio station and sing the current songs, she remembers with a laugh vividly describing a scenario played out in countless childhood playrooms. We would even do the commercials!
At age nine, with little sister Camille and a neighborhood pal providing harmony vocals, Stephanie entered a local Kiwanis Kapers Talent Contest and won with a rousing version of Motorcycle Mama. Though the experience was a small but enchanted milestone in her journey, the victory also set the course for her musical odyssey.
In the audience for the young songstresss auspicious singing debut was Fred Allen, a Julliard School of Music graduate and head of a music and theatre group, the Thomasville Music and Drama Troupe. Immediately impressed with the youngsters poise and undeniable vocal gifts, Allen expressed interest in having Stephanie join the troupe.
To this day I have to say that I owe a lot of my ambition and drive to him, she says of her mentor. We did everything from old war era tunes to Broadway musical tunes to pop and country. We went to Los Angeles and New York and sang for President Carter on the White House lawn. It just completely broadened my horizons from a performing standpoint at a very young age. I always thank God for that experience.
After a half-hearted attempt at college life, Stephanie moved to Atlanta and set about turning her musical dream into a reality. Totally consumed with music, she had evolved into a powerful vocalist and riveting performer. Paying the bills performing in a Top 40/Oldies band, Stephanie indulged her country yearnings writing and singing country songs with her band mates. She also lent her considerable vocal gifts for commercial jingles for the likes of Hardees restaurants, Southern Bell, the Yellow Pages and C&S Bank. Soon she headed to Nashville with sister Camille in an effort to land a recording contract as a duo.
Working with fellow Georgia native Doug Johnson (now Senior Vice President, Epic Records, Nashville), the Bentley sisters were given a small budget to record three tunes for a possible deal with RCA Records. Though the deal fell through (as did a solo development deal with Liberty Records) Stephanie refused to lose heart.
I just never thought that there was anything else for me to do, she says of her perseverance. You really have to enjoy every step along the way because they are all little triumphs in themselves.
Soon her faith in her talent gradually paid dividends in full as she was able to make a living singing demos emerging as one of Music Citys most in demand voices for hire. Singing on demos that led to eventual hits such as Trisha Yearwoods Thinkin About You and Kathy Matteas Walking Away A Winner, she was able to make her name, and more importantly, her voice, known in Nashville music circles. She so impressed Paul Worley (the producer of Pam Tillis Homeward Looking Angel album), with her commanding vocal presence on the demo for Shake The Sugar Tree, that he kept her vocals as a backing part on the resulting #1 record.
An insightful songwriter, she signed on as a writer for BMG Music where she crossed paths with staffer Todd Wilkes who was immediately struck by the young womans powerful talent. The two set about refining her unique style shaping it into what she aptly describes as the Stephanie Bentley sound.
That very sound landed the singer her recording deal with Epic Records and reunited her with Doug Johnson as well as with Worley (now a part of the Sony Music Nashville management team along with Allen Butler and Scott Siman). The resulting album is her long-awaited debut set for an early January release.
And in an industry that often thrives on instant success in the form of hit singles - often at the expense of great artistry - Stephanie Bentleys music is infused with her heart and soul. Hopechest captures the emotional truths of a young woman who has seen the pitfalls and frustrations of lost love and shattered dreams but who ultimately walks away with the confidence and wisdom of a survivor. It is that indomitable strength and the realization of a lifetime dream come true that defines Stephanie Bentley and Hopechest. And listeners are the better for it.
Source: http://www.sonymusic.com
