Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Masat
Hi Sarah, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I grew up on a tour bus, playing fiddle with my family’s band. It was a unique and wacky childhood! We played folky bluegrass and I would often play our set at a festival or venue and then stay up late jamming with my siblings and the local artists. Touring with my entire family on the road was complicated, obviously, but music is the ultimate connector and usually smoothed things out. (!!) Eventually, I married a fellow touring artist, and despite my experience with touring life, I found that creating a healthy relationship across the miles was more challenging than I expected and far less resourced within the music community than it deserved. There are the Friday nights alone when your friends have their partners at home, the emotional upheaval that happens every time your partner leaves AND when they come back home – what tour veterans call “the re-entry process”, and the super unpredictable communication when they’re time-zone hopping or touring globally. On the outside looking in, there is also the fans’ perception of your life….usually something like it’s super glam and exhilarating all the time (which is far from true especially when you’re on week 3 of solo parenting and your kids have a stomach bug.)
I launched The Tour Bloom blog/online space as an initiative to name the true experience of the artist + artist partner. Sometimes what we need most is being reminded that we’re not alone, that someone understands and is also experiencing similar stuff. That was in late 2019, and then Covid happened, and a strange sensation occurred for touring artist couples: we suddenly had a LOT of home time together and consistent opportunities to look at our relational patterns and get honest about what was working and what wasn’t. We knew that we were skilled at being apart, but what about being together?!
Since then, my focus has shifted to providing trauma-informed coaching for touring artists and their partners and centering their mental and relational health. I am passionate about understanding and advocating for the inner world of the artist and creating trauma-informed touring environments that honor the artist as a human and not just a product that creates fun experiences for their fans. Additionally, I felt like the artist partners needed a title because they hold so much together and get way too little recognition. I admiringly refer to them as “artist guardians” because they are ALL the things…the late-night call after a bummer gig, the sometimes on-call mental health support, and the collector of the stories, pain, and joy along the way.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The road has been so NOT smooth, ha! So I had this vision of what I wanted The Tour Bloom to be when it launched, I worked with an artist on a meaningful logo, found a web designer, and barely had it online when my relationship hit crisis status 2 weeks later. My mental health plummeted. I kept questioning how I could talk about creating healthy, vibrant touring relationships when my own relationship was crumbling. “You’re a hypocrite” was the perpetual line of my inner critic.
The turning point was when Covid began and my partner and I made the decision to rebuild through quarantine life. I realized that the synchronicity of it all was an opportunity to live what I had been talking about for so long… being honest and vulnerable about my mental health and the direct impact of relational health on our mental well-being. Choosing to do the deep, excavating inner work through therapy and healing modalities, and accepting that it is WORK and it is not easy, but the alternative is staying in the dark and that’s no way to live.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I play fiddle and keys. Music has been a safe form of emotional expression for me since I was 4, and I view it as a modality of healing more than I do a form of entertainment. My favorite expression is writing ambient piano melodies that I offer my clients and fellow trauma survivors as an accompaniment to their meditation, journaling or yoga mat.
What matters most to you?
One of the intentions I live by is becoming the type of person I needed when I was younger.
It’s sort of a purposeful way of living that keeps me grounded. My experiences of living the touring life and building love within it have been a series of trials and errors and at times I needed more people beside me who understood. I want to be that person who gets it for someone else. The reality of life is that we’re all on a journey together. When we meet someone who’s a few exits behind us, let’s give them love and support.
If everyone followed that pattern, it would make living life tremendously better. And our collective mental health would improve because guess what!…humans are wired for connection and we really can bloom – even during challenging times! – when we’re collaborating.
Pricing:
- single 60 minute coaching session $90
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thetourbloom.com
- Instagram: @thetourbloom
Image Credits
Evane Stoner Photography + The Tour Bloom
