“I’ve been listening to music since I was in the womb,” joked Kealy Bryman, who participated in her elementary school musicals and now performs in the M-A’s jazz band. Bryman’s musical household contributed greatly to her interest, with her mother being a vocalist and her grandfather a pianist.
Since elementary school, Bryman has participated in the school musicals, even taking over major leads like Charlie in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in 5th grade, Horton in Seussical in 8th grade, and Davey in Newsies as a freshman at M-A. Bryman has continued to pursue her love for singing and acting in the recent musical, Something Rotten, where she played Bea Bottom.
“I’d say music plays a big role in my life—you’ll never catch me not listening to music. It’s a stress reliever and something that I’ve always loved,” she said.
Bryman’s interests in artists like Lizzy McAlpine have also expanded her interest in acoustic styles of music. “Obviously I love performing, but I also love watching performances. Concerts made me think: ‘Wow, I want to do that one day, I want that to be me on the stage,’” Bryman explained.
Bryman released her first song, All I’m Gonna Be is Me, on Spotify, reaching 2,500 streams since its release in 2021. “I always thought that being true to yourself is important,” Bryman said. She continued, “There’s nothing more important in life than being who you are.”
Bryman’s songwriting process involved her cousin Lucy Graves and her partner Andre Brown, who assisted with recording and writing the song. “We actually wrote and recorded it in one day,” Bryman said. “We started out by writing all the lyrics and did a little jam session to figure out what we wanted the song to be about.”
“I think that this is a common thing that happens when people you know kind of grow up: they want to adapt to their surroundings, especially in middle school. You’re kind of trying to find who you are, so I think it’s important to stay true to yourself as you grow up.” Bryman said.
Currently, Bryman plans to make an appearance in her mother’s upcoming album and take on more acoustic styles in future songwriting opportunities.
She advised future songwriters, “Don’t take anything too seriously at first, just have fun with it and write what’s true to you, and it should all come easily.”
