The Album
A Roots Gospel Testimony in Ten Songs
Cara Paige is a Jewish woman — the daughter of a South African immigrant, from a family that survived the Holocaust and left Poland behind. Anne Frank is her 11th cousin, once removed. A Jewish artist writing a roots gospel album is nearly unheard of — and that is exactly why this record exists. Light. Hope. Faith. is ten songs of resilience and hope: everything her family endured, carried, and overcame, and the God who was there through it all — guiding them to safety, to America, to a new life, to the Georgia soil where her mother planted roots.
“No matter what hardships my family has gone through, music has been there for me — a land line for my emotions. I want to understand, and I want to tell my story and my ancestors’ stories. I believe in God. I believe everything happens for a reason.”
That testimony runs through every track. Bad Days With You measures every hard day against what her ancestors endured — and finds that with loved ones beside you, there are no bad days at all. Snake Hunting and Devil Don’t Mess With Me answer generations who were forced to hide: I’m not gonna hide, and I sure ain’t running. All it Takes is a Little Faith carries her Nana’s own words — “Cara, you have to have faith” — and We All Bleed Crimson Red preaches loving thy neighbor as thyself: whatever our race, religion, gender, or sexuality, we all bleed the same. The title track charges us to be the light, the hope, and the faith, before If God Had a Number closes the record with the question underneath it all — why do bad things still happen? — and lands where her family always has: everything happens for a reason, and God has a plan.
Every song was written by Cara Paige with collaborators Justine Blazer, Corey Lee Barker, Steve O’Brien, Nona Lisa Brown, and Danica Hart — except the closing track, If God Had a Number, which Cara wrote alone. The album was produced, mixed, and mastered by Justine Blazer.
