Katie Pruitt‘s Expectations is a coming of age album full of poetic lyrics and heartbreaking melodies. You immediately feel her strength, her pain, and her hard-won wisdom as she takes steps towards inner freedom and personal healing from religious trauma. Her talent takes you on a smooth and effortless ride through every song. After listening a couple times, it’s hard not to see how beautiful and wondrous the world can be with just enough courage to face it all. It’s a timely masterpiece of grief and renewal.

“I called the album Expectations because I liked that it was ironic. This record’s really about letting go of what other people expect from you, and being free to be to just finally be yourself.”

–Katie Pruitt

Below is a live performance of her song (quoted above), Wishful Thinking. It has echoes of fresh greatness from the likes of Mindy Smith, John Mayer, or Fleetwood Mac. You can also hear more about her story, like how I was first introduced to her, thanks to this NPR article.