# Laura Bryna: The Story Behind “Rise”—Music, Loss, and Finding Strength

An episode of [Tony Mantor's : Almost Live..... Nashville](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1751194045), 6 Oct 2026, 31 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/c41d385f-64b2-4514-9415-b4d50130ce01/f3fa345e-a4ab-48ea-bb47-b4d9016b2c58/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=d1742151-672b-4e4d-997b-b4d50130ce0c

Show Notes What happens when a song you wrote to encourage others becomes the song you need yourself? On this episode of Almost Live Nashville, Tony Mantor welcomes country artist and songwriter Laura Bryna for a heartfelt conversation about music, family, perseverance, and connection. Laura recalls growing up in rural Maryland and finding comfort in country music during her brother’s prolonged hospitalization. His recovery—and his decision to decline a Make-A-Wish wish so someone else could receive it—helped shape her lifelong commitment to giving back. She shares the story behind “Rise” and how its meaning deepened through her father’s cancer journey and death, her mother’s breast cancer treatment, and the devastating loss of her brother and grandmother. She also remembers returning to the stage shortly after those losses, supported by her band and inspired by her brother’s love of life. Alongside those emotional stories, Laura brings humor and energy to a discussion of independent artistry, her songwriting process, and the small-town connections that inspired “Drink in Town.” She also explains how online criticism inspired “I’m Her,” a song about embracing who you are. In this episode: • Growing up in Maryland and following her country music dream to Nashville. • Her brother’s recovery and the roots of her Make-A-Wish involvement. • Building an independent career with a team that shares her vision. • Writing “Rise” and hearing how listeners found strength in it. • Navigating grief and finding connection through performing. • Celebrating small-town life with “Drink in Town.” • Turning criticism into a message of authenticity. • The sensitive person behind the confident performer. Connect with Laura: laurabryna.com Follow Almost Live Nashville for more conversations about music, entertainment, and the people behind the songs. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:00] Speaker 1: Hi, I'm Tony Mantor. Before we start today's show, I
[0:03] Speaker 1: want to introduce you to Coast to Coast Heroes, my
[0:07] Speaker 1: new podcast debuting November 11th. For our military veterans, the
[0:11] Speaker 1: uniform is only part of the story. Behind it is
[0:14] Speaker 1: a person and a life shaped by service, sacrifice, and
[0:18] Speaker 1: experiences many of us may never fully understand. Through honest,
[0:23] Speaker 1: deeply personal conversations, you'll hear veterans share what they've faced,
[0:28] Speaker 1: what carried them through, and how they continue making a
[0:31] Speaker 1: difference beyond their military service. Their strength deserves more than
[0:35] Speaker 1: our gratitude. Their stories deserve our attention. Coast to Coast Heroes,
[0:41] Speaker 1: the people behind the uniform, the stories beyond the headlines.
[0:45] Speaker 1: Coast to Coast Heroes debuts November 11th. Please follow, listen,
[0:51] Speaker 1: and share. And most of all, get to know the
[0:54] Speaker 1: veterans because behind every veteran is a story and listening
[0:59] Speaker 1: is where understanding begins. Hi, I'm Tony Mantour. Thanks for
[1:03] Speaker 1: joining us today. Welcome to Almost Live Nashville, where music, entertainment,
[1:08] Speaker 1: and great conversations come together. If you haven't already, tap follow.
[1:13] Speaker 1: This way you stay up to date, never missing the
[1:15] Speaker 1: great conversation and guests coming your way. Some artists entertain us,
[1:22] Speaker 1: others inspire us, and once in a while you meet
[1:25] Speaker 1: someone who does both. Today's guest has built a career
[1:28] Speaker 1: on authenticity, resilience, and using music to bring hope to
[1:33] Speaker 1: people when they need it most. From growing up in
[1:35] Speaker 1: a small Maryland town with dreams of country music, to
[1:39] Speaker 1: overcoming unimaginable family tragedies, to becoming an award-winning independent recording artist, songwriter,
[1:46] Speaker 1: radio host, author, and passionate advocate for organizations like Make-A-Wish,
[1:52] Speaker 1: she has never lost sight of why she creates. Her
[1:55] Speaker 1: music has comforted cancer patients, honored military heroes, celebrated small-town America,
[2:01] Speaker 1: and reminded countless people that no matter what life throws
[2:05] Speaker 1: at us, we all have the strength to rise. Today
[2:08] Speaker 1: we talk with Laura Bryna about the moments that shaped
[2:11] Speaker 1: her journey, the personal stories behind her songs, the power
[2:15] Speaker 1: of giving back, and why music continues to heal hearts
[2:18] Speaker 1: around the world. It's a pleasure to have her here today.
[2:21] Speaker 1: Thanks for joining us.
[2:23] Speaker 2: Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited.
[2:25] Speaker 1: Instead of going into directly what you're doing now, let's
[2:29] Speaker 1: take your journey and getting there. How did it all start?
[2:32] Speaker 2: The journey begins. Well, I'm originally from Maryland, way, way
[2:36] Speaker 2: in the middle of nowhere, kind of turn left at
[2:38] Speaker 2: the cow, right at the church kind of directions.
[2:40] Speaker 1: Okay.
[2:40] Speaker 2: You know, I've always loved country music. To me, country
[2:43] Speaker 2: music is about the lyrics. It's about the melodies. It's
[2:46] Speaker 2: real life experiences, things that people are going through. The
[2:49] Speaker 2: double entendres, the fun.
[2:51] Speaker 1: Sure.
[2:51] Speaker 2: But yet there's, you know, the serious and the sensitive
[2:54] Speaker 2: and emotional part too. As a child, we're a blended family.
[2:57] Speaker 2: We're like mixed marriages, deaths, divorces, that kind of thing.
[3:00] Speaker 2: We used to go down in the basement. Actually, we
[3:02] Speaker 2: still do this. I was the lead singer of the
[3:04] Speaker 2: band and my stepsisters and my half sister, they were
[3:07] Speaker 2: my backup dancers and singers.
[3:10] Speaker 1: Okay.
