3 voices blend to sing as one who believes

Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Aug 28, 2004 by Carma Wadley Deseret Morning News

They sing because they believe. They have found song to be the perfect vehicle for sharing faith, testimony and the deepest feelings of their hearts.

But they also believe because they sing. "We are just three ordinary moms and housewives," they say. "We couldn't do what we do without Heavenly Father's help."

Collectively known as Heartbound, Lori Hales, Me'Chel Musgrave and Debbie Bastian have been singing together for 19 years. You can tell how long they've been together, they joke, if you look at the hairstyles on their early CDs.

They didn't really intend to spend their lives writing songs and singing. "It's just something that gradually evolved," says Musgrave. The first song they wrote together was a song for an LDS stake girls camp. "And we've just gone from there."

They now have five CDs to their credit and average about a performance a week -- for church meetings, women's conferences, firesides and other gatherings. Among their special memories are Christmas programs for both the Relief Society Presidency and again for the First Presidency and their staff and families.

"That was so sweet," says Musgrave. As part of the program, they sang a song they wrote in honor of President Gordon B. Hinckley called "Our Prophet Leads the Way." "Our families got to come with us, and afterward President Hinckley talked to our children about the love of mothers."

Over the years, the women, who live in Centerville and Ogden, have not only sung together, but have become best of friends. "In fact, we're more like sisters who just went to different families," says Bastian. "We've sung together so long that if one of us starts singing the wrong words, the others join right in."

"Sometimes we can't even look at each other or we crack up," adds Musgrave. "But if it wasn't fun, I don't think we'd do it."

"We try really hard to be businesswomen," says Hales, "but we just aren't."

That's why, they say, they they know they get some outside help. "Something happens when we're all together," says Hales. When one of us is gone, the other two can fill in, but it's not the same. Heavenly Father makes more of us together than we are alone. He's taken three ordinary housewives, who -- as our kids' tease us -- share one brain and don't have a lot of musical knowledge, and lets us do this."

And in that, they say, there is a message for everyone. "If you have a willing heart," says Bastian, "you will find help."

Music has given them a lot of "wonderful experiences," she says. "But those have also made us feel a responsibility to be better, to learn, to want to give back."

Sharing music has been a blessing, they say. "But we always get more than we give," says Hales.

"Everyone has a talent to share," adds Bastian. It may not be music; it may not be singing. "Sometimes, someone in the audience just has a radiant smile. And that is such a gift."

"We have met so many people from so many different areas that have opened their hearts to our songs," says Musgrave. "And so many people have inspired us along the way."

For example, says Bastian, the title song off their "Because I Believe" CD was inspired by "Elizabeth Smart's father when he spoke at a news conference. He was describing the pain the family was going through but then said 'we will be okay because of our beliefs.' That was a profound thought and became the basis of the song" -- and in a way, everything they sing about.

No matter what happens, our beliefs can sustain us, they say. "The pain takes my breath away, but I will be okay, because I believe."

E-mail: carma@desnews.com