Leanna Crawford, Riley Clemmons & Madison Watkins unite in Holland, Ohio

Three artists woke up one day and came together to create a tour called The Sisterhood Tour — Madison Watkins, Riley Clemmons, and Leanna Crawford. All three women are openly followers of Christ, sharing a friendship with one another. These ladies I like to call the ‘church girlies’… close friends who love God and are committed to doing life together. The Sisterhood Tour is geared toward women of all ages, on top of Christ followers. The atmosphere is meant to be relatable, encouraging, and fun, while also creating space for honest conversations about faith and life. This concert wasn’t just a concert; but a large gathering of church girlies coming together to worship, laugh, and support one another.

The first artist onstage was Madison Watkins.

She is so sassy and animated onstage! Whenever she talked, she would talk like she was empowering the other women in the room to own their identity in Christ. If you like Tori Kelly, then you would love Madison Watkins. Like Tori, Madison has a powerful voice. When she sings, she sings to let other women hear her (and God’s) heart.

The second artist up was Riley Clemmons. She started off with her song “Loved By You”. After a bit, she sat down at the piano and shared some of the stories behind her unreleased music. One of the songs she talked about was “The Boy”, about a guy who broke her heart and the process she went through to eventually forgive him; she needed to learn to pray for him, someone she would consider her enemy. She talked about how it wasn’t just for the boy’s sake, but for hers, as the un-forgiveness would eventually kill her soul. She shared another unreleased song called “Take It Away”, noting this was another song of healing — this time, on life’s painful shifts. Each song she performed, I felt like she was talking to me. I also could tell she didn’t write these songs about just herself, but for the ladies in the room that needed to hear that they weren’t alone in their walks of life.

After Clemmons’ set, a Q&A took place with all three women onstage.

I truly felt like I was in a room hanging out with my church girlies, talking and laughing and getting deep with life’s questions. The ladies answered a few lighter questions first, one being ‘what job they would have if they were not singers’. Madison Watkins said she would be a surfer; Riley Clemmons said she would be a flight attendant; Leanna Crawford said she would work with horses. Some of the questions got deeper, as well. One person asked if the girls could speak more about forgiveness and how to forgive yourself. Another question was about how to deal with loneliness. The last question asked them to define sisterhood: their answers basically came down to the idea that sisterhood was about having your girls around you… spending time together, laughing together, and being able to just be yourselves.

After the Q&A, a video about Compassion International played. I’ve seen Compassion advertised plenty of times in the past, but this video felt more genuine than the rest. Seeing the sponsor child repeatedly telling their sponsor “thank you for loving me” was more touching than I expected. At the core, what everyone needs is to be loved. Forget the complexities, it’s a simple — “you loved me and I am so grateful.” Madison Watkins came back out to talk about Compassion. She mentioned her sponsor’s child’s name was Anna Queen. She got really animated and a little sassy while talking about it, reminding everyone that these girls in poverty are also daughters of the one true King.

When Leanna Crawford walked back onstage for her set, she had dressed up a bit.

She carried herself with dignity, like getting dressed up for a date with the Lord. She started her set with “Water and Wine” — her newest single. Her second song was “Photograph”, which felt like a classic Christian pop song with a really positive message… reminding young ladies that they are beautiful as they are and do not need social media to define their worth. During that song, she leaned into the playful side of the performance, wearing a feather boa and dancing around the stage like she was in a fashion show. It was so fun to watch!

Leanna was extremely interactive with the girls throughout the set, too. She went down into the audience, gave hugs, and sang with some of the girls directly. She even brought a few of them onstage to dance with her for a bit! Later, she noticed some signs in the crowd and stopped to take photos with them. It really felt like she wanted those girls to remember the night, not just as a concert but as something meaningful.

About halfway through the set, the tone shifted a bit.

The earlier songs were fun and upbeat, but then she started moving into some of her more raw and emotional songs. She talked about friendship and how important it was to find friends who truly choose you… people who care about you and look out for you. She also spoke about how worship was not always easy. Sometimes worship was joyful, but sometimes, it has to come from a place of struggle. She talked about how it was okay to go to God honestly and say, “I do not know what else to do. I need your help.” That theme showed up in songs like “Borrow Mine”, “Honest”, and “Truth I’m Standing On”. During those songs, you could even see some of the younger girls in the audience raising their hands in worship, which made the atmosphere really powerful. It was so beautiful to watch and it made my heart so happy.

By the end of the night, I could tell the experience had a real impact on the audience. Many people likely left feeling encouraged, seen, or even healed. The younger girls especially appeared to have had an unforgettable experience… one that reminded them they are loved, valued, and not alone in their faith journey. I didn’t realize how much I needed to be at this show until it was over. All three women spoke directly to my heart when they answered their questions during the Q&A; I felt uplifted when all the women in the room were able to laugh together. Did I cry? You bet I did. I truly believed the Lord moved these women get together to create this tour to speak to young women. I was so happy I was able to experience this night. For any woman out there, this is the tour you need to see. It’s worth every single moment.

Photography by Kayla N. Rising

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