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Brittany J. Smith is one of the most positive and authentic souls in Youtube. She uses her powerhouse vocals and lyrical prowess to create unforgettable covers of your favorite songs from musical theater, the 1980's, and even her own songs. Through her pain, she has made art, and shared her magic with the world. Our Editor-In-Chief, Isabella, was honored to sit down with her for a conversation on her beginnings in music and how she stays true to herself.
Isabella: What song makes you happiest right now?
Brittany: Can the entire Hamilton soundtrack count? ;)
Isabella: Tell us about how you started performing! I’ve heard of “The Traveling Smiths”; what was it like performing with your family at such a young age?
Brittany: Haha! Yesss. Well, as a little background for anyone out there reading- my parents began traveling & putting on four night themed family events all over the U.S. shortly before I was born! I often say that I’ve been performing on stage since I was in the womb. Basically, my parents would work together to choose a theme & write a storyline & after that my father would fabricate amazing puppets & sets to bring their ideas to life. The first six years of my life took place on the road full-time & as soon I was able, I became a part of the show. My family then traveled & performed together every Summer for the next 15 or so years after that! I’ve been a pirate, princess, time machine technician, super hero, cowgirl, dinosaur wrangler… essentially, my childhood was one huge adventure! I feel really fortunate to have had such a beautiful childhood, surrounded by a solid family unit that loved to be together both on & off the stage. You could definitely say that I was bitten by the performance bug at a VERY young age! Aside from traveling with my family, I was a big theatre kid in high school & began acting in local commercials around that time as well. Then, in 2010 I released a two song EP & that’s pretty much what started my music career! :)
Isabella: I know you speak a lot about your late father in your videos/social media. How did he impact your singing career, and how do you keep his memory alive?
Brittany: *SIGH* I love talking about my sweet father. He had an awesome voice & taught me to love broadway & 80’s rock! One of my fondest memories is hearing him sing along to Foreigner in the car. When certain songs come on & I close my eyes, sometimes it feels like I can still hear him. He was always incredibly encouraging when it came to my pursuit of a career in music & never stopped believing in me. Honestly, I feel like I’m able to keep his memory alive every single time I push my creative limits. Sometimes when I get done with a certain cover or video that I’m really proud of, I think to myself, “Dad would have LOVED this.” So that’s what I try to do… just continue creating things & singing songs I know in my heart he would’ve loved. Whenever I’m creating, it makes me feel closer to him.
Isabella: What is your greatest accomplishment so far?
Brittany: Ooooh… I guess an obvious answer would be that my greatest accomplishment so far has been getting a gold ticket to Hollywood Week on American Idol! Having Katy Perry, Lionel Richie, & Luke Bryan say they liked my voice enough to give me that “yes” was a huge win, not only for me but for my whole family! My next greatest accomplishment is going to be when I hit 100k subscribers on YouTube soon. It’s been a long journey & I want that silver play button so bad. Haha! But in all truthfulness, I think my biggest accomplishment is the fact that I’m even still here. The past few years have had some very, very dark lows… things I still haven’t spoken out about… moments when I truly didn’t think I could carry on… but here we are. I’m most proud of myself for taking every step, no matter how small or painful, to get to where I am now- alive, full of gratitude for the now & full of hope for the future.
Isabella: How do you maintain being true to yourself in a space like Youtube, where it seems like you’re always competing for views/likes?
Brittany: Honestly, I’ve struggled with this a lot. I think anyone else who works in any sort of creative capacity does too. I am not competitive by nature… AT ALL. haha So I try really hard not to let myself view YouTube as a battleground where I’m tirelessly competing against other creators, but rather as a big, fun workshop where we all have the immense honor of creating alongside one another. Comparison is the worst & most pointless thing a creative person can do. We’re all different & amazing & I believe that there is enough goodness (subscribers, views, love) in this world to go around! Personally, what’s carried me through my hardest moments has been figuring out what MY personal measure of success is. Success does not always have to look like millions of views or subscribers. Success, to me, can be as simple as getting out of bed in the morning, filming when my brain just wants to shut down, learning via comments that one of my videos has made someone’s day a little brighter, teaching myself a new video editing trick, or simply laying my head on my pillow at night knowing that I kept my artistic integrity by doing what makes me happy & not what I feel pressured to do in order to be “successful” by the world’s standards.
Isabella: Do you have any upcoming projects/releases you’d like to share with us?
Brittany: YESSSS! I’m about to begin releasing some new, original music that I’m beyond excited about. These songs are part of a project I’ve been dreaming up for years & will be very different from any music I’ve released in the past. Let’s just say… everyone’s going to meet a new side of me as an artist. ;) As things progress, I’ll be posting updates on my YouTube channel, IG & Patreon in the next few months so keep an eye out there!
Find more of Brittany here: