Up and coming singer/songwriter, Brynn Elliott has been paving her own path to reach her dreams and it is working out really well for her. As a full time college student, you'd think it'd be hard to also be a full time musician, but Brynn handles it with grace. I got to talk to her about school, music, and just life in general and found that what she said was not only inspiring, but also comforting.

We started off by talking about why she has chosen to write music. Many songwriters have different reasons for why they write, but I identified a lot with Brynn's, "I think the reason that I continue to write and continue, to kind of, press forward and do this thing as my life, and job and career, is because I really believe in the power of music to help people. I want to make music for other people that can be empowering and helpful... I think thats why I continue to write it and why it's not just a hobby for me, but it's my life. It's the thing that consumes me. Because I do want to bring some kind of goodness into the world through it". Making a positive impact on the world through music is one of the best gifts that can be given and I'd say Brynn is already doing that.

I was interested in how her musical life and school life have become integrated. While she isn't studying music she uses her major of philosophy to spur many of the concepts and ideas that she wants to write about, "...if I'm just writing by myself- they start with an idea, which is why I'm studying philosophy at school. Because I'm obsessed with ideas. I'm obsessed with how they're used and how we come up with them, what sort of makes us want to come up with them. So its the same thing with songwriting, which is just like how do we create a story and a song through one simple idea".

Being a full-time senior at Harvard must be trying at times, but then to also be a full time musician seems nearly impossible, but Brynn really makes it work. She describes it as being similar to being an athlete, "You practice everyday for however many hours, you sometimes have to travel on the weekends. It kind of works out. I've tried to tour during the semester and it's worked. I sometimes travel on the weekends for that".

While all of those things are essential in the life of a musician, a lot of time is also taken up by figuring out who you are as a person and as a musician, "...the past three years have just been a lot of initial questions for me that I've had to answer. Which are like 'Who am I as an artist?', you know those sort of things. Which kind of, for any artist, is a very contemplative thing, and you need time and space to think about that. So because I am such a new artist, school has really, really helped that process. It's sort of a place where you have to be true to yourself. College, and you probably know this, will give you opportunities to really be yourself".

Often through writing songs musicians find out who they are both as people and as artists. This was the case for Brynn through her experiences at college and then transferring those thoughts to paper, "...I did go through this breakup and it was such a huge process for me. I was dating this boy at school and it was one of those experiences that made me face myself and made me realize that I was living in a certain fear, living in the fear of another person and what this guy thought of me. So I wrote "Might Not Like Me", kind of because I had to because of this experience... I think art is about being true to yourself, about being authentic. I think the artists that go out there that are themsleves, are some of the most powerul artists. Cause we all are just craving that honesty and authenticty in other people. I think that's what college does for you".

Over the summer Brynn opened for Switchfoot and Lifehouse and a few years ago she opened up for Parachute. Her take on those experiences are amazing because she grew so much as a performer and as a person, "I think with Parachute, I had just written those pop songs, like "Might Not Like Me" and "Psycho". I had, just kind of, started that process and I was still in this place of not really knowing how I wanted to sound when I was touring and all this stuff... John Foreman of Switchfoot was so incredible and gave me so much good advice. I felt very poured into by that band and inspired. John gave me so many performance tips and just helped me think through that, so I felt like the tour was such an incredible experience for me because I feel like I really pressed into those things that make me who I am".

The songwriter/musician in me had some questions about the material of a song and when you know you've expended all of it, "You know, it's funny, I wrote probably like 4 songs about this particular boy and then I did get to a point where I was like okay I've worked through this, I've processed it, I'm over it. But I can see myself going through a bad situation and writing a whole record on it or writing songs about it 5 years later after I have new perspective".

As a musician I was also curious if she ever felt inferior due to having no classical training and how she dealt with those feelings of inferiority, "My colleagues are often way better musicians than I am. Thats definitely sometimes upsetting and you want to feel like you’re really accomplished in your instrument. But I think for me I always come back to that moment of why am I playing music...I love being a musician. I love learning more musical things, but like I said for me it's the songwriting. It’s the idea being communicated through music. Music is so disarming and it meets people where they’re at... For me, I've never been, as weird as it sounds, a music nerd. I've always just been a lover of music. So I think that's the most important thing, keeping that love".

My final question was if she had any advice to give songwriters or artists that are just starting out and her response was inspiring, "Treat every experience that you have in your life as a potential growing experience for songwriting. Whether it's a breakup or a friendship, or a book you’re reading. Everything can be used to be turned into a beautiful song. Keep that perspective because I honestly think that's what makes a great musician...I don’t think you have to be the best singer. I don’t think you have to be the best musician. I think it's just being that authentic person and then that is just so captivating for audiences or people that you'll meet in the music industry. They just want to hear something true and good".

Brynn Elliott is playing her first headlining show on October 23rd at Brighton Music Hall in Boston! It's sure to be a great show full of amazing music and good vibes so if you are in the Boston area and haven't bought a ticket yet you definitely should.

For the rest of this year Brynn will be releasing singles and an album is in the talks for having a release date sometime next year. She's super excited to graduate and keep performing and writing. Make sure to keep an eye out for all of her new music on Spotify and Apple Music and make sure to go stream or buy "Might Not Like Me" and "Psycho Stupid Crazy".