BREA LAWRENSON F A C E S
M A G A Z I N E
O T T A W A
Ottawa country singer celebrates a summer of new music.
Brea Lawrenson is an Ottawaborn Country artist who has been creating and sharing music since she was 13. In her teen years, Brea was a pop artist who dominated regional singing competitions in classical and broadway styles. At 21, she switched her genre to Country, and never looked back. Today, she is an award-winning country singer and songwriter who records all of her music in Nashville. When she’s in Ottawa, the self-titled homebody enjoys connecting with her fan base on social media, and hosts her own Podcast called ‘The Distillery’,
where she shares stories from her time performing, writing and recording all over the world. Her audience reaches The Netherlands and Brazil, Canada and America. This summer, Brea will celebrate a career milestone and one of her wildest dreams–she’s scheduled to share the stage as an opener for Shania Twain at Ottawa Bluesfest. We caught up with Lawrenson to discuss her new Nashville-inspired music, life as a new mom, and how she is preparing for a ‘full-circle’ moment as a Bluesfest artist this summer.
Shania has inspired me to be a brave woman in the music industry. To be relentless and hard working. I am so excited to bring my show to her crowd in my home city. When did you know that you wanted to pursue a career in country music? Who in your family supported you and inspired you to do so? I grew up on 90’s country because my dad loved country music. And he always wanted me to sing Country. My mom loved Classic Rock and so did I but I wanted to be more of a ‘POP’ Artist than anything. I recorded my first album at 15 and it was POP and I did go on to record a few more Pop demos and albums during my teens. But it was when I was about 21 that I decided country music was the focus and then I rebranded and recorded an album with Keith Glass
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(Guitarist of ‘Prairie Oyster’) called ‘Somewhere To Go’ and it’s on my Spotify, Youtube Channel and is available for streaming everywhere. Through out my whole life, my mom has been my support system and has acted as my manager for all these years. We work so well together and she’s the back bone of my career, a voice of reason when I feel like quitting. I owe how far I’ve come and all I’ve learned to her. You recently released Neon Nashville, what’s the inspiration behind this song? ‘Neon Nashville’ is a dreamer’s song. It’s about the nature of being a struggling artist in Nashville. It’s about chasing a dream and getting all the way up the hill and realizing that maybe it’s not what it seems or it’s not as glorious as you thought it would be. Going to Nashville so regularly, I have had a front row seat to how hard artists have to work in Nashville for just tips in a Pickle Jar. Being in that kind of atmosphere has inspired me but also taught me a lot.