[3:11] Speaker 2: And so we thought we were really great, by the way,
[3:13] Speaker 2: with our metal spoons. And we were charging my parents
[3:16] Speaker 2: like 25 cents a show. And sometimes my parents saw
[3:19] Speaker 2: the show three times. So my parents were like, oh
[3:21] Speaker 2: my gosh, we have to watch this again. And I think,
[3:23] Speaker 2: oh my gosh, she needs to do something with this.
[3:26] Speaker 1: Yeah.
[3:27] Speaker 2: And so we would lip sync and sing to the
[3:29] Speaker 2: songs and all the different things. It was a lot
[3:32] Speaker 2: of fun. But from there, it really, my brother went through,
[3:36] Speaker 2: suffered from a brain aneurysm and was in a coma
[3:38] Speaker 2: for six and a half months.
[3:40] Speaker 1: Wow. Yeah.
[3:41] Speaker 2: And so really my mom and I would drive to Washington, D.C.
[3:44] Speaker 2: every day. And like I was saying, in the middle
[3:46] Speaker 2: of nowhere. And, you know, sometimes 95 means go 95. Right.
[3:49] Speaker 2: Bank Interstate 95. But we would drive from Maryland all
[3:54] Speaker 2: the way to D.C. And, you know, we're kind of.
[3:57] Speaker 2: maybe 40 minutes or so from West Virginia. So it
[3:59] Speaker 2: was quite a hike. And depending on traffic, you know,
[4:02] Speaker 2: it could be an hour and 10 minutes. It could
[4:04] Speaker 2: be 45. You never know. Yeah. As we were driving
[4:06] Speaker 2: to DC, we would listen to country music because, you know,
[4:10] Speaker 2: country music was about the lyrics and the melodies and,
[4:13] Speaker 2: and it was things that we were going through. I mean,
[4:15] Speaker 2: sometimes there were really shit days and there was like,
[4:18] Speaker 2: you know, maybe he moved his finger and you're like,
[4:20] Speaker 2: it's exciting, you know, that kind of a thing. So,
[4:22] Speaker 2: you know, there were songs that made us laugh. There
[4:24] Speaker 2: were songs that made us cry. There were songs that
[4:27] Speaker 2: we were going through the same thing. And this is
[4:29] Speaker 2: also how I learned how to give back too, because
[4:32] Speaker 2: I love giving back in any way that I can.
[4:35] Speaker 2: And so it kind of all ties together. But, you know,
[4:38] Speaker 2: my brother, while he was at Children's Hospital in D.C.
[4:41] Speaker 2: and we were waiting for him to wake up, you know,
[4:44] Speaker 2: the Make-A-Wish Foundation kept checking in and seeing how he
[4:47] Speaker 2: was doing. And Sorry, it does get you a little bit.
[4:51] Speaker 1: That's all right.
[4:53] Speaker 2: One day, my brother woke up. And when the Make-A-Wish
[4:56] Speaker 2: Foundation came in, they said, you know, we'd like to
[4:58] Speaker 2: grant you a wish. And, you know, at the time,
[5:01] Speaker 2: Make-A-Wish was about granting wishes to children who were terminally ill.
[5:05] Speaker 1: Right.
[5:06] Speaker 2: Now they've changed their mission statement to it's now where
[5:10] Speaker 2: these children are. They're living through these diseases. So it's
[5:13] Speaker 2: now life-threatening diseases. And so it's amazing, you know, through this.
[5:17] Speaker 2: Where science is at, you know, hopefully one day we
[5:20] Speaker 2: won't need we won't need make a wish or we
[5:22] Speaker 2: won't need all these medications because cancer is going to
[5:24] Speaker 2: go away and these horrible diseases.
[5:26] Speaker 1: But right.
[5:28] Speaker 2: My brother woke up and and he said to them,
[5:30] Speaker 2: he said, you know what? I don't need a wish.
[5:32] Speaker 2: I'm going to get better. You need to give it
[5:34] Speaker 2: to somebody who really needs one.
[5:36] Speaker 1: Okay.
[5:37] Speaker 2: From there, I really learned. I've sat on the board
[5:40] Speaker 2: of Make-A-Wish. I've also gone and volunteered. I've stuffed envelopes.
[5:45] Speaker 2: I've granted wishes. I've made phone calls. I've done all
[5:48] Speaker 2: different things like that. You know, children are our future,
[5:50] Speaker 2: as Whitney Houston always said in her song, you know,
[5:54] Speaker 2: teach them well and let them lead the way. Show
[5:56] Speaker 2: them all the beauty they possess inside. Right. It was
[5:59] Speaker 2: something that I knew that I wanted to be a
[6:01] Speaker 2: part of.
[6:01] Speaker 1: Okay.
[6:02] Speaker 2: And to see giving back and music come together, because
[6:05] Speaker 2: music is healing.
[6:06] Speaker 1: Right.
[6:07] Speaker 2: It brings people together. It makes them smile. It makes
[6:10] Speaker 2: them get through tough times. That's what, you know, my
[6:13] Speaker 2: briny acts. That's what we do. We help each other
[6:15] Speaker 2: through the tough times. And, you know, we celebrate those
[6:18] Speaker 2: great moments. And my brother got well, learned how to
[6:21] Speaker 2: walk and talk and all those different things that we
[6:24] Speaker 2: all think, oh, these are normal things that we all do.
[6:27] Speaker 2: And it's really those are things that might be so easy. Yeah, exactly.
[6:32] Speaker 1: Exactly.
[6:32] Speaker 2: And so when I was old enough, which I have
[6:36] Speaker 2: family in Nashville, so I was always going there and
[6:39] Speaker 2: I was listening to country music and being there with
[6:41] Speaker 2: my uncle and my cousins and things like that and
[6:44] Speaker 2: my aunt. And I knew that that was the place
[6:47] Speaker 2: I needed to be. I wanted to be a part
[6:49] Speaker 2: of this magic community. And it's the dream.
[6:53] Speaker 1: Yeah, I've been here in Nashville for a long time.
[6:55] Speaker 1: It's good.
[6:56] Speaker 2: It is.
[6:57] Speaker 1: It's changed, but it's still very good.
