Mindy Gledhill is gearing up to release her new album next month and to celebrate we asked her to tell us about the lead single and title track "Rabbit Hole". Here is the story:
I grew up as the eighth child of nine in a devout Mormon family. In high school, my parents served as missionaries in Madrid, Spain. Church was at the center of my life throughout all of my formative years. When I was sixteen, we moved from Madrid to Provo, UT where roughly 90% of the population are Mormons. I studied music at Brigham Young University and signed a record deal with a Mormon record label right away. My first album was religiously themed and I won "Best New Artist" at the Pearl Awards (also nicknamed, the "Mormon Grammy's").
Because I grew up in an environment where I was taught to honor and cherish the Priesthood (power and authority of God given only to men), I had been asleep to volumes of sexism, sexual harassment, assault and abuse of power in my life and in the pages of the church's history. It was like I was a child, curiously staring at a sleeping dragon from a few inches away, and when I backed up and saw the bigger picture, I ran like hell. I ran until I tripped and fell down a rabbit hole where I came head on with an existential crisis. Soon, I was questioning the motives of everyone and everything, including myself. I look back at it as a sort of delayed phase of adolescence. I tried coffee for the first time as a 32 year old woman, secretly preparing it in the corner of my garage so that my Mormon family wouldn't see or smell it. A friend of mine selected an extra light beer for me to try at a restaurant in L.A. and when we shared a few sips she stated, "This tastes like apple juice," while I sat there trying to simply tolerate it. Experiencing so many new things was terrifying and wonderful all at the same time!
While I don't think I'll actually ever make friends with beer, I'm learning to make friends with myself, my weird past, and learning to make friends again with my community of practicing Mormons here in Utah County and worldwide. There is a growing phenomenon of people just like me in the Mormon faith as well as other fundamental religions who are leaving at an alarming rate. Our current political climate teaches us that we must pick a side and jeer at the opposing team from the stands. But sitting with myself in the rabbit hole for a time has taught me to look at the world from all angles. Beauty can be found at every angle of human experience. I feel inspired to reclaim the beautiful traditions of my Mormon heritage that serve me and pair them with the transformative experiences of leaving the fold. With the building blocks of these two paradigms, I'm moving forward as a bridge builder for the generations of young Mormons and religious fundamentalists coming after me.
Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself right here!
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