It’s the month that we celebrate the birth of our Savior, it’s the title of my favorite cd, and there’s just something in the air. The smell of burning fireplaces and the feel of the early winter chill fill me with anticipation and contentment at the same time. If I could have chosen the month I was to be born, I would have chosen December. I didn’t have to choose though. I was born on December 15th in Cape Girardeau, Missouri to Ken and Lisa Swinford. One of my favorite things about my story is how my dad saved the day with a scrawny little Christmas tree nobody wanted. My mom spent six days in the hospital with me, and so by the time she was released it was December 21st. Because of the business of my arrival and shortness of funds my parents hadn’t yet gotten a Christmas tree. My dad had looked everywhere, but every place was sold out. My mom was heartbroken that we didn’t have a tree. The night before we came home from the hospital he was driving home and spotted a crooked little Charlie Brownish tree on the side of the road. There was a sign on it that said “If you want me take me, I’m free”. My dad took it, and when my mom and I returned home, to her great surprise, there was her tree all waiting to be decorated. Thus was my first Christmas and my first Christmas tree.
Growing up I think I was a pretty normal kid with maybe just some slight deviations. I didn’t have brothers and sisters, so I spent a lot of time playing with and talking to my cats and stuffed animals. I don’t know if most kids thought this, but I really thought my stuffed animals were real and that maybe they came to life at night while I was sleeping. I went what you might call “a little overboard” with them when I was twelve, and my parents and I moved into a new house. Okay, I’ll just spit it out, I poked holes in the plastic bags that I packed them in during the move so they could breathe. I know, I know, it’s just a little much, and that point I knew of course that realistically it was silly. But, still holding on to that imaginative part of me I did it…just in case. My accomplice and best friend in the task, Shannon, still laughs about it today.
From an early age I had two loves, God and music. When I was five I was baptized with my dad. There began my life with God. I feel so blessed to have had that experience with my dad, and I remember having such a clear understanding of the significance of that moment. As far as music goes, apparently you couldn’t get me to shut up when I was in the mood to sing. My grandparents tell me how I used to sing and talk with absolutely no discretion or regard for whether people wanted to listen. If they asked me to take a break I would proclaim, “But I want to talk!!” I still love to talk, no question, just ask my husband or Alisa and Chrissy (they’ve been the recipients of my early morning realizations that I must express more times than they’d like) :-) It’s funny though, you have to practically twist my arm now to get me to sing upon request. Believe it or not I’m shy when it comes to that. I started piano lessons in second grade. I have to admit that I didn’t like it at first. To make sure I practiced, my mom would set the egg timer for thirty minutes every day, and I had to sit there until I heard the precious freeing sound of the “ding”, and then I could attend to more important things that I enjoyed (like talking to my stuffed animals). Eventually though, I began to really enjoy playing, and as I got better I began to absolutely love it. To this day, it’s the only thing in life that I can completely lose myself in. I hope in heaven one day, I have a piano room where I can sit and play to my heart’s content. I started voice lessons in sixth grade, but I wasn’t quite ready to appreciate them (I couldn’t understand why on earth I had to sing songs in Latin and German). In seventh grade I decided I wanted to play the alto saxophone. By ninth grade I had become really serious about my musical pursuits, and was balancing choir, band, piano, competitions with all and basketball.
My sophomore year I met my future husband, Ryan. Our best friends who were brother and sister set us up. I had choir with Ryan, and kind of knew him, but one day I was walking to choir in the rain and all of the sudden he ran up and got under my umbrella. We walked all the way to 6th hour together, exchanging shy smiles, but neither one of us had the guts to say anything. (We needed some help, that’s where our friends came in with the setting up). I’ll never forget that, how my heart raced as we walked together and every time that he smiled at me from across the room in choir. We were quite the pair in all our high school pictures. When we first started dating, Ryan had wild orange hair, freshly died for soccer season (I don’t have room to talk, mine was so poofy I could have snuck one of my cats to school in it!). Yes we were quite the pair, braces and all.
The summer before my senior year of high school, God showed me His purpose for this “music thing” I had been working so hard on. I was attending a huge convention with my youth group and thousands of other teens. One evening during a Crystal Lewis concert, I felt the Holy Spirit so strongly. I felt like God was telling me “This is why you have such great love and passion for music. I gave this gift to you to use to reach people for Me. One day that will be you.”(How ironic that a few years ago on the Carman tour we played in that same arena were I had seen Crystal Lewis minister and felt God speak to me. It just goes to show you that when you surrender to God’s will for your life, in His timing, He will make things happen.) I returned home absolutely on fire, filled with passion, drive and purpose. That year I wrote my first song, and the summer after high school with the help and support of my parents I started recording my first album at a local recording studio were I had done a few demos. I then went away to college where I became really involved with classical music. That year I felt myself drifting a bit. Knowing I wasn’t pursuing what I knew God had called me to, I had to do something about it. I knew some friends from high school that sang in a traveling contemporary ministerial group called Spirit Wing at Missouri Baptist College in St. Louis. I auditioned, was accepted and transferred the next year. I had an incredible year with the group. God was really preparing me in ministry for what would lie ahead. I felt even more called at that point into Christian music. I had a songwriter friend who lived in Nashville. She recommended I move to Nashville and “go for it.” Once again, I packed and moved to the next stop on my journey. I attended Belmont still studying classical music. I threw myself into songwriting. I just couldn’t stop. In it I found release and expression that I had never known. That fall, I joined a Christian trip hop band called Fleau, and we began writing, recording and performing. Someone heard me singing at a showcase and contacted me about ZOEgirl (that story you are are well versed in).
As ZOEgirl was getting on it’s feet, I finished the semester at Belmont (It was crazy for me!! While we were working on our first album, I was going back and forth between the studio and opera rehearsal for the production I was in). Alisa and Chrissy love to give me a hard time about my “opera days.” (Sorry, I don’t do encores anymore. The girls are always trying to get me to, but my classical voice is very much out of practice. I might sound like a dying cow! No one wants to hear that!!) :-)
On a romantic note, in 2000, Ryan and I re-entered each other’s lives (we had taken a break to see if it really was God’s will for us to be with one another). He graduated college and moved to Nashville. In August of 2001, he got down on his knees and asked me to marry him and on May 25th we were married in the most beautiful ceremony, in the most beautiful church, on the most beautiful day, with the most beautiful and wonderful people attending. (Sorry, I get carried away. It was just everything I had ever dreamed.) Now, we live in a cute little house in Nashville, TN with our two cats Sylvie and Sadie and our dog Mazzy. We’ve had a wonderful two years of marriage. We already have lots of traditions of our own. The perfect evening for us is to stay in and cook, listen to jazz and play scrabble, or curl up with our animals and watch movies. When I’m not on the road with ZOEgirl or in the studio I spend a lot of time songwriting and just playing the piano. I decided I needed a hobby to keep me occupied all those times we’re on the bus traveling so I learned to crochet and knit. I make scarves and blankets. (I get made fun of on tour for already being grandma-ish, it’s all in fun of course.) That’s the short story of me so far. We’ll see what else God has in store.
