About

Hilary Watson was born and raised in Riverside, California. She bought her very first guitar from a pawnshop for $100 at the age of 11. Fortunately for her family, the electronics didn’t work and she was never able to plug it into an amplifier. All in all, it worked well enough for her to learn her musical alphabets – C thru B (for you muse’s out there).

Fast-forward 6 years to an event in Ventura, California. It was at a Harvest Crusade that she was asked why she had never written a song. In love with the Lord and still strumming away, she embarked on her new passion. Looking back, she is thankful for good friends who would so graciously lend an ear to her poorly tuned guitar and not so well written songs. It was through their encouragement that she would keep writing.

Hilary graduated in 2004 from Calvary Chapel Bible College in Murrieta with an Associates degree in Theology and an even deeper love for her Savior. It was by this time that she was heavily involved in leading worship and convinced that the Lord had called her into music as a ministry. Not knowing the first thing about making a CD, what began in the home studio of a friend and subsequently recorded in a world class studio with amazing musician’s, is now Hilary’s wonderfully crafted and produced debut CD “Passing By”.  In her words, “…it truly was completely the Lord.”

That brings us to today. Paul said, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21).  Hilary’s life is not about guitars, singing, CDs or anything of the like. Says Hilary, “My life is Christ – in Christ, from Christ and for Christ. My heart is for those who have never heard the gospel.” In serving the Lord through music, Hilary’s prayer is that God would use her for whatever purposes He desires.

With such an inspired and mature debut, expectations were high for her follow-up, and 2010′s Vestige of Beauty exceeds them, with her decision to bring her voice and guitar even more to the fore with a stripped-down sound that is warm, inviting, and immediate. The arrangements are tender and spare, with the interplay of violin and cello (now a staple of her live show) filling a large role along with occasional appearances of banjo, bass, drums, and percussion, while her voice has never sounded stronger or more compelling, as on the soaring, Middle-Eastern tinged choruses of “Emmanuel.” Highlights include “Waiting on a Miracle,” “Cruel is the Night,” “Glorious Light,” and the title track.