While “Esther” is now long gone in favor of her dad’s guitar (which she wasn’t allowed to play until recently), Bethany says that “she was the beginning” of her journey as a musician. As it turns out, another important female was also quite instrumental early on.

The Road to Kansas

“A friend of mine had a tape of Jennifer Knapp’s 'Kansas.' I was over at her house spending the night, and she put it on,” Bethany remembers. “I was just floored. I was 10 then, and I was so inspired. It was definitely a major point in my faith — and in my life. God did a lot through that record in me. And because Jennifer was this rocker chick with attitude and a singer/songwriter, I was like, ‘Man, I need to be cool and play guitar like that.’”

While hearing Jennifer’s work reinforced what approach Bethany wanted to take as she dabbled in music, it was seeing Jennifer’s live show that solidified her fandom and desire to actually pursue music on a more serious level. With a giddy level of enthusiasm — as she chows down on Chinese food at her favorite downtown lunch spot — Bethany tells the story of her first concert experience at almost breakneck pace. After slow traffic nearly caused her and her sister to be late for the show (something Bethany was determined not to be) following the hour-long trek, she remembers trying to find her seat and exactly how happy she was to discover it was in the center of the second row.

“I stood there the whole time and just belted out her songs,” Bethany recalls. “In the middle of ‘Into You’ during the guitar solo, [Jennifer] kept making eye contact with me throughout the show, then threw her [guitar] pick out. Then she leaned over and was like, ‘I like your shirt.’ I had this Bohemian shirt on, and I was just like, ‘Yeah!’ Every concert after that, I rushed up in front of the first row and sat on the floor. She’s just meant a lot.”

While she never stuck around to meet Jennifer following a show, she’s someone Bethany would “most definitely” love to meet in the future.

The Moment of Truth

For most people, a concert experience is just that — an experience, enjoyable, exciting, but quickly forgotten. But for Bethany, that first concert changed the course of her life’s direction. “I had been messing around with the guitar, just learning her stuff and writing silly songs,” Bethany says. “But when I went home that night, and I know it probably sounds silly because I was only 11, but God was doing something in my heart at the time. After I came home, my sister was telling my mom all about the show.

“I went back in my room and cried for a couple of hours because my heart was just aching. It was unbearable. I prayed about it. I said, ‘God, I would do anything — whatever this longing is in me, if it could just be satisfied somehow or fulfilled, I would do anything.’”