“You run against the wind til the wind runs out. But you were meant for riding fences anyhow. And you’d give a lifetime to a 10 year town.” – Rhinestone Rodeo, Hannah Bethel
Gentle, yet passionate. Mystical, yet real. Wild, but grounded. Perhaps it’s the fact that she studies Reiki or maybe it’s the influence of the 70s classic rock icons that she grew up on in Michigan. It could be that she’s been dancing by bonfires out west and wondering thru fields in Alaska for so long, that her energy flies thru a room more like a bird or a fairy than an actual human.
Within minutes of sharing space with rising country/Americana artist Hannah Bethel, one is instantly attracted to her peaceful, all encompassing, keenly aware presence. And on a hot day in June, she seems just as content strumming her guitar in an office on Music Row as she would be sleeping in a tent under the stars in the East Tennessee mountains. She plays her newest release, “Rhinestone Rodeo” for an audience of two just as intimately as she would for an audience of 200. Not only does she have a smooth and effortless vocal delivery, but this is a girl who knows the power of the message she has been sent to deliver.
“Rhinestone Rodeo”, co-written with Nicole Witt of Farewell Angelina and Tiffany Goss, tells the story every musician, whether established or struggling, is all too familiar with. Choosing a life in the music industry is not easy. . . that is . . . if you even chose it. Most would say it chooses you. For Hannah, it’s evident from the home movie flashbacks interwoven with present time in her “Rhinestone Rodeo” music video. The video, currently sitting at #8 on the CMT 12-pack, features a young Hannah performing at festivals and jubilees years before she made her way to the Music City. By the time she moved to Nashville at age 18, she had already self-released her first record and during the next six years, would go on to release three more independent albums. That drive and independent spirit has not gone unnoticed by the who’s who in the industry. “Rhinestone Rodeo” may be the most recent video to air on CMT, but it’s not the first. CMT also released her 2018 video, “Train” to their broadcast, online, and social media platforms back in November. From there, she went on to participate in CMT’s Music Artist Discovery Program and she can be found on CMT’s Next Women of Country Playlists on both Spotify and Apple. Earlier this summer, she played Rockwood Music Hall in New York and took her entire band to Alaska for the first time, where she has been playing festivals for years.
So, what is it like to see trees take root from the seeds that were planted so long ago?
“It’s really surreal,” Hannah told The Country Note. “I’ve just had my head down busting it for such a long while. So, I’m trying to remind myself to take a breather and really see what’s happening because there’s some really cool stuff.”
Her female counterparts can certainly share in her joys and her frustrations when it comes to the business. Hannah has seen music industry politics at its finest throughout her last ten years here, particularly the effect it has had on women. The invitation to join Song Suffragettes a few months back convinced Hannah more than ever that she was on the right path. If you know anything about Nashville, you know that the ladies in the SS club are among the most elite and highly respected rising female country artists in town. And if you ask Hannah, she’ll tell you it couldn’t be a better time to be a female in country music.
“Women are really learning to honor themselves and step into their power. And I think the more they learn to do that, the easier it is to lift other people up and realize there is space for everyone. It’s not limited as I feel like so many of us have believed for such a long time. And people are creating so freely and authentically and it’s just really inspiring to be around other artists (especially women artists) that are just doing beautiful things in the world.”
Spoken from one who once limited her own potential, even though it seems fear has no chance of knocking down her doors anytime soon.
“For a long time, when I first moved to Nashville, I had this mindset that I cannot have any other passions or anything else I put my focus on. Relationships don’t matter as much; other jobs don’t matter as much—only music. I was not really embracing the totality of my being. And the more that I dig into these other things that I love and that nurture my soul. . . the more I dig into relationships in my life. . . the more that it brings back to my music and the creation process. If you limit what you think you can do, then it will be limited. But if you don’t, the possibilities are limitless.”
Seems easy enough, right? But in an industry that is constantly coming up with rules and formulas for how to get radio play and #1s. . . . a business that is all too often focused on streaming numbers and awards instead of development and raw talent. . . .how does one navigate their way thru and stay true to their art, all while making a living?
Hannah remembers a time when she felt pressured to write what’s popular or look a certain way, all for the sake of commercial success.
“It just didn’t work for me at all, “she recalls. “I always felt like I was fighting something when I was trying to do that. And a couple of years ago, I just kinda had to sit down with myself and be clear with myself about why I’m doing this. Why do I make music? Why do I create? And it’s simply because I HAVE TOO. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be whole and that is the only thing that matters. No one’s validation or verification of what I’m doing will ever be enough if I’m not honoring the reason why I create in the first place. You get into the natural flow of the universe and you’re in a current. You get where you’re going when you’re in the tracks and it leads you.”
Leave it to the wildflower to come up with something profound and compare a music career to a beautiful and uncontrollable force of nature. It must be the same part of her brain that comes up with lyrics like these:
Everyone’s got stars in their eyes
It’s easy to get blinded by the light
You can’t always hear your heart over the rowdy crowd
But man, it’s worth it
Took years to find that sound
Rhinestone Rodeo
Hard to stay but you can’t go
Too far gone to ever get back home
You go for the gold land in the dirt
Get kicked around and get knocked down
Til it don’t even hurt anymore
Get back on your horse and on to the next show
Rhinestone rodeo
And for the songstress, the next show is always right around the corner. As is a new single and new video in the fall sometime. And if she has it her way, a full length record within the year.
“I’m very goal oriented and I love to set time frames for myself on things but I’m also very open—you literally have no idea what’s going to happen to you when you leave this office and step onto the street—you have to make room for anything else to come into the flow, “ she reminds anyone who might be listening.
And if that flow includes worldwide touring, full time music, meeting new friends, good food, and local beer. . .. well that’s all this firefly named Hannah Bethel needs. And a bonfire of course. And maybe you should throw in a highway drive with the top down for extra measure. That last part didn’t really come from Hannah. IT comes from the rest of us who want to pack up our bags, throw caution to the wind, and go on her adventures with her.
But that’s easy to do, just by listening to her music. She tends to have that magic effect on people.