Brittany Allyn

Music is built on the strength of the artist and the song. While country music has been the catalyst for vocalist, songwriter, Brittany Allyn’s career, her debut solo CD Like a Butterfly is an emergence of all the musical styles that define Brittany Allyn the artist. Her music strikes many chords simultaneously for music lovers across genres ranging from jazz and blues to country and pop and everywhere in between.
Growing up in St. Stephen, Minnesota, Brittany's earliest influences were from her Grandparents record collection. She learned to love artists like Sarah Vaughn, Patti Page, Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris. These artists and their music were the inspiration for her at the age of six to know in her heart she would spend the rest of her life singing and writing songs. And so it is. “I’ve always known that I’m supposed to sing. I don’t remember a time when I didn’t want to. It’s when I’m happiest.”
Brittany knew Nashville was the place to be to pursue the music she wanted to make. Soon after arriving in Nashville, she started doing studio work, singing on demos, and writing her own songs. “As soon as I realized a lot of my favorite artists were writing their own songs, I started writing. I was fortunate to be able to get the attention of some amazing songwriters that really mentored me and taught me the craft. I love creating, starting a writing session with just an idea or a piece of a melody and finishing with not just a song, but a piece of your heart exposed.”
It was during a performance at The Stockyard in Nashville that Brittany met the tour manager of country music star Lorrie Morgan. She learned Ms. Morgan was looking to add a background vocalist to her band. Brittany auditioned, and two days later was introduced as Lorrie Morgan’s newest band member while on one of the most famous stages in the world. “Touring with Lorrie Morgan was my first job as a background vocalist with a major recording artist. “My first show with Lorrie was a TV spot on the Grand Ole Opry. I’d dreamed of singing on the Opry stage since I was a little girl. A lot of dreams came true that night.” Brittany toured and recorded with Lorrie Morgan for the next 10 years, including singing background vocals on seven of Ms. Morgan’s albums for RCA and BNA Records.
Brittany has had the incredible opportunity to sing to colossal audiences with other major recording artists as well. She toured with Toby Keith for his 2003-2004 Shockin’ Y’all Tour, including performances with him during the pre-game show of Superbowl XXXVIII, the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and various other award shows and specials. “Touring with Toby, as with any artist, is a learning experience. Each has been a little different. What I admired most about Toby was that he was a good business man. He knew his audience and gave them what they wanted. He also writes most of his material and I think that is essential to his success. Seeing that on stage every night was inspiring.”
Brittany rejoined Lorrie Morgan’s band after Toby Keith’s tour ended, but it was only a year later that an opportunity of a lifetime came into her hands. Country music legend George Jones offered Brittany the position to sing with him as his background vocalist on his national tours and to open his shows with some songs of her own. “Being a country music fan my whole life, no one has paid me a greater compliment as a singer than George did when he offered me the job. To stand in the company of a legend, let alone sing with him is a thrill that there aren’t words to describe.”
In addition to her touring schedule, Brittany also does a great deal of studio work as well as TV specials, singing back up for artists including Allison Kraus, Willie Nelson, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith.
Now, Brittany takes center stage with the release of her debut album, Like a Butterfly. Like a Butterfly is a musical kaleidoscope with hints of jazz, pop, country and blues. Each colorful song a piece instinctively arranged to reflect both Brittany’s music today as well as that which has been ingrained in her musical memory since childhood. Recorded in Nashville with some of the industry’s top musicians and produced by Brittany’s longtime collaborator Chris Nole, Like a Butterfly exhibits a vast and vivid range of vocal and instrumental emotion. With Brittany’s voice as the centerpiece, Nole has brilliantly captured and capitalized on all her influences, weaving them together to create a style and sound unique to Brittany Allyn. “It’s so tempting these days to keep adding more and more tracks to a recording simply because technology makes it possible. What I like most about this project is the simplicity. Melody and lyric – that is what it’s all about.”
Here, there is an honesty that resonates in every breath– in every note that makes each song in her performances more captivating than the one before. Brittany shares her gift – her passion in Like a Butter