The most intimidating thing...

I recently got asked to be apart of a volunteer program called Girls Rock Camp, in which young girls who want to be musicians are coached, encouraged, and brought together to showcase their talents.

Can I just say WHAT an honor to be asked to be a part of something like this? My gah... this has always been a dream of mine. I remember when I was in junior high I wanted so badly for something like this to exist for me. In college I thought, "Man, if I ever make it big I want to start a camp for young girls who need encouragement and the need to build their self esteem."

It's no secret that I have a huge love for children. I kind of adopted a little sister about 3 years back and she's helped me grow as much as I've helped her. I feel really great being apart of her life and teaching her not to make some of the mistakes I did. I feel like it's such a good thing to be that, "big sister," type and not some mother figure. I also love encouraging her to not go with the flow and telling her not to be afraid of being different. I always tell her how proud of herself she'll be looking back knowing she marched to the beat of her own drum.


Things like my relationship with that little girl is what makes me feel truly fulfilled.


To do that on a grand scale? To be a big sister to a bunch of cool little chicks wanting to do the things I do? .... My heart would only pop into a grand finale like the fireworks display at Disney.


The thing is.... how do I even teach them to do what I do? How would I be good at this job they've asked of me? Teachers are amazing people! They shape our youth! You have any idea how big those britches are? What a responsibility! I'm so scared! I can't play an instrument. I don't know much about music theory. How would I create a lesson plan? Where would I begin?? All I have is songwriting experience, stage presence experience, and just a positive attitude.

I do have one thing....


I see it with my, "little sister."

.....I feel like I'm kind of a pied piper of little girls. I don't know what it is... but little girls LOVE me and I love them. I'm able to just.... morph back into being a ten year old instantly. I'm very influential on them and they think I'm cool. :) ... I wonder how long THAT will last now that I'm getting older.


However, when I'm with little chicks, I sometimes feel like Jennifer Garner in 13 going on 30 lol.


I wanna teach them what's cool, what's fun, what's right, how to stand up for themselves, how to love themselves, how to deal with bullies, boys, and mean girls. I want to just... be there and help them be tough little Danielle Brittanys. :)



My heart is in a knot. I'm like, "Oh man! How do I teach these girls the things I know?" Most everything I do just comes naturally. How to I put that into words or... be their sensai? Also I think, "Man! I don't want to let the people down running this camp because I'm not really all that credible!" ... I just write and record music. I get on stage and I sing. It's what I do. I'm not a credible source for anything in the music industry. The women playing instruments and teaching choir are soooo the people for this job. Me? I'm just a pop tart. :)


I don't know what I can bring to the table... but what I do know is I want to be involved SOME how. I just am so scared and intimidated by teaching what I know. I don't know it all. All I know is that I can totally teach these girls to be kickass and tough.


I want these girls to think, "Hey! I'm unique. I'm gonna show these people JUST who I am!" and I want to teach them to follow their dreams and work hard.


If that means that I'm just kind of a peon in the background chiming in a bit and cheering them on... then deal.


I should show them a picture of me when I was in 7th grade and say, "Check this goofy lookin' thing out!" and let them laugh at it. :) Then maybe, hopefully, possibly, they'd see I've morphed into a less awkward, pretty fun, ambitious chick with big dreams and they can do it too?


I only hope.


I want to teach these girls to not be afraid of who they are and being goofy. ..... I've embraced it. Have you seen my shake weight video on youtube? ((slaps forehead))

:)

<3
Danielle

So this is it

My shaking hands felt the scratches in the varnished wooden floor boards. A lot of people had paced and bustled over these floors. Dust bunnies and salt from the sidewalks made them gritty to the touch. My legs were splayed out carelessly as I leaned on one hip. I was merely a collapsed lump on the floor. I was totally unconcerned that my ensemble was black and that I was probably going to be full of floor silt when I decided to stand up. Didn't matter. Not right then.

With little wells of tears wobbling on my lower lids and tiny tear drops resting in my lower lashes.... I looked around the green room. I sniffled and tried to catch my breath. Band stickers and graffiti littered the walls and mirrors. A lot of people who share the same dream had made their mark. I kicked myself thinking, "Man... I wish I had a sharpie or something to plaster my name up there with the rest of them."

It would have been a great night to be a vandal.

Loud music, teaming voices, and a gallery of sounds slammed up against the other side of the door. The noise was sneaky. No escape. It crept in through the crack underneath the door just to antagonize me.

I looked around again, just sitting in that pile of myself. Slow motion. Everything ran in slow motion. I was thankful for my luck and blessings... my God, I'm so lucky.... but I couldn't help dwell on the reality that there was always going to be something trying to bring me down. The higher up you go... the more potential energy you gain. It's like an elevator. You're heavier going up. There's just more pull on you to bring you down. You can either accept it and proceed or you play it safe on the ground. Something had just tried to drag me to hell. In that moment, I was trying to decide if I was going to let it.

I wiped my eyes. "No more of this, Danielle. You're tough," I thought. Black streaks of mascara smeared across my index finger. "Aw crap." I looked in the mirror and tried to fix the mess I'd made. Hopeless. I looked like a blubbering, blonde raccoon. I fussed with my hair, powdered my now pink nose, and tried to blink away the sadness in my eyes. I had work to do. Brave face. It didn't matter what happened to make me feel this way. It comes with the territory and the show must go on. This is what will separate me from the faint of heart. This attitude will keep me in the game. I'd lick my wounds later when I had time to myself...

