Last month in Key West, Florida, Brittany Kingery swept the Tropic Rock Awards winning three prestigious awards. She won for Best Female Vocalist, Best Song (Tequila Talking) and a Horizon Award.
Not long ago, she was a government worker in the United States’ Pacific Northwest. Today, the beautiful and very talented Brittany Kingery is a rising star in Puerto Vallarta’s music scene. A few months after the release of her tropically-themed 2013 debut CD, Edge of the Ocean, this McCleary, Washington-born singer-songwriter decided to practice what she preached in her music. She quit her secure government job, packed up her ukulele and followed her dream to Bucerias, a small fishing village near the Mexican resort city of Puerto Vallarta.
Brittany’s music video for her song “Treasures”, also known locally as “The Bucerias Song”, caught the attention of one “trop rock” internet radio station after another. Before long, several songs from the album were in regular rotation and people were taking notice of the singer, whose stellar voice alternated between sweet and soaring.
Brittany sometimes uses the term “tropical rock” or “trop rock” for short, to refer to her blend of beachy country and rock and reggae and Latin music. “We identify with artists like Kenny Chesney and Zac Brown and Colbie Caillat, but we didn’t know there was this whole world of independent trop rock artists and fans out there until after the first CD came out,” she recalls.
That world of “trop rock” quickly and warmly embraced her, most notably with a nomination as Best Female Vocalist in the Trop Rock Music Awards just months after the release of her first album. “That was a tremendous honor and a surprise,” says Kingery, who by the time of the nomination had just made her move to Mexico. “Awards in themselves don’t mean that much to me because I don’t like to think of myself as being in competition with other artists,” she adds. “But after having given up the steady paycheck and the benefits and security to chase this dream, being recognized with an award nomination was very validating.” She earned another Best Female Vocalist nomination last year as well as a nomination for the organization’s Horizon Award, which recognizes up and coming artists. This year, Brittany won all three awards that she was nominated for.
Brittany’s second CD, Dream in Blue, produced by Kevin Johnston, Rob Morgan Hill and Rob Thorworth was released to critical acclaim. Aside from the tropical and beach themes that run through the CD, Brittany says there’s a lot of variety on the album, from the rocking guitars and horns of “Tequila Talking” to the upbeat country pop of “Little Miss Sunshine” to the chilled out ballad “Dream in Blue” to the reggae anthem “Rhythm of My Love” and her nautical ballad, “One With The Ocean.” There are even a couple of cover songs – a simple guitar-voice production of Stephen Bishop’s “On and On” and a rocking treatment of Leo Sayer’s playful “You Make Me Feel Like Dancing”.
The Dream in Blue Tour that began last summer concluded this past summer with a 42-day whirlwind trip that will took Brittany all around the USA and parts of Canada this past summer.
With the development and release of numerous impressive music videos filmed here in Mexico, Brittany continues to catch the attention of more and more music lovers in Bay. It is her sincere hope that her music will lead others to find their beaches, both literally and figuratively speaking. Go see Brittany Kingery at The Red Room every Monday, at 7:30pm. Margaritaville is waiting for you!
Tickets for Britanny Kingery can be purchased at Act II Stages or online at www.vallartatickets.com.
*Check out Brittany’s great music videos on youtube and her website at brittanykingery.com
