Britten

Not So Ordinary...
Upon first glance, you don’t really see Britten coming. On the surface, he’s cute; he’s soft-spoken, and, he’s about as nice as they come. And, being that he’s from Music City, when he tells you that he’s a “singer/songwriter”, that doesn’t really surprise you either. There are a ton of country and Contemporary Christian musicians roaming the streets with a guitar on their backs.
But once he takes to the stage, with his smooth vocals and remarkable range, all assumptions are out the door.
In one word, Britten is “soulful”. He can’t help it. Since birth, thanks to his father, his down-home country surroundings have been filled with the sounds of Motown legends like Steve Wonder and the Jackson Five and Memphis icons like Al Green.
As a matter of fact, it was while riding in the car and listening to Al that Britten realized his fate. “Hearing Love and Happiness was one of the first times that I knew I wanted to be an artist. His music strikes me to the core.”
Being that Britten comes from a long line of musicians who have never had their vision fully actualized, it was fortunate that his parents did not shy away from his purpose. At 7, he received his first “amateur” guitar. At 13, his grandmother made the investment to upgrade it. At 14, he wrote a song that continues to be the soundtrack of his life.
“Not So Ordinary was the first song I seriously wrote. I didn’t know much, but I knew I was tired of hearing people say the same ole’ stuff in the same ole’ way,” he shares. “There are different ways to write a love song. More importantly, there are other things to talk about.”
Since, his life has been an interesting journey.
At 16, Britten had his first live performance at a local venue (“Let’s just say it taught me the art of improvisation.”).
At 17, Britten packed up his life and moved to Boston to attend Berklee (“Let’s just say I got my butt handed to me because I didn’t know as much about---well, anything as I thought.”)
And, at 20, with a solid foundational curriculum in tow, Britten returned to Music City to fully and passionately pursue music. “It was a hard decision to make and one that I didn’t take lightly but I don’t regret it a day in my life. Berklee helped me come to myself as an artist and the people there made me raise the standard that I initially set for myself.”
Back in Nashville, Britten has now become a household name. The women croon over him in a way similar to John Mayer; the fellas respect him in a way similar to Robin Thicke or D’angelo, and musicians are coming to respect his ever-evolving potential in a way that he hopes will place him in the roster of James Taylor, someday: a songwriter whose words are timeless and a singer whose voice, regardless of color, is truly and authentically soulful.
Although Britten is currently working on a project with the help of Grammy-winning producers and personal mentors, Shannon Sanders and Drew Ramsey (“We’re like country cousins”), ironically one of his dreams is to someday share a Rolling Stone cover with men like Mayer and Thicke, showing that a white man with soul (“Anytime you write from your heart, it’s a soulful experience”) is not a gimmick. For many, it’s a way of life.
“Whether it’s soul, neo-soul, country or R&B, at the end of the day, we all want it to be pop,” he says. “We want to reach masses of people with our message; we just don’t want to have to compromise who we are to do it.”
Thanks to modern-day mentors including Johnny Lang and India.Arie, Britten is setting out to do music that “responsibly says this is me, this is who I am.” (Currently) two of his favorite, original tunes are Blue Collar Mama, a musical homage to single mothers and women who raise their sons; and, Who Am I To You, a semi-biographical tune.
“I am tired of people trying to label me and put me in a box,” he says. “I am not interested in breaking the mold of being a white guy who does soul music. I just want to do good music. There’s no color, timeline or genre to that, and I aim to prove that theory with every song that I write and sing.”
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