It was June 2014. I was listening to my “Celtic genre” Pandora station while doing tasks around the house. A song came on featuring a violin that was less Hobbits of the Shire and more… dubstep??! I immediately rushed to my Pandora app to see who this artist was and hit the like button!
The song was called “Zi Zi’s Journey” by Lindsey Stirling.
It was as if I had unlocked the door to Narnia! I had discovered a musician who combines my love for violin and Celtic style music with dubstep and EDM. It was the complete package for me!
I got her two albums, “Lindsey Stirling” and “Shatter Me“, on Amazon. She has since released two additional albums: “Brave Enough” and “Warmer in the Winter“. I watched all of her music videos on her YouTube channel and the behind the scenes videos on her second channel, LindseyTime.
Through watching her videos, not only did I fall even harder for the music, but I also really appreciated her creativity. I want to be a writer someday and sometimes get discouraged and lose my motivation to continue. Watching how hard Lindsey works to achieve her creative vision truly inspires me to pick up the pen and bring what I see in my head to life. If she can do it, so can I! In the behind the scenes videos, you can see how involved she is in her productions and I love watching her as the key decision maker. I can tell that the people she works with respect her and believe in her vision, inspiring them to work hard and make her proud. She is a great role model!
A year later, I was talking with a friend, explaining how I hoped to see Lindsey perform someday. The next day I got an email from Ticketmaster about upcoming local concerts and she was on the list! I couldn’t believe it! Syracuse isn’t a very popular city for tour stops so it was a pretty big deal. On top of that, I had that evening off from work (6/12/15). The stars had aligned.
Seeing Lindsey perform live was better than I could have ever imagined. I could feel her music way up in the balcony (we were really far away!) and the sound quality of her performance was impeccable. Watching her play and dance across the stage before my eyes is something I will never forget. I have since attended her concerts in Providence (7/12/16), Boston (10/20/16 – she started the show in the back of the theater and played the opening song while running down the aisle towards the stage. I was sitting in an aisle seat and she ran right past me! I get teared up just thinking about it!), Washington D.C (11/10/17 – we sat in the second row!), and Bristow, VA (7/24/18 – double headliner with Evanescence).
When I graduated from my master’s program in 2015, I treated myself to a $70 violin (complete with case and an introductory level music book) from Amazon! I couldn’t afford lessons as I didn’t have a job at the time and had student loans to pay, so I started teaching myself. I had never played a string instrument before, only the flute, so I didn’t have any experience tuning using knobs and strings. I didn’t do too poorly, but I definitely needed lessons if I was going to make much progress!
Once we moved to Boston and I got a job, I treated myself to weekly lessons! So, in May 2016 I started private lessons at the Bosse School of Music. I LOVE playing the violin! It was such an amazing feeling to be able to create sound (and eventually music) using an instrument that I had admired for many years. I practiced every day and made it through the first three Suzuki books (as well as several songs from the Harry Potter movies and Christmas tunes during the holidays). I had to end my lessons when we moved away from Boston in October 2017, but I’m planning to find a new teacher here in Virginia. In the meantime, I’ve been practicing alone!
I bought a fingerboard guide to teach myself, but now I only have a guide sticker on one row!
Lindsey’s art has not only inspired me musically but also emotionally and spiritually. I admire how unashamed she is when expressing her faith. I can’t help but cry every time I listen to her message at the end of her “Hallelujah” video. When I started my blog at the end of 2015, I wrote a post about my favorite Christmas songs. I enjoy ALL Christmas music, but my favorites are the ones that focus on the reason for celebrating – the birth of Christ. I was a little hesitant to post something publicly that professed my love for Jesus, but I thought of Lindsey and it gave me strength. I’m not ashamed of how grateful I am for the gift of Jesus Christ and she helped me realize that.
When I go running or work out, Lindsey’s music leads the way. One would think I would get tired of listening to her three albums practically every day, but I honestly don’t! The power in her music gives me strength to run faster and longer no matter how many times I’ve heard them. “Electric Daisy Violin” energizes me to get out there, and I find myself increasing my speed or adding reps while listening to “Elements”, “Beyond the Veil”, “Take Flight”, and “The Phoenix“. There have been several times where I set out to run a certain number of miles or stop after a specific time, but found myself continuing beyond that until the song I’m listening to ends. Her songs got me through running four Boilermaker 15k races. I push myself harder because I know Lindsey pushes herself as well.
On January 13, 2016, my dream of meeting her came true! She and her sister, Brooke, wrote a memoir about Lindsey’s life so far: The Only Pirate at the Party. I was ecstatic when she listed the stops for their book tour and Brookline, MA was one of them! At the time, we lived about 15 miles from there. What an amazing opportunity! I was actually really nervous for the event because of the fact that I was so excited about it. I was scared that something would happen and it wouldn’t work out: there could be a blizzard, Lindsey’s transportation could break down on the road, Greg or I could get sick. (A year later I learned through reading Daring Greatly by Brené Brown that this is called “Foreboding Joy“. An author I coincidentally found through Lindsey, whose album “Brave Enough” was inspired by some of Dr. Brown’s teachings!)
