Interview with Recording Artist Sara Hickman
Sara Hickman creates music to rock your soul - and your kid's soul, too!
Commitment: There are children's recording artist artists and adults recording artists, but you are both! With CDs such as Newborn, Toddler and Big Kid for children, and adult CDs such as Motherlode and Two Kinds of Laughter, it seems as if you are able to effortlessly transition over from one genre to the other. With which genre did you begin your career and how did you cross over to the other?
Sara: As a little girl, early on, around 6 years old, I knew I would sing. I just knew. I started taking guitar lessons at 7, and by 10 I had my first band (all girl, at that!) I wrote my first song when I was 8 about my grandmother's pasture up in Arkansas. I was very influenced by John Denver! So, I always knew I would grow up to make records. And then I did! This has been such an interesting business to be in...As far as making music for children, I started doing music therapy in high school, but it wasn't until I was out of college I started singing for children in hospitals. Later on, after I was married and had my first child, I started singing to her, and it led me to wanting to capture those songs/feelings for other parents, thus I created "Newborn", my first children's cd. That lead to "Toddler" and "Big Kid", cds geared for toward children in those age groups.
Commitment: The balancing act of work and motherhood was never so apparent as when you began to lactate on stage during a concert! How do you manage a career in music while parenting?
Sara: Ha ha ha! That was a hilarious moment! My breasts sit so close to my guitar, that I think my breasts thought it was my baby, and whoops! There I was on stage in front of 1200 people, lactacting, a big stain on the shirt over my right breast! About the same moment, I knocked over a bottled water, so I asked my pianist for one of his towels. He threw it over to me thinking I was going to clean up the spilt water, but I started patting my chest! The audience was roaring with laughter; my pianist was bright red! No harm done, though. All in good fun.
So, to answer your question...How do I manage a career in music while parenting...The answer is simple: I manage my time wisely, I plan waaaay in advance on my calendar, I ask for help and I delegate. I have a team of amazing friends/assistants who help me.
And I have a beautiful, thoughtful, intelligent, helpful husband who is a stay at home dad...He takes care of all the things a stay-at-home mom would do: laundry, grocery shopping, cooking, making school lunches. When we first got married, we sat down and wrote out who would do what, from yard work to taxes, and that helped us clarify what our roles were as parents and business partners. It's VERY important to be clear in your roles because then everything can flow smoothly. This isn't to say I don't get to enjoy helping out because, for example, yesterday I went grocery shopping...I was dropping my eldest daughter off at her school, and I was right next to the grocery store, so I called my husband, asked for the grocery list, and had fun buying what we need. I guess the most important thing I can say about "balancing" family and work is to think of all of it as being in the moment, being present, recognizing what each of us can do to help, enjoying your family, enjoying what you do to bring in income. The old adage, "It's not the quantity, it's the QUALITY that matters." When I'm spending time with my children, I am WITH my children---laughing, listening, playing, learning---and when I'm with my husband, he has ME. I want to be with him. If I'm doing business, I'm doing business. All stuff all of your readers know, nothing new, really.
Commitment: Your latest album, Motherlode, features two CDs. The first is dark – dealing with subjects such as depression, addiction and domestic violence, and the second is light – celebrating love, sex and motherhood. The CDs together seem to represent both the joys and frustrations of motherhood. Was that your intent?
Sara: Yes, completely! I was at the piano one day and the song "Living in Quiet Desperation" came flowing out of me. When I wrote the line, "No one's as mean to me as me," I started to cry. I felt this grief, and I started to ask my other mom friends what they thought of the song. They all identified with it, and then, around that time I had a dream and I heard the word MOTHERLODE. The idea came to me that I have two distinct aspects of being a mom---fun, upbeat, sexy, silly---and a serious, emotional side that is affected by world issues---poverty, war, violence---so I decided to create two distinct cds addressing those issues as a mom rocker.
Your children's albums are very popular and have won many awards. Do fans of your children's music ever mistakenly buy tickets to see your adult shows?
Sara: Oh, dear, yes. There have been occassions were I look out in the audience at 10 pm at night and there are parents with their 4 year old. I'm not sure why anyone might think I'd be doing a children's show at 10 pm!