[6:59] Speaker 2: It definitely has changed a lot. But yet I knew
[7:02] Speaker 2: I packed up my my parents because I'm a crazy
[7:05] Speaker 2: bird chick. And my dad and I drove to Nashville.
[7:08] Speaker 2: And that's what we did. And because I knew it
[7:10] Speaker 2: was the place to be. Yeah. You know, people like, well,
[7:13] Speaker 2: what else would you like? What is the plan B?
[7:16] Speaker 2: I don't even know what that word means. And and,
[7:18] Speaker 2: you know, I'm not somebody that's ever really done drugs before.
[7:20] Speaker 2: And so it's like, I mean, yes, I have had
[7:22] Speaker 2: something to drink. Right. When you're on stage or you're
[7:25] Speaker 2: connecting with your audience, whether it's in a little cafe
[7:29] Speaker 2: or playing huge stadiums, and I've done all of the above,
[7:32] Speaker 2: you can't explain that to somebody. It's magic beyond words.
[7:38] Speaker 1: Exactly.
[7:39] Speaker 2: From the person in the last seat in the stadium
[7:42] Speaker 2: to the person that's right in front. It's that intimate
[7:45] Speaker 2: connection that you have. And it's magic. And for me,
[7:49] Speaker 2: it's like a drug saying to me, hi, come get me.
[7:51] Speaker 2: And I'm like, okay. Oh, yeah.
[7:55] Speaker 1: Oh, I get it, 100%. Now, you built your career independently.
[8:00] Speaker 1: What were some of the moments that giving up would
[8:03] Speaker 1: have been the easy way out?
[8:05] Speaker 2: Well, you know, well, some of that is changing, but
[8:08] Speaker 2: it's very exciting. You know, there's a lot of freedom
[8:12] Speaker 2: in being independent too. I mean, you're your own boss,
[8:16] Speaker 2: but at times it's like, but you got to surround
[8:18] Speaker 2: yourself with great people and there's no I in the
[8:21] Speaker 2: word team. Yes, there is a me.
[8:23] Speaker 1: That's right.
[8:24] Speaker 2: But it takes a great team to make something happen.
[8:27] Speaker 1: That's right.
[8:28] Speaker 2: To really make the dream go. I feel like I've
[8:32] Speaker 2: surrounded myself with great people who get the vision, who
[8:35] Speaker 2: know where it is that, yes, I want to go,
[8:39] Speaker 2: but all of us want to go. You know, it's
[8:40] Speaker 2: a big responsibility that I have, that I owe it
[8:44] Speaker 2: to every single person on this team to make this happen.
[8:47] Speaker 1: Yeah.
[8:48] Speaker 2: Without them, they ain't no Laura Briney. From down from,
[8:51] Speaker 2: I mean, whether it's everybody in the band, to a hairstylist, to,
[8:56] Speaker 2: you know, social media, all the different things. It's a
[8:59] Speaker 2: big production.
[9:00] Speaker 1: That's right.
[9:01] Speaker 2: So, yeah, it's exciting. Yes, there's trials and tribulations. There's
[9:05] Speaker 2: moments where I call them suck moments. You know, there's
[9:07] Speaker 2: times that it can be down.
[9:09] Speaker 1: Sure.
[9:09] Speaker 2: But it's those incredible high moments that you're just like,
[9:13] Speaker 2: it makes it all worth it in the end. Yeah.
[9:17] Speaker 2: Kind of negates those suck moments. And again, it's that
[9:20] Speaker 2: whole saying of it's not when you get there, it's
[9:22] Speaker 2: how you get there.
[9:23] Speaker 1: That's right.
[9:24] Speaker 2: It's those things. And, you know, as a child, when
[9:27] Speaker 2: you say, oh, I want to sing and I want to,
[9:29] Speaker 2: you know, entertain and. and make people smile and make
[9:32] Speaker 2: them laugh and make them feel something. There's also the
[9:35] Speaker 2: part of, I always like to call it a tree
[9:38] Speaker 2: because the dream is a tree. It takes different branches
[9:41] Speaker 2: and different things. Like I never knew that I was
[9:43] Speaker 2: going to host a radio show. I didn't know that
[9:46] Speaker 2: I was going to write children's books about my parents.
[9:48] Speaker 2: I didn't know that I was going to have a
[9:49] Speaker 2: number one song with a song that I wrote and
[9:51] Speaker 2: wishlist my Christmas song. Like it just all these different things.
[9:55] Speaker 2: You don't know that that's going to, that's even something
[9:57] Speaker 2: that you can even concoct in your mind that that's
[10:00] Speaker 2: even possible. It's just, I want to sing. Right.
[10:04] Speaker 1: Right.
[10:04] Speaker 2: Right.
[10:05] Speaker 1: Okay. So as an independent, you have to wear a
[10:07] Speaker 1: lot of different hats. What hat do you find the
[10:10] Speaker 1: most challenging?
[10:11] Speaker 2: That's a really good question. Ah, gosh, you know, I
[10:14] Speaker 2: have a hard time making decisions, especially when it comes
[10:19] Speaker 2: to my child, which is my music.
[10:21] Speaker 1: Sure.
[10:22] Speaker 2: And because you feel like the weight of the world
[10:25] Speaker 2: is on your shoulders.
[10:26] Speaker 1: Yeah.
[10:27] Speaker 2: For all the different songs that I've co-written, they're like
[10:30] Speaker 2: another appendage. I feel like they're like another toe. Right.
[10:34] Speaker 2: And so it's like, well, what toe do I cut
[10:36] Speaker 2: off to put out the other toe, to make another toe?
[10:39] Speaker 1: Right.
[10:40] Speaker 2: So it's just, to me, I find it so hard
[10:42] Speaker 2: to pick the right song because I feel like there's
[10:45] Speaker 2: so many great songs out there that we've written. And
[10:48] Speaker 2: I love my collaborators. I write with so many different people.
[10:51] Speaker 2: And obviously we've had repeats too, where we just, it's like, oh,
[10:55] Speaker 2: we got to, let's get together again. But everybody brings
[10:58] Speaker 2: something different to the table. And that's what I love
[11:00] Speaker 2: because people will say to me, Laura, is it, do
[11:02] Speaker 2: you write, do the lyrics come first or the melodies
[11:04] Speaker 2: come first? And it all, it's so different. Everybody is,
[11:09] Speaker 2: everybody does it differently.
