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As a worship leader, Charly Beathard has honed her authentic voice and depth-filled songwriting to become an artist of distinct sincerity. When Gotee staff attended a morning session at Franklin Prayer House in Franklin, TN to see Beathard lead worship, the moment quickly turned personal, bridging the gap between industry expectations and meaningful worship.
“Joey Elwood, the President of our label, asked me to stop in and watch Charly lead worship at a small room in downtown Franklin early one morning,” says Jess Loper, A&R at Gotee Records. “I snuck in the back of that room and was immediately floored by the sincerity and emotion in her voice. Her songwriting has grown so much. She is crafting veritable lyrics that universally resonate. We are so grateful for the chance to help share her music and what she is creating with the world.”
Beathard’s innate, thoughtful desire to point others to God spills across her songs, her gritty, honest vocals the perfect pairing to her storyteller lyrics. An artist’s artist, Beathard’s skills as a songwriter stand as a testimony to her deep longing for others to know and believe in God’s promises.
“I love watching how people respond to Charly,” says Joey Elwood, President of Gotee Records. “She is very unassuming, but she has this authenticity and sincerity to her that kind of just draws you in. And her music reflects those qualities, so it’s like a slow burn on you when you begin to engage with her personally and musically. I have a feeling the audience that ends up gathering around her and her music will be evangelists and tell others about Charly because you just sort of believe ‘her’ in the most profound way. I know all of us at Gotee consider ourselves very fortunate to go on this ride with Charly and we already feel we’re moving in a direction that we’re proud to get to work with her and her music.”
Beathard admits there was a time when she couldn’t imagine music as her future, which seems odd considering she’s practically country music royalty. Her father, Casey Beathard, is a hit country songwriter who has written songs for Trace Adkins, Eric Church, Billy Currington, Tracy Lawrence, Billy Ray Cyrus and Kenny Chesney, among others. He’s one of the 2023 inductees into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame along with Keith Urban, Kix Brooks, David Lee Murphy and Rafe Van Hoy. Her brother Tucker is an up-and-coming artist on Warner Music Nashville. (Football is the Beathard family’s other passion. Her grandfather is NFL Hall of Famer Bobby Beathard and her brother C.J. is a quarterback for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Her brother Clay was a quarterback at Long Island University.)
Her first single, “Hallelujah Anyway,” released today across all platforms, is a moving pop ballad that channels an unspeakable tragedy into a triumphant anthem about the faithfulness of God. Beathard reveals timeless truths she’s learned after a season of immense pain. Penned with Tyrus Morgan and Molly Reed-Grayson, the poignant song explores Beathard’s feelings in the wake of her brother Clay’s murder. Home for Christmas break, the college quarterback was stabbed outside a Nashville venue after defending a girl who was being harassed.
“It was definitely written from a deep place that had a lot to do with the things that I’d gone through with my brother Clay going to heaven,” Beathard says of “Hallelujah Anyway.” Even though the song is very personal to her; she sees the message as universal. “We’re all constantly going to be facing trials and hard things on this earth. I love that song because when times are hard and we don’t know what to say, say hallelujah anyway.”
Working with producers Jonathan Smith and Micah Kuiper, Beathard’s forthcoming debut album is alive with joy and the promise of hope in Jesus. It’s an album fueled by a passion so anointed it’s hard to deny. With one listen to the songs of Charly Beathard, that heartfelt passion is palpable.
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