Sarah Command is 13 years old and busy recording in Nashville. She wrote about her experiences in a previous blog. Click Here to read. When her story was published, it became apparent that the success of the Command Sisters has required significant investment of time and resources by their parents. Hence, we invited Karen Command to write about her perspective as the mom of two rising stars. We asked her what, if any, sacrifices have been made. Here is her response.
In Her Words…
Thank you for asking me to guest blog and share our thoughts with your readers regarding our journey with the girls (The Command Sisters) as a ‘musical’ family.
At first I was a little puzzled on how to answer the question regarding the sacrifices we have had to make thus far as parents of young musicians. My husband and I have actually never verbalized those thoughts. Charlotte and Sarah’s career started quite by accident (they were overheard singing at their great-grandma’s senior’s table, sharing with her their upcoming Christmas carol for a concert). Their ‘career’ has been evolving organically; as their musicianship grows, so does their performance opportunities (everything from singing for the children of the cancer ward at the Stollery Hospital, sharing the stage with George Canyon, Johnny Reid and others, being asked to represent the Alberta Government as Youth Ambassadors who met Prince William and his wife Kate at a private reception, performing a one-hour all-original show at the famed Blue Bird Cafe in Nashville, to being overheard and offered a publishing/production deal with the legendary David Malloy). Of course, when this happens, things like family time and resources are definitely challenged.
I’ve always said I did not want to be a ‘hockey mom’, but I think in retrospect the two are not very different. Both require huge commitments of time and money, support and the ability to handle the stresses of a young person(s) career at a professional/competitive level. Our approach to the girls’ profession IS an all-consuming commitment but at the same time we would not have it any other way. We’ve recently decided as a family to define a sort of ‘motto’ or ‘reason’ why the girls do what they do. Once that was established, it became relatively easy to be able to ‘do what they do’ and it makes any challenges along the way easier to handle.
For example, the girls and I are currently living in Nashville for an extended time while their dad, Rene, is back home in Edmonton, Alberta, working. This again, is another part of the puzzle and one that we don’t really consider a sacrifice. It’s simply what needs to be done. I am also a paraplegic and use a wheelchair. My approach to my disability is the same, one foot in front of the other, so to speak. Just do what you have to do. We share in everything, whether it be the challenges or the successes. What could be a better than spending your time together as a family doing what they (we) love.
We are also grateful for the wonderful people we have met along the way already and the things that we have learned. We look forward to being able to share that with others too. If anyone has any questions about the challenges of parenting young musicians, I would be more than happy to be able to share my thoughts, in more detail, with them.
Visit the Command Sisters Songwriters Profile.
Songwriters Association of Canada 