[11:10] Speaker 1: That's right.
[11:11] Speaker 2: And it just sometimes like, oh, this is a great
[11:13] Speaker 2: song idea. And I feel like I'm such a I
[11:15] Speaker 2: guess I would say like a voyeur. But I'm constantly
[11:20] Speaker 2: looking at people and watching them. And oh, what did
[11:22] Speaker 2: they say? And I've like got notepads in my purse.
[11:25] Speaker 2: I've got one next to my toilet. I've got one
[11:27] Speaker 2: next to my hairdryer, which obviously I spend some time with.
[11:30] Speaker 2: I've got them all over the place because you never
[11:31] Speaker 2: know when a great idea is going to happen. And
[11:34] Speaker 2: especially next to my bed, because in the middle of
[11:36] Speaker 2: the night, something will pop in and I'm like, oh, right.
[11:39] Speaker 2: And I have to write it down because otherwise I'm
[11:41] Speaker 2: going to think about it all night long. Oh, don't
[11:43] Speaker 2: forget to say this. Don't forget to do this. Don't forget. Oh, wait. Oops.
[11:46] Speaker 2: Don't forget. Oh, this was a great idea. So I'm
[11:49] Speaker 2: always writing it down.
[11:50] Speaker 1: Okay. Nashville, with all of its glory and all the
[11:53] Speaker 1: people that are in it, it can teach you a lot.
[11:56] Speaker 2: Sure.
[11:56] Speaker 1: It can build people and it can also humble people.
[11:59] Speaker 2: For sure.
[12:00] Speaker 1: What has Nashville taught you?
[12:02] Speaker 2: Oh, Nashville has definitely taught me to never give up.
[12:05] Speaker 2: It has taught me patience, which is weird because I
[12:08] Speaker 2: do have patience, but when it comes to career stuff,
[12:11] Speaker 2: I like, I have such a hard time. I'm like, wait.
[12:16] Speaker 2: But yeah, it's definitely taught me patience. I would say
[12:18] Speaker 2: that and definitely to never give up, you know, for
[12:21] Speaker 2: all the ups and downs and, you know, the suck
[12:24] Speaker 2: moments and the great moments. It's definitely, definitely don't give up.
[12:28] Speaker 1: The great thing about music is, It can mean one
[12:32] Speaker 1: thing at one time, and then later it can mean
[12:35] Speaker 1: another thing. Let's dive into your song Rise.
[12:39] Speaker 2: Right.
[12:39] Speaker 1: It started out with an emotional way. Okay. And then
[12:45] Speaker 1: a little bit later, it came a very different personal way.
[12:50] Speaker 1: Can you tell our audience how that song changed from
[12:54] Speaker 1: the start and where you started with it to where
[12:57] Speaker 1: it ended up and how the meaning of it changed
[13:00] Speaker 1: within the song?
[13:02] Speaker 2: Oh, it's such a great question. Yeah, you know, it's
[13:04] Speaker 2: so funny. When we wrote Rise, I sat down with
[13:08] Speaker 2: Scatterbrains and Chief and Zach Garner, and we were sitting there,
[13:11] Speaker 2: had no idea what this song was going to turn
[13:14] Speaker 2: out to be. And we sat down and I said, guys,
[13:16] Speaker 2: you know, I want to write something that everybody can
[13:19] Speaker 2: relate to, whether you're going through those suck moments, as
[13:22] Speaker 2: I call them, or you're just... going through a tough
[13:25] Speaker 2: time you're going through a great time whatever it is
[13:27] Speaker 2: it's how you it's not when you get there it's
[13:29] Speaker 2: how you get there kind of thing I said I
[13:32] Speaker 2: want it to be something that everybody can relate to
[13:34] Speaker 2: yeah so Zach started playing on the acoustic guitar and
[13:38] Speaker 2: we were like oh yeah like oh what if it's
[13:40] Speaker 2: this and maybe it's a little minory maybe it's this
[13:42] Speaker 2: and and then Chief started spurting out some stuff and
[13:46] Speaker 2: some lyrics and things like that and and it just
[13:48] Speaker 2: kind of we all kind of just it kind of
[13:50] Speaker 2: steamrolled together. And we put it out to all the
[13:54] Speaker 2: streaming platforms and everything last August. And Rob Shirelli is
[13:58] Speaker 2: who mixed it. And he said, Laura, I mix a
[14:00] Speaker 2: lot of songs. And he's like, I come across very
[14:04] Speaker 2: few that are so special to me. And I know
[14:07] Speaker 2: that he recently lost his wife to cancer and things
[14:11] Speaker 2: like that. And both he and I shared that because
[14:15] Speaker 2: my father just passed away from a rare blood cancer too. And,
[14:21] Speaker 2: you know, and that's another reason Rise means so much, too. Sure.
[14:26] Speaker 2: But when Rob said, he's like, Laura, I would put
[14:28] Speaker 2: this song out. He's like, this is really, really a
[14:31] Speaker 2: special song. I said, really? He said, oh, yeah. He's like,
[14:35] Speaker 2: this song even gets me through the days. I was like, okay.
[14:39] Speaker 2: So we put it out to all the streaming platforms
[14:41] Speaker 2: in August, and the song took off. You know, there's
[14:45] Speaker 2: always negative things about people saying, oh, you know, why
[14:47] Speaker 2: did she do this? Why is it?
[14:49] Speaker 1: Oh, yeah.
[14:49] Speaker 2: There was none of that. The only negative comment was
[14:53] Speaker 2: that somebody said, beautiful song, country music. I'm not a
[14:56] Speaker 2: big country fan or this, you know, this came across
[14:59] Speaker 2: my feed and just, you know, beautiful song, but you know,
[15:02] Speaker 2: country isn't my thing. That's, it's a great compliment. Yeah.
[15:06] Speaker 2: If you don't listen to the genre, great. But everybody
[15:08] Speaker 2: kept saying how much this song meant to them and
[15:11] Speaker 2: help them get through the day. It helped them get
[15:13] Speaker 2: up in the morning. I'm going through a difficult time.
