It is no surprise that listening to Stephanie Hatfield calls up images of wind-swept mesas and sinfully-good heartbreaks. With dreamy lyrics and a story worth telling, her music embodies the emotional release of having your heart ripped apart and lovingly put back together again. Although originally from the Detroit area, this eclectic musician hails from a Kentucky hillbilly heritage with a rich poetic history, and now calls the desert Southwest her home. While it is clear that such varied locations have inspired her lyrics, it is unadulterated passion that drives Hatfield’s music. Much like her physical journey across the country, her musical expressions have also traveled— from the church choir, through genres as diverse as classical, opera, broadway, jazz and folk—and eventually found a home in rock. A sense of heart-wrenching empathy is woven throughout her songs, but it’s the raw power of Hatfield’s expansive voice that makes her the perfect soundtrack for an adrenaline junkie who craves the rush. 
Like all good rock n’ roll, Hatfield’s music reflects epic failed relationships and the personal experience of redemption. The Tracks, Hatfield’s second album, is firmly rooted in this territory, situated within a layered background of Alternative rock, Americana, and Indie instrumentals. Recorded at the legendary Frogville Studio in Santa Fe, NM, and produced and mastered by the multi-talented Bill Palmer, these twelve songs gain momentum and power with the help of a number of well-known musicians backing Hatfield’s tremendous vocals. The signature guitar themes of Bill Palmer (Hundred Year Flood, The Sharecroppers) are joined by musicians Matt McClinton and Andrew Primm. Guest singers include Shannon McNally for the well-balanced duet “Lonely One”.  
Throughout a life of travel and exploration, music has been the one constant for Hatfield. By the age of 8, she was singing in three different church choirs. It was not stage-fright that she felt during her first solo performance, a song performed for 200 people in her Presbyterian congregation, but rather fear that she would trip on the way up to the stage. The sound of the audience’s appreciative applause had her hooked, and Hatfield began traveling for competitions and performances at a young age. Operatically trained, with extensive study in Vocal Performance and classical music at Michigan State University, Hatfield’s diverse and professional musical background can be clearly heard in her latest musical endeavors. If her other pursuits are any indication—Motorcycle Racing, Mountain Search and Rescue, African safaris, swimming with sharks on the Barrier Reef, shooting guns and knitting—Hatfield possesses a tremendous commitment and fearlessness in the chase of her passions. With a vivacious personality to match the compelling singing, songwriting, and performance, Hatfield will make you wish for love just so you can feel the deep ache of heartbreak.

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