You're a Lion, not a Mouse.

Photo by: Sage & Wild Co

This post is a pretty vulnerable one. I want you to know that I am a huge proponent of being real and authentic in hopes that it helps others to do the same. I express my faith beliefs here, but I want you to know, you don't have to believe the same thing for us to be friends. You are loved and accepted no matter what place you are coming from! :)

I went through a season of delay recently that made me question everything. I questioned whether I was good enough, I questioned if I was headed the right direction, questioned my voice & songwriting & wrestled with some major fear.

I got prayer from a few friends and told them that I was majorly wrestling with confidence & fear. That no matter how much I told myself or other people told me I was good enough, it never sunk in!

They prayed for me and one of my friends got a powerful word for me that I've held onto, moving into a very busy season. She said "I feel like God is saying that you see yourself as a Mouse but He sees you as a Lion!" Hearing those words resonated so deeply in my heart and I realized, I was looking for affirmations from other people, when really I needed to hear those things from GOD. To know that HE sees me as strong, capable, bold, and courageous. That even though I FEEL small and insignificant, it doesn't mean thats WHO I am.

THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING FOR ME.

I no longer walked into situations feeling insecure and small. I held my head high, knowing who I was. I had MANY situations to test this out and it wasn't fun, BUT in those moments when I was faced with something scary I heard the voice of God quietly but steadily say, "Remember Heather, You're a Lion, not a Mouse." What a reassurance! I know I can talk to anyone and be assured of who I am because of WHOSE I am.

All that being said... Since coming face to face with my identity, SO many things are opening up for me. Just go to my Tour Schedule Page & Video Page and you'll see!! 

I think that God is very much about forming our character and Identity FIRST before He takes us into more, because He knows that if we have more first, we might not be ready for it! I am thankful I had that identity discovery before all I'm doing now because I would have felt very small and mousey heading into everything!

Want to see some cool things happening?!

I Just released a Single and Music Video for my song "Change Your Mind", a Song that I wrote for Blue Heart International, an Organization that is helping Victims of Human Trafficking right here in Sacramento! It was really cool teaming up with them on this song and video!

I also released another song about Motherhood called "Thrive". I made a super cute "day in the life" music video for it that follows me through daily life. It's not a professional music video but the sentiment remains the same!

You can find BOTH of those songs on Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, Napster, Amazon & more!

I also Started an amazing Songwriter event called the Sacramento Songwriter Circle! It's a live music event that happens the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of the month at Fig Tree Coffee! Artists perform in the round and answer questions from the host! It's been amazing and it's really thriving.

On top of that, we started a songwriter only Meet Up that happens Once a Month too! It's an incredible opportunity to learn and grow as a songwriter as well as share your music!

We recently started The Songwriter Circle Podcast (it's on iTunes & SoundCloud!) that has all the interviews from the Sacramento Songwriter Circle event

In my Element at the Songwriter Meet Up!

Sacramento Songwriter Circle Event at Fig Tree Coffee!

I also had a great opportunity to play at the Calaveras County Fair with my friend Danielo!

Playing at the Calaveras County Fair!

I also have a BUNCH of cool events I'm Hosting and playing at coming up this and next week!

I have also been heading up Jesus Culture Sacramento's Kids Ministry Worship Team, Building teams and growing community! It's been incredible to be apart of. Seeing the kids engage with God through worship is soooo powerful and encouraging!

 I've been playing at The Sacramento Library's all over Sacramento for their Children's Story times! I feel like I'm living my best life when I get to do these! The kids are the cutest and I've applied a lot of what I've learned from Kids Worship to Story Time! Plus, I get paid. BEST JOB EVER.

The last thing I've been doing is Guest Leading worship at different Churches in Sacramento and at Women's Conferences & special events! It's been really great connecting with other churches in the area!!

See???!! It's A LOT!! BUT the crazy thing is I am balancing it all really well and I am LOVING EVERY SECOND. If I'm not doing music, I feel like a shaken pop bottle! I could explode! But I'm doing exactly what I love and feel like I'm making a difference in people's lives young and old. 

What every you do, do it with your whole heart. See the people in front of you and love on them well. Get over yourself and get over your FEAR, because more times than not WE are the ones getting in our own way! 

