Check Out Brianna Bollinger’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Brianna Bollinger. 

Hi Brianna, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
My musical story starts when I was fifteen, which is quite a bit later than most. I’d dabbled in poetry when I was little, probably the way most creative little kids do, and I never had any real idea of what I wanted to do with my life beyond vague ideas of a ‘horse farmer’ or actress. Fast-forward to fifteen, and I had the sudden desire to wrote songs. All I knew was that Taylor Swift wrote songs on a guitar, so therefore if I obtained a guitar and learned to play it, I could do the same. That was all. I’d never seen anyone play a guitar in the flesh, and had never even heard of Jimmy Page or Eric Clapton or Slash. So, at my behest, my parents bought me an acoustic Yamaha for my 16th birthday, on which I painstakingly began to learn. (At this point, I didn’t know the different between a $200 fender and a $5000 Gibson. I didn’t even realize the difference between a bass and a guitar until months later.) I still remember reading this guitar beginners Hal Lennard book in which they were instructing to “place your finger on the fret and apply pressure”, and it took me about half an hour of google searches to find out what a fret was. Did anyone else try to learn anything with Hal Lennard books? Man, those things are like reading Greek. Please don’t try it. 

Suffice it to say, I figured it out! I spend the next few years learning out how to play guitar (don’t ever even think about wasting time or money on yousician) and slowing beginning to understand the basics of songwriting. When I was 17, I discovered rock and roll, which changed my life. I was in Pittsburgh with my mom, and let me tell we what – in Pittsburgh, they love their rock and roll. So does my mom. I was a typical teenager listening to mostly pop music, but when my mom turned the radio on to the local rock channel, I had a moment of truth when I heard Judas Priest and Great White blaring through the speakers. (I would also count the discovery of Guns N Roses, in the same year, as a major moment for me.) It was all downhill from there. 

So that’s the story of how it all started. I enrolled at Vol State once I graduated high school, where I took classes with Kirsti Mana, who absolutely changed my musical life. I went from writing appalling songs, which I’d thankfully never shown anyone, to writing semi-decent songs and having a changed outlook on myself as a musician. I also met my best friend and co-writer in Kirsti’s songwriting class, which had been such a blessing and encouragement on my musical journey. I took the final step last year and started playing out – writers’ nights, restaurants, bars, anywhere that would have me. Meeting so many amazing musicians and getting to have coffee and co-write with some of them has been so inspiring – the amazing unsung talent in Nashville never ceases to shock me. Brianna from 2 or 3 years ago would be so proud that I’m actually pursuing music full time now. I really do look forward to what the future holds. 

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road, but I think any musician or creative person will say the same. I really believe that anything worth having doesn’t come easy. As a young adult, there are so many expectations to make something of yourself – to get a real degree and start a real career – and pursuing something like songwriting and music can disappoint so many of these expectations. I think most musicians can testify to that. Initially, learning to play the guitar and writing songs were extremely big hurdles, but the thing is, it never stops. You’re never done learning – you could always be better, and your life stops the moment you stop trying to be. I’m nowhere near where I want to be, and I think that learning not to compare or to beat yourself over the head over things you can’t control has been a big challenge for me. 

Another challenge has been my voice – yes, my singing voice. My baseball-playing business major little brother lucked out with an amazing singing voice right from the start, and let’s just say I got the opposite end of that stick. One of my goals last year was to find a way to be comfortable with my voice, which is kind of essential in this type of industry. Taking lessons with Sydney has been such a blessing and made such a difference – I never thought I’d get to the point where I could hear myself sing and not cringe, but let’s just say there may or may not be a single in the pipeline somewhere… 

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I don’t look any music as work; for me, it really is something that I love and that inspires me. Obviously, making a living from music s the goal, but if it turns into work, I might as well just get a desk job somewhere and forget the whole thing. I think that making commercial music which people will enjoy and from which you can profit is a wonderful challenge – and yes, I think you can do both. People shouldn’t have to choose between a career and what they love. 

Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
First of all, what is success? That’s the question you could spend a lifetime trying to answer. To me, success isn’t a number or a financial figure. Success in the music industry, to me, means being able to make and share music which I’m proud of. To be able to meet and make music with people who have similar interests. Most of all, it means my music being able to do for others what music has done for me. During the hardest parts of me life, music has always there for me, and I truly want to be able to make music which can do the same. That being said, I think the most important qualities to my success are determination and my passion for music. Songwriting and guitar really are my favorite things to do, and that’s what enables me to work as hard as I do at building a music as a songwriter, musician, and artist. I’m also a pretty determined person, which is necessary in an industry where nos and silence are the norm. Whenever a door is closed in my face, you can be pretty sure I’ll be walking down the street to knock on the next one. (After consulting my cat.) 

Contact Info:

• Email: briannalynn1968@gmail.com
• Website: brianna.bollinger.com
• Instagram: @Brianna.bollinger.music
• Facebook: Brianna bollinger
• Youtube: Brianna bollinger music

Image Credits
Chelsea Smith
Chloe Duvall
Tabitha Bollinger
Sami Lin