Family Ties
Bethany Dillon writes songs well beyond her 15 years, reflecting a maturity that can only be explained by one thing—a great family upbringing.
by Mark Moring | posted 5/10/2004
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Fifteeen-year-old Bethany Dillon isn't your average high school sophomore. She recorded her first CD at twelve—an indie project that ultimately ended up with someone at Sparrow Records, who ended up signing her. Bethany's self-titled debut reveals a songwriting maturity that's more indicative of a young woman in her mid-20s—not someone who isn't yet old enough to drive. That's a sure sign of a solid upbringing for Bethany, who lives with her family in Bellefontaine, Ohio. The Dillons are strong believers, music lovers, and shining examples of Christ's love in action. Bethany's parents, Bill and Tina, have housed dozens of foster kids—including many troubled teens—in their home over the years. They adopted two of those kids, including one with physical and mental challenges. All of those experiences greatly impacted Bethany, who told us how her family life has made her into the young woman—and gifted songwriter—she is today.
So, you're from a musical family?
Bethany DillonYes. Music was always around the house. I kind of started singing when I started to talk. I started writing when I started playing guitar at age ten. My aunt bought me this bright blue guitar, and I thought it was the coolest thing ever. I just pounded out chords till my fingers would bleed. I thought I was a rock star. Everybody in my family got sick of it because I was so loud.
This was an electric guitar?
DillonNo, acoustic! But I have this thing where I beat the living daylights out of my guitars. I get so passionate. I break strings. My fingers bleed, and I get really loud. My brother will come back and just pound on the door, and it takes a while for me to even notice he's there. He's like, "People need to, like, sleep in this house!" I'm like, "Sorry!"
How many siblings do you have?
DillonFour. My sister Kate is 22, and she's been traveling with me. She's so encouraging and an awesome support. She loves God, and she teaches me so much. Then there's my brother Aaron, who's 20. He's in college right now. And I have two adopted brothers: Ben is 13 and Matt is 15.
Your parents have been bringing foster kids into the home for a long time, right?
DillonYes. They were involved in social work before I was born. They worked in a home for troubled teenage girls, and those girls would come and live with my mom and dad. My parents would take them to church, teach them skills, get them to school, and just kind of be their parents. They stopped doing that after I was born, deciding it wasn't where God wanted them at the time.
But soon kids, mostly teenagers, started coming into our home as foster kids. One by one they'd come, just for a couple of months. There were a lot of kids going in and out of our house when I was very little—mostly troubled kids who just kept going back to the same things. My parents would work with kids, they'd get to a really good place—good grades and they loved God—and then the state would send them back to their home or wherever, and they'd just go back to the same thing. That was hard for my parents.
Your parents sound pretty cool.
DillonThey are just incredible people. We still get random calls from the kids now that they're grown up and married with their own kids. They call my parents to let them know they made a difference, that they just totally changed their lives.
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