Face your fears, deal with them head on, then GO AFTER YOUR DREAMS!

The Highs & The Lows.

These last few months have been a rollercoaster, full of high highs and low lows.

I released my 3 song EP called "The Life EP" on October 27th and it took sooo much to get everything in order to make it happen! This is the 4th project I've released on my own and I really went for it this time (and still going after it for that matter!)

Here's some of the High's:

- With the help of my friends Sara Castro, My husband Brett and my friend Elizabeth Hosford, I've been able to make custom merchandise pieces that I LOVE like coffee mugs, Coloring Pages, T-shirts and Water color Hand Lettered Lyric Art!

-I've played many awesome paying gigs and have made some really great connections and friends through them! The paying gigs have paid for things like my Coffee + Jesus Owl Mugs and T-shirts and a recording of a new song that has a LOT of promise!

-At those shows I sold out of physical Copies of Out of the Woods and Songs for Healing! I'm hoping to get more printed of those 2 CD's soon! The songs on those CD's are some of the "musical meat" that I usually play in my live shows.

-I signed with an awesome Music Licensing company that finds music for TV and Film with a possible Commercial spot in Europe for Mom Life in the works!!

-I released 2 Music Videos: Mom Life, which went semi-viral with 340 shares and over 38.4k views and a bunch of comments about how people are resonating with the song! Let me tell you, THAT MEANS EVERYTHING TO ME to know people are resonating with something I have written! Especially something as honest as Mom Life.

I also released The Good Life on Thanksgiving day and it turned out SO beautiful. The scenery and imagery captured the song really well and I felt super happy to be able to release it on Thanksgiving.

-I wrote an amazing follow up song to Mom Life, Called "Thrive" recorded it & made a "day in the life" video of it. Still finishing that one up and it should be released in January! I think this is one of my favorite songs that I've ever written and it's really raw and captures an emotional snapshot of where I am in my mom life right now. I'm really trying to find the balance between Surviving and THRIVING. It's not easy most days, but I'm figuring out it's just a season and I can make it!

-I emailed at least 1000+ music contacts and mom bloggers and got a few emails back! I heard back instantly from a few bigger Mom Bloggers and some smaller ones that Featured the Mom Life Music Video. I heard back from 2-3 music bloggers. It's hard to break in to the music blogging scene because they hear from so many people in a day, so to hear anything back is a miracle!

-I won the opportunity to play Mom Life for a professional songwriter and Music Publisher in Nashville and they loved it! The feedback from that session, REALLY got me thinking about the way I write and how I want to move forward in this business.

-I've bumped into people literally in the grocery store, on Instagram, at church or just friends who have told me how my music has resonated with them and it reminds me why I'm doing this.

-I recently met a guy working at Guitar Center that is a Recording Student and offered to give me a 4 hour session in the studio FOR FREE! It happens to be near San Fransisco and I scheduled it for a time when we are going to be in San Fransisco for a family trip anyways! Such a Devine moment because I've been wanting to record a specific song and get a more professional vocal on Thrive, the new song I'm working on!

The Lows seem dumb compared to all the good happening, but I think they are worth sharing.

As a creative it's SO EASY to be a perfectionist and get upset when things don't happen just the way we planned them. SO many things did not go as planned with this project, but in a strange way I think it was good for me! I had to Trust God in a way I never would have if things just worked perfectly.

I had little to no budget to work with on this EP and the fact that it was fully funded along the way is a MIRACLE. I couldn't have made that happen, in fact I tried to make it happen on my own so many times and FAILED MISERABLY. Yet these seemingly random opportunities would present themselves RIGHT at the moment I had need of them. I KNOW that isn't an accident! Just because all that breakthrough happened, doesn't mean it was easy to walk through though. I cried A LOT. I prayed A LOT. I questioned A LOT.

I currently find myself in the place of "What's next?". I released everything, now what? I don't want the buzz from this project to die off. I still want to make a music video for 20 Years From Now. I feel like there are more opportunities, but I don't know what door to knock on...

I just heard Eric Johnson say this quote at my church that I thought was perfect for where I find myself..

"When God closes one door He opens another, but it can be Hell in the hallway."