DB

No mo'!

This is advice to anyone out there looking to, "make it," in the entertainment industry:

Don't sacrifice who you are for fame and fortune.


Please, please, pleeeeease don't sell out.


Your heart is a great GPS. Follow it. Don't compromise who you are for money. Who you are is irreplaceable. To throw away your identity for money or stardom is giving up.


A friend of mine said, "I'd rather fail as myself than succeed as someone else." I couldn't have said it better myself.



I've lived my life as Danielle Brittany for 24 years. I think who I am and my style is unique and apart of a great package. Let me just say it, "By George, I like myself!"

So when someone tells me to change my look, change my name, and change who I am..... I simply say this: I can't do it. I won't do it! And if that's what it takes.... then I'm not trying hard enough or we're not thinking hard enough to bypass that garbage.


It's like when you get a new hair cut and you go home and style it the same way you've been doing your hair for years. I'll always come back to myself. No need to reinvent the wheel. It's good! I'm a firm believer in enhancing what is good.... not trying to reinvent it.


Fighting for what you believe in doesn't make you difficult. It makes you have a backbone. It makes you strong.


Don't ever let anyone tell you who you are. That's for you to decide. Every morning we all have a choice of who we want to be when we wake up. Nobody makes that choice for you.



More words of advice: The truth will always set you free. Karma is a real thing don't succumb to malicious actions or petty behavior. Harboring grudges will always keep negative energy with you. Stooping low is never the best revenge. Living your life better is. Step out of your shoes sometimes. Forgive those who violate you and try to sabotage you. Remember that sabotage is a goal of someone trying to ruin you because they are threatened by you. Pity them. Pray for them.


Stay true to yourselfs, folks!

Danielle

Where we're at...

You guys.... we need to talk...

As some of you may know... I won the award for Madison's Female Vocalist of the year. It was a tremendous win for The Danielle Brittany Crew. My friends, music colleagues, my family, and myself were elated. People were going to finally start to know my name. It was a big platform for such a little lady. My competition in my category was tremendous. Apparently I won by 3 votes. So I was, needles to say, incredibly surprised.

When I went to the Madison Area Music awards... I wasn't feeling confident. I felt so small. I entered the Barrymore with my heart in a state of anxiety. I felt like I was lost in the bustle of some unfamiliar city. I recognized no faces. Nobody even knew who I was. I hadn't anyone to mingle with and I was incredibly intimidated. I felt like the new kid on the first day of school.. wanting desperately for someone to reach out to me. It sucked... lol.


When the first category that I was nominated in was announced, I sat up straight in my chair. My nervous eyes darted around the theatre. When they announced my name as one of the nominees NOBODY clapped for me. It was as if people were like, "Who?" Nobody clapped.... except for my management team. I'm not kidding you... I seriously felt like the last kid picked in dodgeball. NOBODY CLAPPED. My heart began racing. "Oh my god... nobody knows who I am. What am I doing here? I have NO street cred! No support!" There I was.... all alone... waiting for them to say who'd won. "And the winner is........ Gladstone!!!" .... my heart sank through the floor, through the earth's crust and descended all the way to the blazing depths of hell's magma. My gah, though, Gladstone deserves everything that is awarded their way. They're great.... but I was taking it personally. I sat there stick straight. Stuck. Motionless. Frozen. Unable to move, rigid in that folding, theatre chair. My sweaty hands now dry as the sahara....were tightly cleanching the wooden arms of my seat. I kept thinking, "I should leave. This was a stupid idea. I'm a nobody. Nobody knows me. I'm an idiot. Why did I buy this dress? I need to leave. How foolish I was to think that I deserved ANY of this. I'm so presumptuous to think I could win an award here. What was I thinking??" My doubts were eating my chest to bits. I felt hollow.


I was also dealing with some personal loss that week and getting over a cold... so all this self-doubt was pouring in like crazy.


When they announced the category for female vocalist of the year.... my heart began pounding. I couldn't even look at the stage. I was just about to twitter... "I am an utter failure." to my friends when I heard the sweetest sound ever, "DANIELLE BRITTANY!" I stood up and said, "Oh my GOD ME?!?"

Haha! It felt really euphoric to know that I had a lot of really awesome friends and a great management team supporting me and supporting the mama's with their voting.


So... in the dust of the mama's last month.... I've had many ask about my music, my myspace, my album, my website, shows, shows, and more shows.


To answer all of that: Soon.


I'm a new artist working on my FIRST album ever. This .... is... really...hard. I'm trying to find my sound, my creative flow with new producers, and try to pump out the best product I can to my new audience! It's taking time. Projected debut: Late fall.


Shows won't be happening until that album is done. Without songs to sing... what do I have for you? I certainly can't keep playing shows full of covers. :-) But soooooon. I promise. Please hang in there with me.


We're getting there and once we're there.... we're gonna kill it!! woooo!!

I'm ambitious, happy, healthy, and working hard.... so..... stick with me!



Thank you for my MAMA. I love you guys!

Danielle