Commitment: You have two daughters. How has motherhood influenced your music?
Sara: I've always been highly empathetic to human suffering. I've always wanted to help those around me, around the world. Having children made me stronger, gave me more courage, gave me the ability to laugh more so at my goofiness. It gave me the insight that I had a place to put the silly stuff---in my children's music---but also that children are BRILLIANT. I wanted to make music for kids/families that wasn't dumb silly, or goofy. All my music has great intent/thought behind it.
I think having children has shown me that I need to take my time seriously and be the best person/artist I can be because I want to be a role model for my girls. I guess it has influenced my music by making me look at who I am and do I like what I'm singing about? The answer is yes.
Commitment: Were your children's CDs Newborn, Toddler, and Big Kid based on your own children's development?
Sara: Totally. I plan to put out a Tweeners cd called ZINE, and a teenage album called, "Hey. Get outta here." The last year and a half I 've worked with Super Pal Universe, a teen band I put together. We recorded a cd, they performed at ACL Festival and SXSW, and I just finished putting together a TV pilot that I hope to license for national exposure of Super Pal Universe, their music and their involvement in community awareness.
It's a sort of ZOOM meets Facebook meets The Monkees.
Commitment: Your parents are both artists – your mom is a fiber artist, and your dad is a painting professor. Did this childhood exposure to art influence your decision to make a career in the arts?
Sara: I can not stress enough the importance of having arts/music in the home. I was always able to grab some clay, or put together a play and build sets, or create a weaving. My parents were always giving us room and supplies to be creative. They took us to museums and the symphony. It was a wonderful, wonderful childhood when I was a little girl. So, yes, these early influences had a lot to do with me as a creative person wanting to express myself as an artist; I think the career part is just an extension of who I am 24/7.
Commitment: You have donated much time and money to charities such as Habitat for Humanity, the SPCA, the Race for the Cure and other animal and human rights organizations, as well as raising funds and awareness of the need for breast milk for premature infants through the Mother's Milk Bank. Does your interest in these social causes appear in your music?
Sara: All the time. I just wrote a song called "State of Emergency" for a foundation that helps parents of autistic children. I feel blessed that I can create music to help organizations expand their capacity to help in the community while creating awareness at the same time. Music, as you know, is the universal language.
Sara Hickman has released more than 15 albums, including a half dozen on major record labels, and a few independent albums. She has been a guest performer on at least 25 albums by other musicians. She had a #3 adult contemporary hit "I Couldn't Help Myself", has twice been a guest of NBC's Tonight Show, hosted her own VH-1 special, produced an independent video, Joy, that won first place in the USA Film Festival, and co-produced a PBS documentary titled Take It Like A Man.
Sara has received the following awards:
The National Association of Music Therapists
Austin Under Forty (2002-Entertainment )
The Kerrville Folk Festival (community service)
The Speaking of Women's Health Initiative (community service) Austin Music Awards (1999-2000-one of the top three songwriters, one of the top five female vocalists, top five singer-songwriters, in top three folk artists, top ten musicians)
The Dallas Observer Awards (Best Musician, Best Producer, Best Indie Release, Best Major Label Release, Best Female Vocalist)
Parents' Choice (Gold-Toddler/2001, Recommended-Big Kid/2004)
NAPPA Gold (Newborn-2001, Big Kid and Toddler-2004)
Dr. Toy's Top 10 Audio Tapes of 2001 (Toddler)
Dr. Toy's 100 Best Toys of 2001 (Toddler)
Best Classic Recording 2003 Children's Web Media (Newborn & Toddler)
2003 New Beginning Center Award
Dr. Toy's Best Vacation Product 2004 (Big Kid)
Creative Child’s Top Creative Toy Award 2005 (Toddler – Preferred Choice, Newborn – Seal of Excellence)
Austin American-Statesman XL Fortunate 500 List: 2007 Edition
To contact Sara or to learn more about her and her music, visit the following sites:
Sara's Blog: www.zenlala.com
Sara's Charities: www.necessaryangels.com
Sara's Website: www.sarahickman.com; www.superpaluniverse.com
To purchase Motherlode, click here.
