Naomi “Nomz” Bistline: Finding Freedom and Healing Through Music
When Naomi “Nomz” Bistline first auditioned for her prison band, she initially aimed for the guitar. However, a brief, impromptu vocal performance of Miley Cyrus’s “Flowers” changed everything. “They said, ‘Put the guitar down. Let’s just hear you sing,’” she recalls. “And they said, ‘We got our lead vocalist.’”
A Journey from Captivity to Creative Expression
Now 27, Bistline’s path to the stage was anything but conventional. She spent time in a Texas prison serving a 21-month sentence for charges related to the unlawful removal of minors from state custody—actions she took under the direct orders of Sam Bateman. Bateman, a self-proclaimed prophet and leader of a small offshoot sect of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Arizona), claimed to be the heir to Warren Jeffs, the imprisoned former FLDS president.
Bistline was one of Bateman’s 23 “spiritual wives,” a group that included minors who were subjected to systemic abuse. Her story, along with the efforts of authentic connection music and the intervention of cult psychology expert Christine Marie, is chronicled in the Netflix docuseries Trust Me: The False Prophet.
Healing Through Songwriting
The process of deprogramming and recovery has been arduous. Bistline admits that for months, she feared that questioning leaders like Bateman or Jeffs would result in divine retribution. “I literally thought that if I questioned Sam or Warren Jeffs, then lightning would come in and strike me and kill me,” she explains. “That was how brainwashed I was.”
Music has become a vital tool in her artistic growth and trauma recovery. While she was raised on religious hymns, she is now exploring secular pop and country, finding solace in the raw, unpolished sounds of 1990s artists like Hole. “It’s been a release,” she says. “Whenever I’m getting overstimulated or overwhelmed, I usually just put on music or start singing.”
“To see her come into her own is a profound experience. She’s finding her independence and walking her own walk and making her own decisions. It makes me ecstatic.” — Christine Marie
Looking Toward the Future
Bistline is currently working on her debut album, which focuses on processing her past and channeling her anger into “rage anthems.” Beyond her music, she is pursuing a degree in psychology at Mohave Community College with the goal of becoming an advocate for others trapped in coercive relationships. As she continues to build her life outside of the Arizona-Utah border enclave, she remains grateful for the unexpected support she has received since sharing her story.
“I was bracing for more pushback, more hate,” she admits. “I felt like everybody has that right to hate me because I existed in that space, even though I was born and raised in it.” Today, she is focused on the future, documenting her “firsts”—from her first restaurant meal to her first trip to a movie theater—as she continues to define her own identity.
