Kristen Bearfield Chats About New Single "Don't Believe"

Daniel Mullins: Welcome to Real Roots Radio. We are live at the International Bluegrass Music Association's World of Bluegrass. And I'm excited to welcome my great friend, Miss Kristen Bearfield. How are you, Miss Kristen?

Kristen Bearfield: Thank you, Daniel. It's so good to be here. I'm doing well. So great to see you, Miss Daisy, your beautiful family, and to be here with our Bluegrass family celebrating this week.

Daniel Mullins: It's been an exciting week for all of us, but you as as well, nominated for IBMA Momentum Vocalist of the Year. What does that mean to you?

Kristen Bearfield: Thank you. It was such an honor. The day I received the nomination, I was just blown away. This community has meant so much to me for so long. I've had boots on the ground here for many, many years, and I felt like this was years coming to fruition, and it just felt like such an incredible, special moment. And just to be here and celebrate with my Bluegrass family has meant the world.

Daniel Mullins: Of course, gospel fans have recognized you for a long time, working with the band High Road and with several successful gospel singles over the years, but you have a brand new bluegrass song dropping in October. Why don't you tell us about it?

Kristen Bearfield: I'm so excited about this and coming off of IBMA and my Momentum Vocalist nomination, there felt like no better time to do this. And so my new bluegrasssingle, “Don't Believe,” will be releasing to Bluegrass Radio on October 17th. I was so honored to have a powerhouse.lineup join me on this release. Stephen Mougin, Rob Ickes, Russ Carson, Andy Leftwitch, Byron House on bass, and Eli Johnston on harmony vocals. So, we are thrilled to be releasing this song. The message of this song just feels so timely for the world we're in. It's so easy to get caught up and get lost in the traps and the games that are played in this world. And we have to have discernment. We have to know where our compass lies and whereour compass stands. And this song says, "Don't believe everything you hear." See, we have to we have to be on guard. We have to be on watch. And for me, thatfeels more timely than ever in the days that we're in. So, I'm truly honored to get to share my my take on this song, and I can't wait for folks to hear it.

Daniel Mullins: You've always had a passion for music with a message. Why do you think that's important?

Kristen Bearfield: Yes. The message has always been at the forefront of everything I do. I believe that music is a vehicle to communicate, and I've always viewed it as that. And anytime that the Lord closes that door, I'll be completely content in that. And as he continues to open those doors, I'll continue to walk through wherever that leads. And so, yeah, the message of each release that I do is very, very important to me. And this one feels it always blows me away. You know, Country Faith came out last fall right around the time of Hurricane Helen. We were able to use that to help my home area of Western North Carolina. And then here we are with this release that got delayed for a couple months for reasons I didn't understand at the time, but now I'm like, man, it feels like the perfect time for this message to be out there. And so, I can't wait for folks to hear it. Plus, it's kicking, y'all. I mean, these guys tore it up. So, I'm so excited.

Daniel Mullins: In addition to your solo releases releases, your work with High Road, you're also really involved in the Bluegrass Gospel community with Singing News Magazine. Why don't you tell us about that?

Kristen Bearfield: It has been so cool to work with Singing News over the last year, hosting their new Faith Country and Bluegrass series. We had the festival there last year at the Ark Encounter and it was such a joy to host that and I've been able to interview and talk with some folks who are carrying their faith, their beliefs like I am into the into different genres and they may not be classified as a gospel artist, but they're carrying it into country music, into bluegrass music. And that's, as a believer, that's what we're called to do. We're called to be salt and light. And right now the verse comes to mind that the light will break through the darkness and the darkness will not overcome it. It's been so cool to get to talk to like-minded folks who even though it may not be a gospel song, there may not be anything about that in it, but to carry a message of positivity and faith into the world. My goodness, don't we need that? You know, so it's really cool.

Daniel Mullins: Absolutely. And there's a difference between Christian music and music made by Christians. and and you can still carry that same principle and integrity and carry that light even if you're not making strictly Christian music. So, I appreciate you being such a great ambassador for that.

Kristen Bearfield: Oh, thank you. And likewise to you and I see that in all that you all do and it's just a joy to to have folks like each other in our corner. We've been friends for many years now and I’m truly grateful for your friendship and your family's friendship. We got to all stick together. It's about unity. So, I'm really grateful.

Daniel Mullins: Thank you, Miss Kristen. And be sure to check out “Don't Believe” dropping October 17th.

Learn More About Kristen Bearfield: https://kristenleighbearfield.com/home