Singer Bea Kay (born and formerly known as Britany Kwasnik) is one of Canada's most talked about performing artists - and she's just Seventeen. Recently signed to Justin Time Records, based in her hometown of Montreal, what makes this young woman's songs stand apart in this age of manufactured stardom is the striking fact that she writes them - the words and the music - and that she's been at it for a few years.
While songwriting prowess is far from unusual among performing musicians, it is...
Singer Bea Kay (born and formerly known as Britany Kwasnik) is one of Canada's most talked about performing artists - and she's just Seventeen. Recently signed to Justin Time Records, based in her hometown of Montreal, what makes this young woman's songs stand apart in this age of manufactured stardom is the striking fact that she writes them - the words and the music - and that she's been at it for a few years.
While songwriting prowess is far from unusual among performing musicians, it is for persons of her young age. She is a young woman who is determined to be faithful to her own inner calling, above all else. While Brittany is clearly heartened by the positive reaction, that's secondary to the talented teenager, who is one year from finishing high school. She's highly focused and her own harshest critic.
How this unassuming songwriter came to this point is also an unusual tale. While Bea was always drawn to music, the news from doctors that she had a vocal cord dysfunction and would never be able to sing was the impetus for her utter determination to prove everyone wrong. "When I was nine I started breathing weirdly," adds Bea. "It was a like a squeaking sound, and there was wheezing. In fact, my vocal chords were working backwards. No one knows why it happened exactly." After therapy, within two years, it got better, and by age eleven, she experienced no more wheezing. "Now it's manageable. It does come back, but when it does, I know how to get it all under control," the singer explains, still clearly relieved, as if it were yesterday."
In the interim, while healing, the young woman started secretly recording songs she'd written in her room. Eventually, friends discovered her hidden talent, and posted some songs on YouTube. It was after this that things really started happening, after which she started posting some herself. "Breathe," inspired by a traumatic experience, has already been viewed over 135,000 times and downloaded over 300,000 times - an astonishing feat, considering that her debut, I Don't Know Me, has only been available digitally since Summer 2010.
The song "Breathe" piqued the attention of many, including chart-topping singer Greg London, who arranged for Brittany to meet in California and to record with David Zeman (of The Rembrandts) in San Diego, California. She was subsequently asked to write songs in France for Greg London, with Lorne Wolfe's team. These activities then led to other exciting developments, not least her deal with Justin Time. Its President, Jim West, comments that Bea "exudes talent, way beyond her young years. We look forward to a lasting, creative and satisfying relationship."
Clearly, Bea’s success is based on the directness and honesty found in her songs. Unsurprisingly, they are autobiographical and direct, with most inspired by real situations involving family and friends. These are songs of love, loss, pain, and triumph - universal themes.
Always curious about music, Kay's earliest memories include listening to her parents' Fleetwood Mac and Jann Arden records. Current favorites are Tegan and Sara, Regina Spektor, Dallas Green (City & Colour), and Juliet Simms.
One can only marvel at this young woman's ultimate potential, as she already demonstrates she's got so many of the qualities - determination, talent, and a solid team in her court - to achieve stardom.
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