[15:17] Speaker 2: Thank you for writing this song. A woman who, uh, Oh,
[15:20] Speaker 2: I mean, it gets me every time she, uh, has
[15:22] Speaker 2: been going through cancer and doing all the different treatments
[15:25] Speaker 2: with chemo and radiation. And she said, you know, I'm
[15:28] Speaker 2: going through radiation this week and I get to pick
[15:30] Speaker 2: a song for every treatment to play while I'm, while
[15:34] Speaker 2: I'm in there. And I, and she said, I picked
[15:36] Speaker 2: rise today because, um, um, She said, you know what,
[15:41] Speaker 2: I'm going to rise to the occasion. I'm going to
[15:43] Speaker 2: beat this shit. You know, I'm not going to live
[15:45] Speaker 2: like this. We're going to beat this. And I said,
[15:48] Speaker 2: absolutely you are. And she's doing great. And, you know,
[15:52] Speaker 2: as an artist, as a songwriter, as a musician, as
[15:55] Speaker 2: a human being, if you touch one person's heart, you
[15:58] Speaker 2: help them. You change their life to make it better.
[16:02] Speaker 2: then you've done your job. That's what it's all about.
[16:04] Speaker 1: That's right.
[16:05] Speaker 2: And that's something that my dad always told me too.
[16:07] Speaker 2: He's like, always help people, always give back in any
[16:10] Speaker 2: way that you can, whether it's volunteering, whether it's through music,
[16:15] Speaker 2: maybe it's a financial thing, whatever it may be, you know,
[16:18] Speaker 2: music brings people together and brought me and that lady together. And,
[16:23] Speaker 2: you know, my mom, you know, she's had a few
[16:27] Speaker 2: things here and there with, you know, a little cancer
[16:31] Speaker 2: here in this, not that it's little, but she had
[16:33] Speaker 2: a bout of breast cancer and granted it was a
[16:36] Speaker 2: stage zero, which I didn't even know was possible. And
[16:40] Speaker 2: that was this year. And, you know, they cut it out.
[16:43] Speaker 2: She went in for radiation too. And so, you know,
[16:47] Speaker 2: she did five days of radiation, pretty heavy. And she's
[16:49] Speaker 2: in the clear, knock on wood.
[16:52] Speaker 1: That's good.
[16:53] Speaker 2: All of the above. But, you know, rise means a
[16:55] Speaker 2: lot more to me.
[16:57] Speaker 1: Sure.
[16:57] Speaker 2: Not that every song means something to me, but now.
[17:00] Speaker 1: I get it.
[17:01] Speaker 2: Having felt that way.
[17:03] Speaker 1: Right.
[17:04] Speaker 2: And having seen my mom go through things like that.
[17:07] Speaker 2: I mean, I was there with my dad when he
[17:08] Speaker 2: went through hospice care. I was there with him at
[17:11] Speaker 2: Johns Hopkins. And, you know, those things, that song, I
[17:17] Speaker 2: love that it's touched so many people. And now it
[17:19] Speaker 2: has a totally different meaning for me. Right. Because I've
[17:22] Speaker 2: gone through those things too now. seen both of my parents,
[17:27] Speaker 2: my mom come out of it, but you know, I,
[17:29] Speaker 2: my dad gave the best fight being there with him during,
[17:33] Speaker 2: during hospice, you know, there we were doing the Congo, going, doing,
[17:38] Speaker 2: go walking to the bathroom as best as he could.
[17:40] Speaker 2: You know, I have that, I have that memory. Nobody
[17:43] Speaker 2: else does.
[17:44] Speaker 1: Right.
[17:44] Speaker 2: And it was so special. And to sit there and
[17:47] Speaker 2: to share in that moment, that's really, if that's not
[17:50] Speaker 2: about rising to the occasion and, and wanting to beat
[17:54] Speaker 2: this thing and, Yes, of course, it's put your best
[17:56] Speaker 2: boots on because it's country music. But, you know, everybody's
[18:00] Speaker 2: the lyric, you know, it's 3 a.m. and I can't sleep, dot, dot, dot.
[18:04] Speaker 2: And we always bring that back around because that's the
[18:06] Speaker 2: beginning of the song. But it comes I love songs
[18:08] Speaker 2: where it comes back at the end. It kind of
[18:10] Speaker 2: tags the whole song and everybody's dot, dot, dot is different.
[18:15] Speaker 2: You know, everybody has everybody can say their dot. Mine's
[18:18] Speaker 2: this or mine's that. And I love that we left
[18:21] Speaker 2: it open ended for that reason. so that everybody can rise. Right.
[18:25] Speaker 1: Right after that was released, you had a double loss, right?
[18:29] Speaker 2: Yes, I did, yeah.
[18:30] Speaker 1: In your family?
[18:31] Speaker 2: Yeah, I did. With my grandmother, and then my brother
[18:36] Speaker 2: was killed in a car accident. Actually, it's almost, maybe
[18:40] Speaker 2: it's like a lifetime story, but my brother was going
[18:44] Speaker 2: to visit my grandmother, who was probably passing away in
[18:47] Speaker 2: the next day or two. Come to find out that
[18:50] Speaker 2: next day, As my brother was pulling out of the driveway,
[18:54] Speaker 2: somebody came and hit him. Pretty much killed him instantaneously.
[18:59] Speaker 2: But for someone who had, you know, the will to live,
[19:03] Speaker 2: who had suffered so much when he was little, you know,
[19:06] Speaker 2: because we're all over the place, you know, as kids
[19:10] Speaker 2: and things like that. And he was so much older
[19:12] Speaker 2: than all of us. But, you know, to experience that
[19:17] Speaker 2: and for somebody who had so much life to live,
[19:20] Speaker 2: and lived every moment to the fullest. He would eat,
[19:24] Speaker 2: you know, he would do anything and everything. He would
[19:27] Speaker 2: eat crickets. He would, like somebody challenged him to do
[19:30] Speaker 2: chocolate covered cockroaches. Then he went bungee jumping naked in
[19:35] Speaker 2: New Zealand. I mean, like everything, like he lived life
[19:38] Speaker 2: to the fullest. Yeah. And for somebody to take that
[19:41] Speaker 2: away from him, you know, it just, and then of course,
[19:44] Speaker 2: a few hours later, my grandmother passed away. Yeah. So
[19:48] Speaker 2: it's just, yeah. Yeah. I mean, rise means something completely different.
