Alyssa Sarabia
- Apr 7, 2022
- 3 min read

Enlightenment That Follows Darkness in, "The Flood”!

Heather Burwell is a super down-to-earth and humble artist who is no stranger to hard times. She released her song entitled "The Flood,” on March 25th, in hopes of helping to heal others through their journeys of dark and difficult times.

Heather wrote "The Flood,” in the middle of a December night. She described how she was wide awake at about 3:00 am, sat down to write, and the song just came to her. "In the time frame that I wrote it, I was thinking about how I had gone through so many dark spaces…those days were behind me and the flood was coming. So it's a little more optimistic than just singing about grief. I feel like it's more the exodus of grief. Getting on the other side where there’s water everywhere.”

"The Flood," follows the release of Burwell's second book Grief Doesn’t Do Math, which explores her own journey through the unexpected loss of her husband in 2013. Grief Doesn’t Do Math, includes insight from others who have experienced personal journeys of sorrow.

As the youngest of five children (who all sang and/or played an instrument), it was no surprise that Heather also found a passion in music. "I was actually singing when I was about two,” explained Heather. "I grew up in a very musical family… We grew up in the church, so there was always music going on pretty much 24/7. So it wasn't ever like a chore or something I thought I would do, it was something I was already doing… It was just around everywhere I was…it was in my bones I guess.”

When Heather was five, she dove into acting and singing. It didn’t take but a second for her to be cast as Gretl Von Trapp in Lipscomb University’s Sound of Music production. Since then, Burwell has appeared in lead roles on both film and television. One of her latest and super exciting roles is on Discovery Channel’s show, Snapped. You can also catch Heather playing a variety of roles on one of my favorite channels, Oxygen!

Not only is Heather an Author, Model, Singer, and Actress, but she is also a Chaplain! Burwell explained; "I’m choosing to do more with it [Chaplin degree] creatively like, through this book, and through music… You can be a Chaplain anywhere. You know, people wanna talk and be heard anywhere”.

When asked what advice Heather would give young artists who are struggling, her reply was very simple. "If it’s worth it to your soul to do it, don’t put an end to it. If you don't have a top 10 or top 100 hit… or anything out on the radio, it’s still worth it ‘cause it's what you feel like you’re made to do. I had always expected that there should be an end result, and it should be positive, it should be a tangible thing, but I don’t think it always is; I think it’s like an inner knowing. If you’ve done something for the day, maybe it was write a song, then maybe that was enough for you for that day… It’s still worth it.”

Fun Facts With Heather Burwell:

"I had re-met my husband in November [before the pandemic]. We dated in college a little bit, 20-something years ago, and we reconnected through Facebook. I asked him if he had a girlfriend or a wife, he said no, and it literally went like that. And about five weeks later, we were talking about getting married!”
"I love all kinds of music. I mean, I have everything from R&B to The Beatles to… Dolly Parton. I listen to everything. I think a lot of people do.”
"I have been known to duct tape a car a time or two.”