Well...
I promised to tell you about my adventure in Virginia... So here goes.
Last Friday, I got to do something I've never done before. I was a musical guest on a TV show.
"What?!"
I know, right? WHAT!
I went to a set, met some of the nicest people (also some of the most patient), did an interview, and performed ten songs in front of cameras for the "Virginia Dreams Center Stage" show.
I... don't even know what to say about it.
It was scary. It was fun. It was hard. It was rewarding.
It was a fantastic opportunity, and certainly the adventure I thought it would be.
And I learned a lot.
Here are just a few of the lessons learned:
1. I need to learn how to talk
2. Cameras make me forget everything I've ever known
3. There's nothing like a warm welcome to calm nerves
I'm not sure when my clips will air, but they probably won't until sometime this summer... So there will be more on this later. But for now... WHAT!
-Brittany
On the Road Again
Today begins a journey!
A journey and a half, my friends...
Driving from Brewster, WA, to Falls Church, VA, for an adventure in Virginia that I'm too nervous to tell you about just now... but I will... eventually... depending on... how it goes... maybe.... No, I will. Promise.
Then to Maryland for a gig in Poolesville--which I'm so excited about! I'll be singing at Rocklands Farm Winery on April 22 from 6-8 PM. If you have friends and family in the area, feel free to send them an invitation! I'd love to meet them!
Then on to Nashville, TN, to get back in the studio (Album 3 is on the rise!). This session is going to be so much fun. I have a different vision for this batch of songs, and... I can't wait to tell you more about that. So much more to come.
I'll also be singing a few times around Nashville while there:
The Commodore
in Nashville on April 26 sometime around 9 PM
John A's
with my friend Chazz Wesley in Nashville on April 28 around 8 PM
The Winery at Fontanel
in Whites Creek on April 29 from 2-4 PM
And then the long drive home with a couple stops on the way to see family.
I think I could get used to these kinds of business trips...
For safe travels, good health, clear minds and thoughts... I'd be grateful for your prayers.
-Brittany
P.S. I'll be posting about the trip daily over on Facebook if you'd like to follow along...
Of This Friday, Spotify, and Cross-Country Trips
Friday Night
For those close by...
I'll be performing at The Vogue in downtown Chelan, WA, this Friday night (4/7) from 8-10 PM! It's always nice to be asked back. :)
Spotify Goal
We didn't make my Spotify goal of 250 people before April--I knew that was a pretty big goal for such a short amount of time, but the number of people following my music there tripled!
That is a great start! Thank you so, so, so, so much!
Nashville
I'm currently getting ready to make a trip back to Nashville in a couple weeks! Eeeep!
I'm so ridiculously excited to get back in the studio to continue working on Album 3! I have a different vision for the songs I'm bringing with me this time, and... oh, I'm excited. More to come on this "different vision" later. There's a lot of work to be done, but I'm proud of how this album's coming together. And as always (always!), I cannot... wait... to get these songs into your hands.
So this is why I've been quiet recently. I've been getting my game face on.
I hope you are all doing well!
-Brittany
Era of Megafires
Hey y'all!
Well, this is sudden and exciting, and I like telling you about exciting things!
I just found out I'll be opening the Era of Megafires event tomorrow night (3/22) with a song at the Omak PAC at 6 o'clock! I had the opportunity to open for this presentation by Dr. Paul Hessburg at the Snowy Owl Theater last fall, and I’m grateful to get to do it again.
Also...
THE OMAK PAC!
I might be... a little excited about that. :)
-Brittany
P.S. Thank you for following my channel on Spotify and for sharing it with your friends! We're to 29--which is a start! Progress! Thank you. :)
Spotify Sprint
Hey guys!
Alright, I have a goal, and I need your help.
The goal: 250 followers on Spotify before April.
Once I get to 250 followers, Spotify will "verify" my account, which would open up some great possibilities for my music, and this would be another way to keep you updated whenever I release a new song or album.
Do you listen to music on Spotify? Please follow me!
This is a little thing that would help me out in a huge way.
I already love you, and I would hug you if I could.
Thank you. :)
Click the button below to follow Brittany Jean on Spotify!
Songs With Different Plans
My sister is an author (Jenelle Leanne Schmidt), and she shared recently that her characters sometimes have different plans for themselves than she has for them. Sometimes they take over their own destinies. How is that possible? Well, it happens in more ways than I might’ve thought... In fact, it has happened to me! Here are some songs from "Leavin' Home" that had different plans.
Sometimes songs come quickly...
“Meet Me in the Wildwood” was written overnight, and “The County Fair” was written in a day and a half. "The County Fair" was unique in that it was so... easy. “The County Fair” practically wrote itself--that doesn’t happen often, but it’s so much fun when it does! These are two songs that took on lives of their own.
But sometimes they take a long time...
“Letter in the Attic” was a song I started thinking about the day my family moved away from Pearl Rd. I had this song in mind for almost two years before I finished it, and it took that long for several reasons... It wasn't ready, and I wasn't ready. I wasn't ready to write it, so it proved stubborn until I was.
And sometimes they surprise you...
With a week and a half to go before my final recording session for "Leavin' Home" and just a couple days before my demo had to be in the mail, I had two original songs and two cover songs selected that I was planning on recording, but my mom asked me if I had another song of my own... She wanted me to record three originals and just one cover song. That was what I wanted too, but at the time, I didn’t have another one of mine that I wanted to record. Well, that challenge was accepted. The next day, I played my brand new song “Adventure” for my mom and dad for the first time. Funny thing was, I wasn’t sure about "Adventure", but with my parents’ encouraging, I polished it up. Fast forward a few months, and it was nominated in the Independent Music Awards. Surprise, Brittany!
Sometimes it’s good to go back...
“She Almost Did” is a song I wrote in high school. People who know my older songs (the ones I haven’t performed or recorded professionally) often tell me I should revisit them. That’s difficult for me to do. It’s hard for me to look back on the songs I wrote when I was 16 and 17 and compare them to the songs I’ve written more recently. However, “She Almost Did” came back and made the cut. Sometimes it isn’t a new song you need to write, sometimes it’s an old one you’ve already written that wants to be heard...
And sometimes a song has a better idea and switches directions...
“A Little Bit of Someday” was written at a time when I felt stuck. I wanted to be in Tennessee--I wanted to be “finally on my way”, and I didn’t see how I was going to get there. I wanted dreams to start comin’ through. I was so impatient. So... I started writing this song about places I want to see, but it quickly took a different turn than I was expecting. Instead of being a bucket list full of longing and dreams, it became a song about being content with and remembering to be thankful for where I was. My dreams are still just as big, but I don’t want to miss the beauty of where I am right now. “It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.”
Yes... I just quoted Dumbledore.
So sometimes it's good that songs don't go according to plan.
If you made it this far... :)
Happy Friday, my friend!
-Brittany