[19:52] Speaker 1: Now you was on tour at that time too, right?
[19:54] Speaker 2: I was, yeah. Yeah. One of my managers, Dylan, he
[19:58] Speaker 2: turned to me, he said, you know, Laura, because it
[20:01] Speaker 2: happened on February 19th and we had a show. Our
[20:07] Speaker 2: next show was on that Friday in Buffalo.
[20:10] Speaker 1: Right.
[20:11] Speaker 2: He said to me, he's like, Lord, you don't have
[20:13] Speaker 2: to play the show. He's like, Lord, everybody understands. You know,
[20:19] Speaker 2: there's no pressure. Everybody understands. The venue, everybody. Right. And
[20:24] Speaker 2: I said, you know, I said, what would, you know,
[20:27] Speaker 2: my brother would want me to go out there and
[20:30] Speaker 2: make people smile. He was always so supportive of my dream.
[20:34] Speaker 2: I said, you know what? I'm going to go play
[20:36] Speaker 2: this show at Buffalo Ironworks. And it was right after...
[20:40] Speaker 2: I think it was a Cody Johnson show. So we
[20:42] Speaker 2: went up there and, you know, we had so much fun,
[20:45] Speaker 2: my band. I mean, they, when I got there, I mean,
[20:47] Speaker 2: they were tearing up. They were like, Laura, oh my gosh,
[20:50] Speaker 2: we can't even believe this. Right. I'm here for you.
[20:53] Speaker 2: And you didn't have to come.
[20:54] Speaker 1: Yeah.
[20:55] Speaker 2: They're like, we're okay. Like, you know, don't feel like
[20:59] Speaker 2: you have to. And I was like, no, you know,
[21:00] Speaker 2: you don't need to pay. And I was like, no, no, no.
[21:03] Speaker 2: My brother would want us all to do this. And
[21:05] Speaker 2: we had so much fun. We laughed. We, I mean,
[21:09] Speaker 2: you know, yes, we cry. I mean, I think I
[21:10] Speaker 2: broke out into vanilla ice at one point.
[21:12] Speaker 1: Yeah.
[21:13] Speaker 2: Ice, ice baby. And the guys were like, okay, all right. But, um,
[21:20] Speaker 2: and we just had fun. And then like at the
[21:22] Speaker 2: end of the night, you know, the guys gave me
[21:23] Speaker 2: a big, huge hug. Cause I had to go back
[21:25] Speaker 2: obviously for the funeral. And, and I turned to them
[21:28] Speaker 2: and go, does anybody want to be me? Like, does
[21:31] Speaker 2: anybody want to be me for like a few days?
[21:33] Speaker 2: And they're like, we love you, but no. You know,
[21:37] Speaker 2: you have to have a little laugh in there because
[21:40] Speaker 2: my brother was so full of life. He was somebody
[21:42] Speaker 2: who loved to laugh.
[21:44] Speaker 1: So you've got some new music coming out. And by
[21:46] Speaker 1: the time that this is released, this podcast will probably
[21:49] Speaker 1: already be out there.
[21:50] Speaker 2: Yeah.
[21:51] Speaker 1: Tell us a little bit about it.
[21:52] Speaker 2: Well, on the total opposite side of Rise, although, yes,
[21:56] Speaker 2: Rise is uplifting and fun, I guess not. This song
[21:59] Speaker 2: is definitely uplifting and fun. So I turned, turned to
[22:02] Speaker 2: the guys and we're sitting there. This was a songwriters
[22:05] Speaker 2: camp last June. It was Will and Stuart and Ryan
[22:10] Speaker 2: and Molly. And we were all just sitting there hanging out.
[22:14] Speaker 2: And this is not a technical term, but apparently I
[22:17] Speaker 2: have made it a technical term. I was like, I
[22:19] Speaker 2: feel like we have written, I think we have written
[22:22] Speaker 2: four songs at this point. And I was like, I
[22:24] Speaker 2: feel like we need a clippity cloppity song. And of
[22:26] Speaker 2: course they turned and looked at me like I had
[22:27] Speaker 2: five heads and they're like, A what? And I was like,
[22:30] Speaker 2: you know, like, stomp clap, but it's really a clippity clop.
[22:33] Speaker 2: And they're like, oh, like, oh, I know why you
[22:36] Speaker 2: call it that. That makes sense. Right. Like, kind of
[22:38] Speaker 2: like a shaboosie, a dasha kind of thing like that.
[22:41] Speaker 2: And they were like, totally get it. I said, but
[22:42] Speaker 2: something fun, summery, something people can dance to, have a
[22:46] Speaker 2: good time, something uplifting and whatnot. And so this song
[22:50] Speaker 2: is called Drinkin' Town. And it's funny because Ryan and
[22:53] Speaker 2: Molly are both from Canada. And Ryan married a lady,
[22:57] Speaker 2: I should say. I married a lady from Maryland near
[23:01] Speaker 2: to where I'm from. Okay. I think she actually went
[23:03] Speaker 2: to a similar, same high school as my mom. I
[23:05] Speaker 2: can't remember, but it was funny. So we were all
[23:08] Speaker 2: talking and shooting shit, but we were all talking about
[23:10] Speaker 2: being from small towns and things like that and where
[23:13] Speaker 2: everybody knows each other. And so it was really funny.
[23:15] Speaker 2: And I was like, well, you know where I'm from,
[23:17] Speaker 2: there's this bar called Tom and Ray's and restaurant bar
[23:21] Speaker 2: or whatever. And everybody goes there and it's always been there.
[23:23] Speaker 2: It's been an establishment Damascus. It's, And Maryland is so fun. And,
[23:27] Speaker 2: you know, the ice cream shops down the street and
[23:29] Speaker 2: like everybody hangs out. And he was like, you know,
[23:32] Speaker 2: I've been to that. I've been to that place. And
[23:34] Speaker 2: I was like, really? I was like, oh, my gosh,
[23:35] Speaker 2: because I'm like literally from nowhere. So middle of nowhere.
