Bessie Bates
Rooted and Grounded in Music
story by ROBIN COKER photos by PAUL NURNBERG and courtesy of BESSIE BATES
Music has the power to move, it becomes part of you, ingrained in your body, and can be woven into the way we see the world. We feel it in our soul, and it becomes part of us. What you are putting in, generally is what tends to seep out. Bessie Bates shares her thoughts on the power of positivity through music. “Your body is always listening; it can be like going down a black hole. If it’s a good song, you know … because you find your way back out, there is a light at the end. You just need to see that light, have that hope, and the Good Man up there will help with the rest. You have to feel the feelings to process them, and this is the gift music gives us.”
Growing up on the banks of the pluff muddy shores of St Helena, one of many siblings, Bessie is a luminous force, using her voice to inspire faith, hope, and movement. Sharing her love of the low country and the skills that have been deeply rooted from being raised alongside a large family with the need for self-sufficiency, she knows how to survive, a skill perhaps lost to the current generation in which she hopes to aid in curating. These ingrained survival skills that worked for Bessie have been transmuted into art, and now are a gift to us all through the healing vibration of her music.
She has been singing since the age of three in her mama’s church as well as alongside the Glover sisters (her sisters), vocalizing together until everyone grew up and moved away to the next season. Bessie, however, stayed firmly planted in the pew, keeping the love of worship through song close at heart and close to home. Throughout her journey thus far, she sang with the Gullah kinfolk, Shirley Caesar and John Pike as well as alongside Scott Gibb. Having the privilege to contribute on stage with these and many other well-known vocalists, Bessie is ready to step onto a solo platform and more powerfully share the gift planted within, “It is my time.” Feeling held back, at her own will, from stepping out on her own for so many years, this local is ready to take flight as a female vocalist outside of the comfort of what has nurtured and helped her blossom into the artist she is today.
So, what was the catalyst for her to spring forward from the choir to the recording studio and onto the stage? Hearing over and over, “It’s your time, it’s your time … I just grabbed ahold of that, and I am making the moves. I moved church homes, things started falling into place. I am where I am right because of the experiences that put me here. All in the Lord’s timing, He has a plan already. When we try and change His timing, we can end up backwards.” Knowing in her heart that if she had made any moves earlier than providence dictated, she would have been out of alignment, having to show up in a season not forecasted for her path.
“If you are stationed, rooted, and grounded, you may waiver a little bit, but for the most part you are going to stand firm until your time comes. And when the time comes, when He reveals, you will know.” Bessie talks about age not being a factor in God’s timing, sharing stories of other musicians and those who have stood firm until called. She gives us all a little more hope for the future. She also credits her family and friends for the ability to bravely step out: “I have had — and still have — so many good people pushing and loving me along the way. It’s always a blessing to have good people in your corner. Nothing can stop you”.
Singing not only renditions of our favorite classics from the likes of Stevie Wonder and Etta James, Bessie is also a composer of her own original songs and compilations, having her own albums out currently, with more to come. Growing up in the church and being moved by worship, her tunes, never lacking to inspire, are generally rooted in her experience of consistently being moved by the Spirit. Along her musical journey, she has also found her foot tapping to the world of jazz, leaving an effect on the tone in the curation of her ballads. “I love me some jazz. I just love performing. I love performing and making people feel good, you know, just to bring some hope and light into somebody’s life.”
When asked how she feels on stage, when she is looking out at the crowd and can feel the energy, Bessie goes on to explain, “I go where they are, where the audience is. So pretty much I light up with that, I illuminate with that. I love to be the light to young folk, the ones having a hard time, struggling to find the light when they’re young and seemingly made a bad mistake. To remind them it is there. That is what my music is all about, to remind and inspire these young people to keep going to the light. To just believe in your heart.”
Bessie’s philosophy is strongly grounded: through using the power of music, we can be drawn to the light. Overcoming numerous personal struggles and traumatic loss, she wishes to share this gift given to her with the world, one song at a time. A testimony she wishes to share with young women everywhere, “When you have a chance to get out, get out. You can pray and believe, but you have to move. You have to combine faith with actions. Listen to that little voice, especially if it’s constant.” Her upcoming album release will have a primary focus around this topic of hope through loss, of hearing the voice within, and making the moves needed to go toward the light, waiting for us all.
A message from Bessie to all of us out here, showing up and trying to seek the light through whatever modality serves our soul, is simply this: “Just do your best. Because you know if you’ve done your best, and you know when you didn’t. Oh yeah. You know, when you don’t, trust me. You know, when you did. It’s never too late to move, until it is. Go to the light.”
