SEQUIM — Bailey Bryan, a Sequim native and rising country musician, is vying for a chance to perform at the Grammy Awards in February.
Bryan, who released her single “Own It” last summer, is one of three candidates for Artist of Tomorrow where the winner performs live at the Grammy Awards at 8 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 12 on CBS. Visitors can vote daily through Feb. 8 at www.cbs.com/aot.
Candidates were selected by popular acts for the opportunity as musicians on the rise and “sure to be among the most buzzed-about acts of 2017,” according to the Grammy Awards’ website.
Hillary Scott, one-third of the group Lady Antebellum, nominated Bryan, saying in a promotional video she isn’t afraid to be herself.
“There is such personality and such beautiful tone,” Scott said. “[On “Own It”] you get that spunk and that personality and all the parts that make her her.”
Scott said that “Own It” also has “everything you think about when you think of a hit song. This is going to be a year of exponential growth for her.”
Bryan competes against country singer Drake White, who was nominated by the Zac Brown Band, and fusion artist Farina, who was nominated by Wyclef Jean.
Bryan’s style is a cross between pop and country and says her influences range from the Dixie Chicks to Drake to the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
In an interview earlier this summer with the Sequim Gazette, Bryan said when writing songs she focuses on “whatever I’m feeling. I’ll say this is what I want to do. It flows from there.”
In the Grammy video, Bryan said all she’s wanted to do is sing following a realization after listening to Taylor Swift’s first album.
“It just always felt possible,” she said. “That’s just the way I was raised.”
To pursue music full time, Bryan and her family moved to Nashville, Tenn., in October 2015 from Sequim and she finished school online.
Bryan previously said she fondly remembers strumming her guitar in front of Jose’s Famous Salsa in downtown Sequim where she got most of her local performing experience.
She also performed with different Sequim High School choirs and as Ariel in Sequim High’s “Footloose” as a freshman.
She signed a publishing agreement with Kompass in 2013 and recently signed a joint-recording deal between Warner Music Nashville and 300 Entertainment of New York.
She also performed at the Watershed Country Music Festival in July and in August at The Gorge Amphitheater.
“I know the most important thing is to be myself and speak my truth,” she said about her music.
Bryan previously said since moving to Nashville she’s found herself to be biased toward Sequim and the Olympic Peninsula.
“I think Sequim is the most beautiful place on Earth,” she said.
“You can’t fully appreciate it until you live somewhere else. Every single day, I wish I could go jump in Lake Crescent.”
For more information on Bryan, visit www.baileybryan.com.
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The Olympic Peninsula News Group is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum.