[23:39] Speaker 2: But that's just the way I like it. Yeah. You know,
[23:41] Speaker 2: and he said, no, I've been there. So we all
[23:43] Speaker 2: started spitballing. And, you know, what do you know in
[23:45] Speaker 2: a small town? What's it feel like? Oh, everybody knows
[23:47] Speaker 2: each other. And it's like so in the song, in
[23:50] Speaker 2: my clippity cloppity song, it's coming out. We're so excited.
[23:54] Speaker 2: But it's definitely like paints a picture of a small town.
[23:58] Speaker 2: And I think everybody can relate to it. Yeah. From
[24:02] Speaker 2: being autographs in the bathroom stalls and, you know, different,
[24:05] Speaker 2: you know, there's a bar on main street. Every town's
[24:08] Speaker 2: got a bar on main street, that kind of a thing.
[24:10] Speaker 1: Yeah.
[24:10] Speaker 2: And then it's just the hangout, everybody hanging out and
[24:13] Speaker 2: talking with each other after the football game or baseball game,
[24:16] Speaker 2: whatever it is. Sure. That's what I love being from
[24:19] Speaker 2: a small town is like everybody rallies around each other
[24:22] Speaker 2: and like, Again, it's in that when the shit hits
[24:25] Speaker 2: the fan or when things are like, you know, when
[24:27] Speaker 2: my family was going through these traumas in the last
[24:30] Speaker 2: couple of years, it's like, you know, there it was.
[24:32] Speaker 2: My neighbor came over and brought food or when my
[24:35] Speaker 2: dad wasn't feeling great, he brought over some Pedialyte or,
[24:38] Speaker 2: you know, just different things. It's like, where do you
[24:40] Speaker 2: find that? That's in a small town.
[24:42] Speaker 1: That's right.
[24:43] Speaker 2: Somebody brings a pie over. Hey, Laura, I know you
[24:45] Speaker 2: guys probably are crazy, but the hospice stuff, we thought
[24:48] Speaker 2: we'd bring you all some food. Yeah.
[24:49] Speaker 1: That's right.
[24:50] Speaker 2: Where do you find that? You know, people come together
[24:52] Speaker 2: and then, you know, we'd have a great day at
[24:54] Speaker 2: the hospital with my dad, with Hopkins. And then, you know,
[24:57] Speaker 2: people would bring over, they bring, they send flowers, they
[25:00] Speaker 2: bring balloons. You know, that's what it's all about is
[25:03] Speaker 2: being from a small town.
[25:04] Speaker 1: That's right.
[25:05] Speaker 2: And a drink brings people together too, just like music does.
[25:08] Speaker 2: So that was kind of what we were going for. Yeah.
[25:11] Speaker 2: So excited for it to finally come out.
[25:14] Speaker 1: Yeah, I love it. Now, speaking about how do we
[25:17] Speaker 1: make this small town... a large town so that people
[25:20] Speaker 1: can find you. How do people contact you?
[25:24] Speaker 2: Well, A, you got to come to a show, of course.
[25:26] Speaker 2: It's a little Laura Bryna experience, but really hit me
[25:29] Speaker 2: up online. Laura Bryna, L-A-U-R-A-B-R-Y-N-A. We've got a website, laurabryna.com.
[25:35] Speaker 2: We've got Instagram, Spotify, Apple, Amazon, all of the above, YouTube,
[25:41] Speaker 2: but definitely I'm the one that answers everything. So please
[25:44] Speaker 2: reach out. Let me know what you're thinking or if
[25:46] Speaker 2: there's a song that touches your heart or whatnot. I
[25:48] Speaker 2: love hearing from everybody. So it's just I love knowing
[25:53] Speaker 2: when something hits somebody the right way or they're like, oh,
[25:56] Speaker 2: you know, I love when you said this in the
[25:57] Speaker 2: song or it made you feel this way or, you know, so.
[26:01] Speaker 2: But yeah, please reach out. I love that. I love
[26:04] Speaker 2: hearing from everybody. So, yeah.
[26:06] Speaker 1: So in closing, tell me if we sit down and
[26:10] Speaker 1: we talk 10 years from now. We're talking about people
[26:13] Speaker 1: listening to music. What do you hope they get from it?
[26:16] Speaker 1: And what do you hope that they walk away after
[26:18] Speaker 1: they've heard it?
[26:18] Speaker 2: Oh gosh, great question. You know, I hope that people,
[26:22] Speaker 2: you know, I'm somebody that, as I said, you know,
[26:24] Speaker 2: I love giving back. I also love to have a
[26:26] Speaker 2: good time. I love to help people. And I hope
[26:29] Speaker 2: you get that through my music. You know, I love
[26:31] Speaker 2: sassy attitude in your face, anthems, rocky country, bluesy kind
[26:36] Speaker 2: of stuff. But I also like to strip it down
[26:39] Speaker 2: when I got something really emotional to say. I like
[26:42] Speaker 2: to strip it down and make it really about the
[26:44] Speaker 2: lyric and the vocal. I want to touch people's heart.
[26:48] Speaker 2: I want to bring people together. I want them to
[26:49] Speaker 2: feel something. I mean, that's something that's never changed. You know,
[26:54] Speaker 2: as a child, I wanted people to smile. I wanted
[26:56] Speaker 2: them to laugh. I wanted them, I mean, I hope
[26:58] Speaker 2: they cry some good tears, but you know, I want
[27:01] Speaker 2: them to feel something and that hasn't changed. And I
[27:03] Speaker 2: hope that that continues to grow and stays the same
[27:07] Speaker 2: because music is It evokes memories. It brings us together.
[27:12] Speaker 2: It makes us feel things. It inspires us. Music's amazing.
[27:17] Speaker 2: It's very powerful. It's very healing. I hope that's what
[27:20] Speaker 2: people get from me. Yeah.
[27:22] Speaker 1: One last question. When people hear your music, what's something
[27:26] Speaker 1: they may think they know about you, but yet they
[27:29] Speaker 1: really completely miss it?