I am in the hallway, knocking on doors. I'm not where I'm supposed to be yet and it gets discouraging knocking on doors with no answer, but I've gotta keep trying.

I get choked up every. single. time. I sing a line in my new song Thrive that says:

"These dreams in my head, they seem too big, but I cannot give up on them yet.."

I can't give up. I want to give up. The discouragement swallows me up sometimes.. But I know these songs aren't just for me to sing to myself, but that they were given to me to give out, to encourage others where they are at.

So I combat the voices that tell me to quit. It's not easy, but it's so good. My faith is growing everyday and songs swell up in my heart in these moments and I know all the pain and wrestling isn't the end of the story.

The thing I'm realizing right now is how much God is working behind the scenes on my behalf. I wasn't aware of it for a long time and I think it sort of made me stressed out and made me think I had to make it all happen on my own. I'm realizing I don't have to be SO STRESSED OUT because I'm working hard, praying harder and HE'S working it all out behind the scenes. I can't even tell you how many times I've been on the other side of an impossible situation and thinking, "WOW. HOW DID I GET HERE AND HOW DID THAT EVEN HAPPEN?!?!" 

SO I'll TRUST even when I can't see. I won't let fear lead me, but FAITH. I'll Trust Him in the Highs and the Lows.

Behind the Scenes of the Mom Life Music Video & The Good Life Music Video

Behind the Scenes of the Mom Life Music Video & The Good Life Music Video

I Wrote "Mom Life" in a VERY hard mom season. Story was maybe 8 months old, not sleeping through the night, teething, very clingy, whiny and I was having a tough time with nursing and Trust was feeling like I wasn't giving him as much attention as Story and was majorly acting out. I was feeling very overwhelmed.

I felt like the only way I could get through some days was lots of Coffee and LOTS of "breath prayers" that were more like distress signals, saying "Jesus, HELP." I counted down the seconds until my husband got home so I could take a 10 minute break and decompress or just be by myself for 2 seconds, only to find a little kid in the doorway telling me about some deep theology about lego mini figures.

I snuck away one night and sat on the bed in my room with my guitar and the song "Mom Life" came out all in one moment! I honestly think it's one of the most clever songs I've ever written and it literally just flowed out of all the situations I currently found myself in.

About 2 years ago, after I had written the song, I had a dream about making "Mom Life" into a funny, heartwarming Music Video, to encourage other mom's walking through similar seasons. Something moms could relate to, find comfort from, laugh at and cry with..

SO, WE DID IT. I made that tiny dream into a reality with the help of Pete King, Joseph and Adam!

Here's a behind the scenes video of the day of shooting!


It wasn't all roses and butterflies. In proper Mom Life fashion, the kids were whiny, didn't want to do the scenes and I felt a little disheartened, wondering if it was going to work. Pete, Adam and Joseph hung in there with us and by the afternoon, things started to get better for me. I think I sort of let go at a certain point and was like "Well, it'll be an honest video about Mom Life!" haha!

I had a lot of fun getting to "act" in the video! I felt like it was something that I really enjoyed doing.

At about 4pm we shot some band shots with some friends from my church's kids worship team: Emily on bass, Paul on Electric, and my brother in law Jesse on the drums and Sister Amy on the Keys!

 I changed my look from PJ's to glam, dressed in a Lularoe outfit styled by my friend Ali Gattison! Check her out on FB: https://www.facebook.com/lularoealigattison She did such a great job finding something in my color palette!

My husband Brett did a GREAT job being extra support for the kids AND shooting behind the scenes footage on video and with his fancy camera! He's amazing! Here's some of the photos he captured:

The Life EP is being mixed and mastered as we speak! I am humbled that I got to work some music all-stars like Jeffrey Kunde, Andrew Jackson and Jeremy Edwardson at SoundHouse in Redding! I am chomping at the bit waiting to hear the final versions of the songs... Then the Mom Life Music Video can be edited by Pete, then released when the EP is officially out, HOPEFULLY at the end of October.

I am also about ready to shoot a video for "The Good Life" next week with my friend Sergio Perez! It'll be really simple and heartwarming with lots of shots of our family at sunset and around a campfire! I love that it's been my friends that have been the ones to help make these videos. It makes it much more special for sure.