But everything worked out, and we arrived at Brookline Booksmith. We had to wait outside in the January cold for about an hour, but it was so worth it! We even met someone in line behind us who had attended the same concert in Syracuse in 2015! People walking past us on the sidewalk asked me what we were waiting for. I answered, “Lindsey Stirling. She’s a violinist!” 🙂
We finally made it to the point in line where we were able to enter the bookstore and I could see her! It was surreal. We waited among the bookshelves in line for another half an hour until finally it was our turn! She and her sister signed the book and I gave her the letter I wrote. I had written her a letter because I knew I would be way too emotional meeting her that I wouldn’t be able to say what I wanted to say. My throat tightened as I got a few words out to explain the note, and Greg clarified, “She’s a little star struck.” She said “Aww!” and reached across the table and gave me a hug! While we hugged I was able to mumble through tears that I was so happy to meet her. She didn’t give hugs to everybody else, so I felt really special. She asked me if I was an artist. I told her I am a writer and someday she can come to my book signing. She said she would be there. 🙂 When the staff used my phone to take our picture, she complimented my Beauty and the Beast phone case! (Can’t we just be best friends already?! 😉 )
I hope she read my letter and it made her feel good about herself in how much her music and spirit have improved my life. In my opinion, being in the same room as someone you greatly admire can be life changing! It seems obvious, but seeing her in real life made her real. Her accomplishments real. My own dreams attainable. She is human and she is awesome and I saw her with my own eyes. It’s interesting to think about why it’s so moving and feels so necessary to meet your idols. Part of it is because you want to be close to their “awesomeness”. But that’s not all of it. I think we also want to be validated and acknowledged as human fellows to those we have thus far admired from a distance. I have seen and heard her do amazing things on screen, on stage, and in my ears through her music and now I have seen her face-to-face. We want to be close to things we find amazing. It’s a human emotion without a firm explanation. Not only did I want to meet her, but I also wanted her to meet me. I wanted to show my admiration in person because it’s just not enough to enjoy someone’s art and never let them know. Liking, sharing, commenting, and watching/listening to an artist is a way of digitally and silently letting artists know we love their work. Granted, due to social media, today we have much closer communication than ever before, but there’s just no substitute for telling them face-to-face. That’s why it was so important to me – there was a connection via art, but the human connection made it feel complete. But it’s emotionally exhausting!
Her memoir, The Only Pirate at the Party, was truly great and I wrote a short review on it in an older blog post. I connect with her on many levels in terms of her creativity, joy, faith, and values, but I also feel close to her through her struggles with her eating disorder, “ED”. I resonated with the fact that she doesn’t know where it came from or why. Simply a desire for control and perfection, with a voice in her head telling her this was necessary. Her song and corresponding music video, Shatter Me, illustrates how she broke away from her ED and began to enjoy life without the pursuit of perfection. It’s a very empowering reminder to someone like me who struggles with the same issue. In her book, she describes disagreement with the common attestation that there is no cure for ED because she believes it discourages people who are trying to beat it. But as her sequel song to “Shatter Me”, “Lost Girls“, demonstrates, you can get better, but it doesn’t truly go away. The controlling voice may have quieted or gone silent, but it is definitely still there and relapses (whatever the issue you are fighting) can happen. The key is to not succumb to the temptation. To cling to the hope that the strength you had to overcome it the first time will return to you. Lindsey talks about it in more detail in this video, and just knowing that she is dealing with the same issues gives me strength through camaraderie.
When I got married in September 2017, our first dance was to the cover of “Bright” by Echosmith that Lindsey Stirling recorded with Sydney Sierota (lead singer of Echosmith). Being that she is an important role model in my life, I wanted to include Lindsey’s music in our wedding day. Despite being a classically trained violinist, the music she writes is mainly dubstep and hip-hop – more conducive to my workout playlist than my wedding day. However, she does play a few slower/sweet songs – and I love the version of “Bright” with Lindsey because it gives the lyrics such a sweet and intimate sound that I feel fits the words better. When I listen to it, I think of Greg, and when it came time to select a song for our first dance I had a difficult time deciding between “Bright” and “Beauty and the Beast”. “Beauty and the Beast” is my favorite Disney movie and I also love the version performed by Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson. Just thinking about dancing with Greg to either of those songs made me start to tear up. Greg and I talked about it, and decided on “Bright”. I couldn’t help but cry while we danced because the moment was so perfect – dancing with my husband to the song I’d imagined us dancing to while surrounded by our family and friends. We definitely felt #blessed.
I am glad to be alive during a time when Lindsey Stirling exists. She has such great talent, work ethic, strong faith, and love for family that I am proud to call myself a Lindsey Stirling fan. Seeing her success through adversity inspires me to write, express my creativity, and gather the strength to reach for my dreams!
Lindsey Stirling’s music and beautiful soul inspire me to strive to be a better and truer version of myself. Thank you Lindsey!
Do you have a song that changed your life? In what way? Do you remember the first song you heard by what would eventually become your favorite artist?
Thanks for reading!
-Rebecca
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