[27:31] Speaker 2: Oh, wow. That's a real wow. That's a great question.
[27:35] Speaker 2: What's something that they really know about me? Well, I
[27:38] Speaker 2: have to say for those people who do know me,
[27:41] Speaker 2: I love whipped cream. I am a huge lover of
[27:45] Speaker 2: some good ready whip. But when you hear my music,
[27:48] Speaker 2: I hope that people, you know, yes, I, well, it's
[27:52] Speaker 2: funny when I get off stage, a lot of people like, oh,
[27:54] Speaker 2: we thought you were so much taller than you really are.
[27:56] Speaker 2: In fact, what happened to me, I was singing the anthem,
[27:59] Speaker 2: the national anthem, which I love is one of my favorite,
[28:02] Speaker 2: favorite songs to sing.
[28:03] Speaker 1: Okay.
[28:04] Speaker 2: And I get to sing it at a lot of
[28:05] Speaker 2: military events because I am very much involved with our military.
[28:08] Speaker 2: We wouldn't be living our dreams if it wasn't for them,
[28:10] Speaker 2: those brave men. And so I hope that people know
[28:14] Speaker 2: that I, yes, I may portray, maybe it's confident and
[28:19] Speaker 2: all those things. There is someone in me. There is
[28:22] Speaker 2: this little girl in me that, you know, I am vulnerable.
[28:25] Speaker 2: I have those emotions and I have those things. And,
[28:28] Speaker 2: you know, a lot of times, especially like I'll say
[28:30] Speaker 2: from our certified video, people You know, people can be
[28:34] Speaker 2: lovely on the Internet and they can be so amazing.
[28:37] Speaker 2: But then there's those trolls that want to take you down.
[28:39] Speaker 2: And they're like, why wear glitter eye makeup? Why is
[28:41] Speaker 2: her hair so big? Why does she wear leather? I mean,
[28:44] Speaker 2: they'll say anything.
[28:45] Speaker 1: That's right.
[28:45] Speaker 2: And like when I sing, why do I hold my
[28:47] Speaker 2: neck like this? I mean, it's just everything and anything. And,
[28:50] Speaker 2: you know, I was like, you know, it does hurt. Sure.
[28:54] Speaker 2: I'd be lying to you to say that it doesn't hurt.
[28:56] Speaker 2: That also inspired me to write a song, too. I
[28:58] Speaker 2: was like, you know, do I give this? Do I
[29:00] Speaker 2: give this stuff? energy or do i write a song
[29:03] Speaker 2: about it and i was like you know i'm gonna
[29:05] Speaker 2: write a song about this and then you know i
[29:07] Speaker 2: wrote this song called i'm her which is yet to
[29:09] Speaker 2: come out but it's really about being proud of who
[29:12] Speaker 2: you are and that being the most authentic you you
[29:16] Speaker 2: can be okay you know whether it's you know whatever
[29:20] Speaker 2: your sexual orientation is your religion whether you're blonde brunette
[29:24] Speaker 2: you're heavy you're small you're whatever right whatever your ethnicity
[29:28] Speaker 2: is it doesn't matter It's about being the best you
[29:31] Speaker 2: you can be. Right. That's what it's all about. And
[29:34] Speaker 2: for me, I don't know that people necessarily know that
[29:37] Speaker 2: about me, that I am probably one of the most
[29:39] Speaker 2: sensitive people, people will ever meet in your life. I'm
[29:43] Speaker 2: a lot better than I used to, used to be,
[29:45] Speaker 2: but I, I still have that.
[29:48] Speaker 1: Oh.
[29:48] Speaker 2: And the thing that I was going to say too,
[29:50] Speaker 2: about the going on to the, I was singing the
[29:53] Speaker 2: national anthem at a, at a soccer game at an
[29:56] Speaker 2: MLS game. And, I walked on to do the rehearsal
[29:58] Speaker 2: and I was like, oh, hi, I'm Laura. And she
[30:00] Speaker 2: was like, oh, and I'm like, oh, and she was like, oh,
[30:03] Speaker 2: we just thought you were a lot taller than you
[30:05] Speaker 2: really are. Sorry. Looks can be deceiving. It's the shoes
[30:10] Speaker 2: and the hair. I was like, yeah, but yeah, no, I,
[30:12] Speaker 2: you know what? I have feelings. I, things affect you.
[30:16] Speaker 1: That's right.
[30:17] Speaker 2: You know, they absolutely do. And, you know, just because
[30:20] Speaker 2: I'm a public figure, it doesn't mean that I don't
[30:24] Speaker 2: cry too.
[30:24] Speaker 1: That's right.
[30:25] Speaker 2: I feel everything. Exactly. But join me on this great adventure. Yeah.
[30:30] Speaker 2: Join me on this crazy dream. I love being a
[30:33] Speaker 2: part of so many different groups and organizations and different things.
[30:36] Speaker 2: You know, I get to play pride. I get to
[30:38] Speaker 2: do Sturgis. I get to do military events. Good. You know,
[30:42] Speaker 2: I love that. I love bringing people together. That's what
[30:45] Speaker 2: it's all about. That's what music does. Right. That's who
[30:48] Speaker 2: Laura Brine is.
[30:49] Speaker 1: Good. Well, this has been great. I appreciate you taking
[30:51] Speaker 1: the time.
[30:52] Speaker 2: Thank you so much for having me. This was so
[30:54] Speaker 2: much fun.
[30:55] Speaker 1: Oh, it's been my pleasure. Thanks again. A sincere thank
[30:58] Speaker 1: you to our guests for sharing their journey with us today.
[31:02] Speaker 1: And thanks for spending part of your day with us.
[31:04] Speaker 1: We hope today's conversation gave you something to take with you.
[31:08] Speaker 1: If you haven't already, remember, tap follow so you never
[31:12] Speaker 1: miss the great conversations and guests still ahead. You can
[31:16] Speaker 1: always reach us at media at plateau music dot com.
[31:20] Speaker 1: Thanks for being part of what we're building here on
[31:22] Speaker 1: Almost Live Nashville. We'll see you next time.

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