Brittany Bexton is a musician come author who grew up in Southern California but moved to Nashville in 2011. With great personal storytelling and catchy melodies music has been a huge part of Brittany’s life for as long as she can remember.
How would you describe your music for someone who may not have heard you before?
I like to describe my music as soul-rock, or roots rock. I have big soulful vocals, with thoughtful lyrics, and catchy melodies. Martina McBride’s big voice meets Bonnie Raitt bluesy, meets Goo Goo Dolls rock flair, meets Lifehouse’s Christian roots and positive message, meets Jewel’s stories and deeper lyrics.
Do you have a usual songwriting process? If yes, do you mind sharing it?
It varies a little bit, depending on how inspiration hits. When I was a newer writer I would get lyrics and melodies together as a song came piece by piece. Now, I write a lot more and can’t always rely on inspiration to hit. So I do have a process that helps me get into the flow when it isn’t automatic. I like taking my song ideas and doing freewrites of them for between 3-10 minutes. This gets my brain in writing mode and focuses it on the topic. But, it also usually results in some golden lines. I end up pulling a lot of lines out of my freewrites and using them in the song. And, on rare occasions, the freewrite has actually become the structure for my song. As I piece lyrics together, I’ll often get melodic ideas with the lyrics. I tend to add chords last if I’m writing by myself. But sometimes I use chords to inspire where the melody will go.
You are an author as well a musician, can you tell us more about this?
Yes! I’ve been in music my whole life, and I’ve always liked writing, but it’s funny because I never planned on writing a book. At some point, my story and experiences just led me to the book. It started with monthly newsletters to my fans via email. I would always share a thought for the month. But people started really reacting to the emails and telling me what an impact these “thoughts of the month” were having on them. I realized I could reach and impact more people if I wrote a book. So I did! The book is called “Learning to Believe Again: 30 Days to Finding Hope, Faith, & Comfort in God’s Truth.” I had gone through some difficult things that really challenged my faith walk, but I’d come out, and as the title says, learned to believe again, and trust again. People ask me how I wrote the book and got it published, and honestly, I don’t know how to respond, because I didn’t put all the pieces together that made the book happen. God orchestrated that. I just showed up to write every day, and share my experiences, my heart, lessons I’d learned, and revelations I’d received. I’m just grateful I get to be a little piece of helping others navigate their journey, and bring hope to it.
You moved to Nashville in 2011, would you say this move has influenced your music in any way?
Absolutely! I think it’s influenced me as a writer more than anything. It’s pushed me to deepen my writing. It’s hard not to improve when you are surrounded by some of the best writers in the world and are constantly learning, even just through saturation and immersion in the music around you.
Where has been the best place that you have played and what made this experience so special?
I got a special opportunity to sing in Carnegie Hall when I was a teenager. That was an amazing experience. As an adult with my own artist career, I would have to say that my favourite show thus far, was at 12th & Porter about seven or so years ago. It was one of my favourite venues in town. The sound was always great and the light show was fabulous. That year, I did my very first Daring Divas show, a show I started during CMA Fest to raise money for charity. We got to do the show at 12th & Porter, and not only did we have a fabulous line-up of artists, but we were also able to fill the room, and raise money for charity. It was a pretty magical night.
Which song is your favourite to perform and why?
That varies so much day to day. It depends on my mood and the venue. I really have new favourites all the time. Performing live in a low-key setting, of my originals, “Believe Again” is one of my favourites to perform. As far as high-energy original songs, currently, that would either be “Just Crazy Enough” from my last album, or “Dance With The Devil,” which will be my next single release.
You’ve just released ‘Kissin’ Fear Goodbye’, does the song have a story/what inspired you to write it?
Yes. In 2015 I was diagnosed with PTSD and started doing therapy specifically for trauma. Because of the trauma, I would experience heavy anxiety and fear in certain areas that felt crippling. But as I went through EMDR therapy for the trauma, I started unravelling some of those fears, and getting healthy enough that I could face them, and even defy them, by doing the very things that scared me. It was incredibly freeing. I had just experienced the freedom of facing fear, and the elation that came from it. So, naturally, I had to write about it.
What advice would you give young women looking to get into music and performing?
Know who you are, and don’t let anyone take that from you. Stand in integrity, no matter what the industry would try to tell you to do. Expect that there will be people who don’t like what you are doing, but also expect that to not matter. Just keep growing, keep learning, keep getting better, and keep loving the music, and the rest will fall into place as it’s supposed to.
Who are some of your favourite bands and artists in the Nashville music scene?
I can’t say that I follow any particular bands in the Nashville music scene. I guess when I think of Nashville, I don’t think of the scene being here, as much as the industry. But, I can tell you some writers and artists that are based here that I admire, and respect deeply as writers. Rick Ferrell is a fantastic writer and artist. He’s got a sweet voice with range, and his songs tell stories like no one else. Natalie Hemby is another writer I really like, who has both a fabulous soulful voice and great skills at crafting a song. I love how bluesy some of her stuff is. A lot of songs she’s written are some of my favourite covers to perform live. Heather Morgan is another singer-songwriter who is fabulous. She has a really unique country soaked voice, and her songs cut right to the heart. And Caitlyn Smith is another I really like. Her songs have deep lyrics, and she’s got a beautiful cutting voice.
Do you have any plans to release a full album?
I will be releasing a full EP soon. I have one more single to release off of the album, and then I’ll be dropping the full EP. At this point I don’t have a full-length album in my plans, but that may change over time. I’d love to do a longer project at some point.
Like/follow Brittany Bexton on Facebook and Instagram
Check out Brittany Bexton on Spotify