Brenna Bone has been in Nashville for 4 years and has been making a name for herself around Music City. She has done so by staying true to herself and displaying her authenticity through her music. I sat down with Brenna and talked about growing up in Erie, PA, her first few friends in Nashville and of course her favorite spots to eat around Nashville.
Get To Know Brenna
"I'm originally from Erie, Pennsylvania and I've been in Nashville for about 4 years now. I picked up the guitar when I was 19, when I was a freshman in college. I started teaching myself how to play and began writing my own songs. Then I found people to work with in Erie, which actually has a big music scene. I credit a lot of who I am and my music to my hometown. I started sitting in with a Rock Country band called Refuge and got the bug. I was too young to legally be in bars and the manager said I would have to be out by 9. My parents would go with me and it was kind of embarrassing. From there I really just caught the bug for music. I got my degree from college, but over the course of those 4 years I built a name for myself in my hometown. There is this award show every year called the Rock Erie Music Awards. The first year I was even up for anything I took home "Best New Artist", "Country Act", "Acoustic Act" and "Song of the Year". I know that probably sounds like "yeah it was your hometown", but it was a big deal for me. Before I made the move to Nashville I had been traveling back and forth for a year and a half. I’d go down at least once a month and it just got to be too much traveling. At the time, I was working with an artist development company and said to "either be here (Nashville) or not". When I got to Nashville, at first I hated it here, I was terrified. I started networking and meeting friends. Looking back on it, every person I've met or show I've played, was for a reason."
Relatable In So Many Ways...
Whether it's an addiction to alcohol, drugs or even a toxic relationship, the situation is often harder before it's easier. But, there is always a light at the end of the tunnel. Brenna Bone's "Break This Habit" takes us through a relatable and familiar situation which many of us have experienced. One has clung to part of a toxic relationship and eventually heartbreak. As Brenna relays, thinking about all the good times and memories that were made makes it so much harder to "break this habit". It has caused people to do some stupid things - going back to people they know they shouldn't go back to. Bone showcases her passion and authenticity in this smash released on October 22, 2021.
Inspiration Behind "Break This Habit"
Written By: Brenna Bone & Matt Mulhare, Produced By: Colt Capperune
"I wrote this with my friend Matt Mulhare in June of 2020. It was my first write with Matt and my first Zoom write ever, which was weird. At the time I was going through this thing. I'm just being honest... I thought it was a relationship. It all unfolded and he was dating like three other girls and it went on way too long. This situation was one I knew I had to get away from and I couldn't. I was talking to Matt about it and I was like "I feel like this guy is a drug". We got to talking more and I said "I know if I had too many drinks last night, that I don't have to drink today. And I know if I smoked last night, I don't have to today. But why is he a habit I can't break"? From there the song just wrote itself in about an hour and a half. I remember I was living with Christina Taylor at the time. She asked how it went and I thought it went really well. It took me a while to release this song, but when I would play it out the song would get the best reaction from the crowd. I posted a little clip on Instagram and people really wanted me to release it. The song happened fast but it took me some time to get the funds together to release it."
Q & A With Brenna Bone
Q: What was that "lightbulb" moment when you knew you wanted to pursue music?
A: "I don't think I had one exact moment per say. I was driving in the car with my three best friends and we got to talking one day and one of them said "I don't get how you get up on stage, I would be so afraid...". I always knew I had to be on stage. Growing up, Brittney Spears and Christina Aguilera were my idols. I would watch them,read books about them and try to find their phone numbers on the CD covers... I was a freak. I would stand on my fireplace and pretend it was a stage. My parents ended up building us a stage in the basement. I remember replying to my girlfriends that day, "what do you mean? Doesn't everyone want to grow up to be a rock star?". They responded that some want to grow up to be nurses, teachers and things like that. I felt like I was meant to do this. It was a lot of little moments throughout my lifetime that have pointed me in the direction to make this happen."
Q: Favorite thing about Nashville?
A: "My favorite thing about Nashville is that there are so many opportunities, so many creative people and that really motivates me in multiple ways. People like you (Jamie Shoemaker), the entrepreneurship and vibe down here is really inspiring. I'm a "go, go, go" person. If I have a day off, I think I should be doing something. There is always something to do in Nashville; working out, going for a hike, food, going downtown and listening to music all day long. There's live music every single night. You meet people - you could walk down the street and see Jason Aldean. Nashville is very lively. However, it can also get depressing in a way. One sees all these people being successful and if there's a week where you feel you didn't accomplish something, you feel as though you have to be doing more. It depends on how you're looking at things that day.
And I have to talk about the food. There's a lot of good Mexican restaurants here. Saint Añejo is one of my favorites, and part of the reason is because there are skulls everywhere inside. Barcelona, I will go there with my girlfriends for wine and potatoes, they have great potatoes! And sushi. My favorite place is closed, but my new favorite spot is kind of a divey spot called Koi... so good."
Q: When you moved to Nashville, who were some of the first people you met and how have they impacted you personally and musically?
A: "Christina Taylor. We were friends on Instagram before I even moved down here. We were working with the same artist development company at the time and they connected us. During one of my visits to Nashville we met up and hit it off immediately. It felt like we had been friends for years. Christina needed a roommate as she had just moved and reached out to see if I was interested. I told my parents this was my opportunity, that it had kind of just fallen in my lap. I moved two months later. She's been my guide through my first couple years in Nashville and took me to every event with her. She's been a huge part of my time here.
Kaylee Rose is another person I met soon after arriving in Nashville. That girl is a hustler who is always working and this is going to be a big year for her. Bryan Webb. I met Bryan before I moved and he worked on Ty, Kelly & Chuck. He got a job there answering phones and ended up doing a lot more. When I moved down here I did the "10 Minute Tune" and Bryan was the one who I was in contact with. He was the social media guy behind the scenes. Bryan, over time, became a closer friend. I remember during the pandemic Kaylee Rose was having a birthday party and I didn't know anybody else going. I ended up meeting Bryan’s identical twin brother for the first time and we have been dating ever since. So I will say Bryan Webb has been a big part of my Nashville family. Bryan is now at Apple Music and I've met a lot of people through him. He just knows everyone."
Q: Best advice you've ever been given?
A: "Be authentic. In the beginning of this music journey, when I first moved to Nashville and wanted to change my artist name, it was going to be Brenna Nicole or Brenna Santini which is my mom's maiden name. I liked Brenna Bone. My obsession with skulls makes sense with the name. When I first moved I was writing "flowery" songs. I didn't grow up on Country Music, I grew up on Rock Music and found my own love for Country Music through Brantley Gilbert. Now I put my own Rock spin on my songs. The girly vibe just isn't my thing. I want to have heavy guitar, to be in leather on a stage with my skull behind me and do the Country Rock thing. Being authentic in your personal life is huge. When I first moved, I tried to fit into crowds that didn't fit me. I was so unhappy. I've been the happiest ever because I'm doing it the way I want to. I’m surrounding myself with people I genuinely like to be around."
If you are just discovering Brenna Bone follow her on Apple Music, Spotify, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Tik Tok