I also got some REALLY COOL hand scripted lyrics from my friend Elizabeth Hosford to sell at my Merch Table! Check out her creations on Instagram at: http://www.instagram.com/choicearrowcreations

I'm working really hard to come up with some really fantastic, one of a kind Merch items and Bundles, I can't wait for you to see!!

LAST BUT NOT LEAST, Join the Email Newsletter BELOW! I have 2 people that have subscribed so far haha! Lets add some more! You'll get all sorts of fun info and freebies, so make sure you're not missing out!

Heather's Email Newsletter

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Noisetrade, The "Mom Life" Music Video & Conquering Fears.

I am ALL about being open and honest about my "process" as a musician, mom & person. If you follow me on social media, you know that to be true. :) I hope that my transparency helps someone else in their process & helps you to know you're not alone!

So here's my process these last few weeks..

Last week I started a mini Fundraiser on www.noisetrade.com/heatherevansmusic to help raise some money to market "The Life EP". I'm selling "Songs for Healing" for $6 or donation of people's choice, to hopefully make the extra money I need to get "The Life EP where it needs to go.

Up to this point I had been self sufficient, paying for recording & a music video on my own, but I realized I needed some help! I didn't have a dime to actually make copies of the EP, merch & all the ways you need to pay for ADs on social media to widen your reach as an artist &so many other little things. If you're an indie musician, you know how quickly the costs can mount! I also want to make another music video for "20 Years From Now", a song that always hits people's hearts when I play it live. One of my goals with music is to have the music fund the music, & to never draw from our personal money, because we don't have a lot of extra.

In my heart of hearts, I REALLY want to do this EP right. In the past I've released albums, but I've never had a real marketing plan behind them. They each had mini successes, but it had nothing to do with marketing, just random luck really. This time around, I have a solid marketing plan, know what I want, & I know it's going to go places!! I'm dreaming BIG &it's exciting AND extremely SCARY at the same time!

So, I felt sort of embarrassed & discouraged when no one responded to the post about the Noisetrade Fundraiser at first. Fear rose up in my heart, "is this going to work? What if no one likes my music? Who am I to think I could do what I'm planning to do?" I even broke down  cried on a FB Live when I expressed my heart for this project & just longing for someone to believe in me.

I prayed, cried and God got to work. Right after I prayed, I got an Email from Noisetrade asking if I wanted to be featured in the "New & Noteable" section of their website & featured in their newsletter. They have a reach of 1.7 million listeners! What a PERFECT opportunity to build my reach right before "The Life EP" release! The Noisetrade Feature is happening on August 14th and my husband Brett captured some stunning promo photos for it! Can't wait to see what happens when the Feature runs!

Later that night I checked my Noisetrade Fundraiser status & I'd raised $100 in ONE DAY! Not only that but people were texting me & messaging me about how they were connecting to the "Songs for Healing" EP.

Talk about a humbling experience! I hate that I let fear corner me sometimes. I KNOW I'm supposed to dream big for this project, but I let fear tell me otherwise! I forget what The Lord has spoken to me so quick!

To ensure I wouldn't forget anymore, I made a DREAM WALL. My dream wall is there so that in moments of fear and doubt, I can look at what my community says about me, inspirational quotes, song lyrics, pictures, the words I feel like I've gotten from God about this project, My hopes, and my dreams for it. It's amazing to see everyday & gives me courage!

This weekend, Pete King is helping me shoot the "Mom Life" Music Video! I'm hustling this week getting my house cleaned, because we are filming it at my house! It will be a pretty realistic depiction of a "day in the life" of being a momma! I'm so stoked about that. My worlds of being a mom to 2 kiddies and being a musician are colliding!

My friend Ali Gattison, did an amazing job "styling" me in some Lularoe outfits for the Music Video! I had a blast trying everything on & I love how mix & match everything was. Here's a little peek at what she picked out for me, but you'll have to wait to see which one I chose! :)

ONE LAST THING! I'm diving into the world of Email newsletters! I plan on sharing fun life updates and EXCLUSIVE songs & videos with just my "Adventures with Heather newsletter" subscribers! The Journey is about to get exciting, so now is the perfect time to join! If you'd like to join, sign up below!

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