Well, for those of you who didn't know about it, I met a singer/songwriter on a website for TAXI (taxi.com), a musician's resource for information and promotion. The strange part is that I just happened to stumble over his name by accident. When I emailed him information about myself, I had no idea what would come next! It turns out that he has a 5 album record deal in L.A., he's originally from Scotland, and was more than willing to help me in any way he could. Too good to be true??? Well, I'm not quite sure about that one just yet. Within a week and a half, Brian Allan (the singer/songwriter) and I had emailed one another back and forth and he called me to set up a time to meet. So...I met with him in L.A. on Super Bowl Sunday. We met at a Starbucks and I figured that it would be a rather short meeting since he was a busy guy. I sat down and spilled out all of my hopes and dreams and we both "laughed" about the brutality of the music industry. We then went to listen to some of his recorded music and my demo. I was terrified. Luckily, he liked my voice (although the compliments did not come without a nicely-put critique of some things as well).

He then pulled out his guitar and started playing some of his songs. The scariest part was when he handed the guitar to me and casually said, "O.K. -- now it's your turn. Play me some of your stuff." I think my heart stopped beating for a brief second... I did it though. I figured that we all have to experience a first for everything. And that's exactly what I did -- we ended up co-writing the beginnings of 3 or 4 songs that day before we settled on one last one idea. After that, he ended up inviting me to a Super Bowl party where I met some pretty "high up there" individuals. We then went back to his friend's apartment where we attempted to write some more. By 9:15, I finally had to say I absolutely HAD to leave since I had classes the next morning.

Since then, I've been in contact with Brian every day. I've been seeking advice from some people I know who are in the industry, since I am a little uncertain of some things. All I know is that I need to be cautious in all that I do. More than anything, my morals CANNOT be sacrificed just for the sake of possibly getting my foot in the door. After all, that's why I decided American Idol wasn't really for me. So far, Brian and I have a meeting set up for this Friday evening to finish up the song before he goes back into the studio almost full-time to record his debut album (which will be out around mid-2003, so keep an eye out). In the meantime, I need to keep my head on straight through all of this. We'll see what happens. Besides, Leroy, my guitar/voice trainer divulged that he'd be happy to hook me up with some of his industry buddies/colleagues (he's Sade's background singer and is currently working on his own solo album). I've got so much support from my family, people like Leroy and many of my other instructors (both present and past), and my friends. Thanks, all!!! I need you!!!

~Brie~