The Troubadourette
Little Troub... Big Ideas
FEATURE
Student Sings Praise
April 4, 2016
Jessica Cohen
Katy Blythe, 24 years old, was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She is currently an early childhood education major at Franciscan University. Not only is she a student, but a talented musician as well.
During her time at Franciscan, Blythe has sung at Festivals of Praise, led praise and worship, sung at weddings, conferences, and retreats and released an E.P. Blythe began her singing career even before she read. She begged for voice lessons from her parents but did not get them, so she turned toward church choir to get regular practice. In high school, she taught herself to play guitar to accompany her singing.
“I watched countless YouTube videos and persevered in that in order to get better,” Blythe said.
From then on, Blythe was able publicize her talent through cantering at church, singing at weddings and performing in musicals for a theater company. Blythe is especially gifted in leading praise and worship, which she first began at age 15.
“Praise and worship music sparked after a retreat I went to freshman year of high school,” Blythe said, “I was inspired to not just sing or to just play guitar, but to use it for more. I wanted to use it as a form of prayer. This is also when I started writing my own music.”
Once she shifted her music gear into Christian music, her voice changed and evolved into sound better than ever with the praise music, rather than the musicals she was singing in.
The first time she led praise and worship on her own was when she joined NET Ministries, where she served from 2009-2011. The retreats that her team would put on through NET struck her conversion. Blythe was originally hesitant to joining NET Ministries, but after the encouragement and prompting of friends and family, she committed.
“It was so simple. I had peace and it worked,” Blythe said.
Two years after she ended her service with NET, she transferred in to Franciscan University as a sophomore after her spiritual director, friends and family members pushed her to apply. She began to recognize a recurring theme in her decisions.
Blythe said, “I started noticing the simple signs about it all. I had the same peace like I had with NET and I knew that it was the right choice because of that.”
Blythe knew that transferring in would bring her change, even though she was going to be uncomfortable. She added that change happens when one is uncomfortable, and she wanted to change.
In the summer of 2014, Katy Blythe's E.P., titled New, was released, being put on iTunes and Spotify, her website and the University's bookstore. This process began when she collaborated with Connor Flanagan, Franciscan alum, on his CD, Close to You. It was during this time when, yet again, she was encouraged by Flanagan and others to share her music and make a CD.
Blythe enjoyed singing cover songs, but after receiving a generous donation, she went ahead with the process of recording her own music. She recorded four songs, one of which, entitled “I Thirst,” is the most popular, with 1,986 hits on Spotify.
Blythe said, “New is made up of songs that have an undertone of my faith. I was encouraged to not be complacent. I did not just want to be fixed a little, but as a whole I wanted to be 'new.' I wrote these songs for healing, praise and to get negativity out of my head.”
New became better known to the public after singing at the Steubenville conferences in the summers of 2015 and 2016. Blythe’s song writing has continued and she recently collaborated with Franciscan alum Patrick Mahon on a song that will be released on iTunes soon.
Blythe hopes to move from Pittsburgh after graduation in order to pursue working with young adult ministries in order to share her gift with others.
“I hope that with my music being shared, people are encouraged and inspired to find the simple truths about themselves and their lives,” Blythe said, “That is why my songs elevate prayer and personal development. More than anything, I hope that when people are done listening to my music, they are able to keep their focus on the lyrics and not on my person or voice. I just want to be a light.”
Former 'Verily' Editor visits Franciscan
February 23, 2016
Melissa Solano
Appleseed Communications founder and former “Verily Magazine” editor Ashley Crouch returned to Franciscan University on February 22 to give a talk hosted by Exc!te on authentic beauty, building self-confidence and knowing your worth.
“There was a study done by ‘Dove’ that found that 70% of women felt uncomfortable calling themselves beautiful,” said Crouch. “That’s an alarming statistic. And why is it so high? Because as women we are told that to be considered beautiful or worthy or loveable we must fit into a very specific, ultimately unrealistic box.”
Crouch acknowledged her past struggles with self-confidence and implored the women present to embrace their unique characteristics and physical traits.
“It’s not easy at first,” said Crouch, “because society’s ideal of beauty is ingrained in us from a young age. Learning to love yourself the way you are takes time and constant practice.”
It is for this reason that Crouch created “Bloom, Lovely” journals. The journals are a daily devotional that present a quote about female empowerment, body positivity and self-love for women to meditate on to help them realize their worthiness as women.
This was Crouch’s third time speaking on campus.
“She’s such a great speaker and an inspiration,” said Melissa Siegler, a member of Exc!te. “Her message is just one that speaks so strongly, and so many women on campus love to see her speak. We love bringing her here.”
“I found out about Ashley through her work with Verily,” said junior student Alexandra Mihaly. “I like her authenticity- she acknowledged that it’s hard to love yourself sometimes and that she struggles with it too. She’s just real.”
Following her talk, Crouch was available to speak individually with students and also had a booth where her “Bloom, Lovely” journals were available for purchase.