Riverside Graduate Release Her First EP

Local Riverside graduate, Sarah Espen, has just made a name for her in the music world by releasing an EP in late December. Espen graduated from Riverside in 2012, only to pick up and move to Nashville, Tennessee after.

“I wrote my first song with my dad when I was 5 years old.” Espen said, “And I haven’t stopped writing since.”

Growing up, Espen was surrounded by music. Her father was in a band that toured and Espen was right there in the action. She went from setting up soundboards and speakers to singing on stage and recording vocals for her fathers albums. Her childhood was music. However, her father isn’t the  only one in the family with musical talents. Her mother studied music in college, and her grandmother who sang with her sister on the radio, along with singing all over Pittsburgh.

“I always knew I would pursue it [music].” Espen said, “It’s a big part of who I am.”

During her high school years, Espen was in the Riverside choir along with being the first soprano in the chamber ensemble from freshman year to junior year. However, prior to high school she had a solo in a play at school when I was in 5th grade called “I Need A Vacation”. She also took music theatre classes in 7th grade at Studio P and got the lead role as Cinderella in the play. She never did participate in the musicals put on at the high school though.

Looking back at her younger years, Epsen wishes she would’ve known that nothing is wrong with her because she feels so much and so deeply for it. She believes that there is a reason why she was made that way, and that she wishes she would’ve held on tighter and wasn’t all that serious.

Espen promises more music later in this year.

“My songs are very personal,” Espen explained, “Writing is my way of processing my feelings and making sense of the world.”

Sarah Espen says that there is always a person or a situation behind each of her songs, but she prefers to have her listeners connect with them in their own individual way. The thought process behind her writing is that every person’s situation is different, we all have the same feelings.

She hopes that the people who listen to her songs know someone else has felt the same they have, that they aren’t as alone as they thought, and those people have come out on the other side.

Her song “Middle of the Woods” is centered around the feeling of abandonment or just feeling straight up lost, she says everyone has felt those exact feelings during their lives, just as she has.

“Through different seasons in my life, I’ve learned how strong I am,” Espen said, “and that I have the ability to see beauty and be grateful, even in the toughest of situations.”

Espen believes that by connecting with others, there’s healing. She just hopes her songs can become apart of others healing process, just as writing them has become a part of the healing process for herself.

To keep up with Sarah and all of her endeavors, check out her social media pages: Her Instagram, Twitter @sarahespenmusic, and Facebook Page.

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