Beth Hazel Farris

As a child, Beth Hazel Farris and her sister staged little performances and required her parents to be their audience. It was in her grandfather’s living room where Beth’s mother, Pam, first recognized the girl’s affinity for music. “She’d sit with her Paw Paw listening to old country music – Merle Haggard, George Jones,” says Pam.

 

Beth’s mother loved Motown, disco, and country. Her father favored rock and roll. The soundtrack of her life included the Bee Gees, Tanya Tucker, Electric Light Orchestra, Led Zeppelin, and Aerosmith.

 

Then a couple visited her parents’ small singlewide trailer and told them about Jesus. The tunes began to include Benny Hester, Rich Mullins, and a new guy – Steven Curtis Chapman.

 

As a teenager she started gravitating to the sounds of folk, Americana, and bluegrass. But it wasn’t until Beth became a young wife and mother that she began making music herself.

 

“I had a baby, and my husband and I shared one vehicle,” Beth recalls. “While he was at work, I sat my baby in a Pack ‘n Play on the front porch, and I taught myself how to pick and roll! Yes…I was barefoot with a baby and playing banjo on my front porch.” Soon she was adding words to the music and a singer/songwriter was born.

 

She makes it sound easy. “I write songs about things that are on the tip of my tongue,” she explains. “I was reading and studying the life of Jesus. I was so overwhelmed with His love and kindness that I had to write down the words to “Follow Me”, the song that Grammy-Award winning band Casting Crowns covers on their new album Thrive.

 

The simplicity of her songs masks the complexity of her subject matter. She sings of motherhood, unearned grace, forgiveness, love and relationships. Her words are filled with an honesty and intensity that can only come from a pursuit of truth.

 

“People talk about what they are passionate about. Songwriters write what they are passionate about,” she says. “I’m a folk singer. I tell stories. I pray people will chew on these words and think and think.”

 

The daughter of a Navy sailor, she was born in rural Bennettsville, South Carolina. The family moved to Florida, Texas, California, Colorado and Georgia. She tried her hand at cosmetology school and attended Liberty University for a time. She’s a stay-at-home Mom and a pastor’s wife.

 

All the while, poems and songs were developing out of her experiences. As people learned of her talent, she was invited to perform at retreats, church services, and in front of throngs of children. Her children often accompanied her with dances that they had choreographed specifically for her songs.

 

Beth recently opened for Casting Crowns for a portion of their Acoustic Sessions tour, however, you’re more likely to find her on a stool at a New Orleans coffee house or leading worship at a local church. She is committed to supporting her husband’s church-plant in New Orleans and devoted to homeschooling her children.

 

At 33, she delights in the joy of a marriage with Reagan Farris that thrives after more than a decade, treasures the everyday moments of raising four distinctively different children, and values both new and old friendships.

 

Her life is one of discovery, amazement, and love. Beth welcomes you to join her on the journey.