WANDERLUST INSPIRES SARA ROSE HEBERT,
In 2014, Sara Rose Hebert had a CD release party for album “Mindful Meanderings” and then moved to B.C. for two years.
She has another album release party coming up.
This time the self-described “blue eyed love soul” singer-songwriter is heading to Melbourne, Australia.
“My goal is to play music,” says Hebert. “I think I shall start with some busking and getting to know the music scene.”
That’s what Hebert did when she first moved from Timmins to Kitchener in 2008 to study psychology. She became part of the local folk scene and performed with four piece “indie-grass” group A Yellow Field.
“Ever since I could remember I was singing,” recalls Hebert.
“My first memory was sitting in my Mum’s red Chevy listening to Shania Twain and rewinding her song “Any Man of Mine” over and over again,” she says.
“So it was country growing up and closer to the time when I really seriously started to sing — I was about 12 — I just joined choirs and I discovered folk,” she notes.
“I sang 24 hours a day. The way that I really learned was by studying specific vocalists, listening to their albums and then trying to replicate what they did. Eventually it became my own style through melding theirs”
Hebert’s influences run the gamut from early childhood music heroes Cat Stevens, Paul Simon and K.T. Tunstall, into more recent influences like Sarah Harmer, Fiona Apple, Skip James, Stevie Wonder, Laura Marling, Regina Spektor, Norah Jones, Nina Simone, and Amy Winehouse.
“In the past years my newer songwriting has likely been influenced by Feist. Right now Bon Iver and Iceland’s Emiliana Torrini are major influences. Ultimately I feel influences from everyone I hear. Every piece of music, five seconds, or 500 times has impacted me.”
Hebert’s first full CD, “Mindful Meanderings,” showcases her rich, calming voice, soothing melodies, and provocative lyrics in songs like bittersweet ballad “Majesty of the Night,” lost romance rant “Anger,” or clever religious debate “The Various Shades of Carpentry (The Jesus Song).”
Hebert’s first language is French and “Mindful Meanderings” also features the whimsical and cautionary lover’s tale “Si Jamais.”
Her next fan-funded album “Keep Up With Your Heart” has a specific theme.
“This is a ‘love’ album with themes of self love, self compassion and self understanding,” notes Hebert. “This album focuses on the last five years of massive growth in my life. I want to share the love that I feel for the people, the earth itself and life’s existence through my music. And I really think that it comes through in the songs that I have written for this album.”
She has always felt the need to be on the move.
Hebert travelled around B.C. to see if she really wanted to go to grad school. “I find the mountains, the ocean and the sky really fuel my music, my writing and my creativity,” she says.
“I have always had this feeling that the world has something else to teach me and show me. I feel so inspired by culture and people. Every person I meet has 100 stories to tell and so much love to share. That’s why I need to keep moving, keep learning, and keep growing in that way. I find when I stay in one place for too long I forget the wonders of the world.”