Burnet High School graduate Sommer Floyd celebrates first album release in hometown
Sommer Floyd, a 2008 Burnet High School graduate, will host a free concert at Hill Country Fellowship Church on Sunday, Oct. 16 at 7 p.m. to celebrate the upcoming release of her first album.
by Alexandria Randolph
Highland Lakes Newspapers
While Sommer Floyd was an all-around American sweetheart in her days at Burnet High School, it was her struggles and mistakes that led to her testimony to God through music.
Emerging as a singer and songwriter, Floyd will celebrate the release of her first album in her hometown of Burnet this weekend, and the message will be one of redemption.
Set for Sunday, Oct. 16 at Hill Country Fellowship Church is an album release concert at 7 p.m. Floyd will be backed by a full band and orchestra and will perform songs from her debut album, “Ray of Light,” which is slated for release this fall.
Floyd lives in Burnet County with her daughter Heidi, and graduated from Burnet High School in 2008.
“As a little girl I was always singing,” Floyd said. “The beginning of my pregnancy was when all this started. I was at the lowest point in my life.”
Floyd channeled the pain of her mistakes and her brokenness into music that relates and uplifts.
“Everyone handles their brokenness differently,” she said. “I started writing out my feelings and my pain. I got on YouTube and earned to play the guitar. It ended up turning into worship.”
Floyd's personal worship soon became a mission for others.
“I felt like God was tugging on my heart to share my music with people,” she said. “I felt like it was way too far fetched. I didn't feel like a good leader in the Christian world.”
However, after some divine direction in her personal life and a call from an award winning music producer, Floyd started on the path of her music career, following the footsteps of her brother, who released a country album several years ago.
“It was a great testimony for others to see where God can put someone when they surrender,” she said. “It was an incredible experience going to Nashville. I had never met so many amazing people in one room. We had so much fun.”
She found herself recording with producer Steven V. Taylor Franklin, Tennessee, recording her debut album at the legendary Dark Horse Studios.
Floyd has since written and performed a number of worship songs as well as country-style ballads at churches and venues across the state.
“One of the greatest responses I received was from a pastor who told me I inspired her,” Floyd said. “Being a leader for the Lord doesn't mean we have to have it all together. I made mistakes. I was embarrassed and ashamed. It's not about carrying all your baggage around. It's about redemption.”
Floyd said she is excited to host the album release in Burnet this week.
“We had the opportunity to do it in Nashville, but my heart is still here. It always feels like home because it is home,” she said.
The concert at Hill Country Fellowship Church will be video recorded by Hi Q Production company, which also produced video for George Strait, Los Lonely Boys, and other notable performers.
Floyd will perform several fan favorites, including “How You Love Me,” with the chorus: “You are worthy, worthy/ I fall down at Your feet crying holy, holy/ Your love is all I need and Your beauty takes my breath away from me.”
“I wrote that when I found out I was pregnant,” Floyd said. “There's nothing we can do or say to change the way God loves us. He didn't have to love me – it's not the point to try to be good enough.”
The poignant song, “Stronger,” written for friend Cindy Holt of Burnet after a cancer diagnosis, “was something I needed to hear as well,” Floyd said. She wrote the song based on the Bible verse, II Corinthians 12:9.
Floyd was born and raised in the Texas Hill Country, and was an honor roll student and athlete at Burnet High School as well as a pageant beauty queen. She was voted “Class Favorite” and “Most Talented” by her classmates. Floyd was the “quintessential cheerleader,” spokespersons wrote, earning four individual high school All American designations and three All Star Team National Championships. Attending college on a cheerleading scholarship, Floyd was designated a college All American as a freshman, an almost unheard-of accomplishment. She ran on the varsity track team, played tennis, showed livestock, participated in rodeos, and earned her Deep Sea Diving certification, all in addition to a passion for singing and songwriting.
Hill Country Fellowship Church is located at 200 Houston-Clinton Drive, and the concert is free to the public.
