My Story in Life, Love and Music
It isn’t very often that one finds a talent as diverse and hard-working as country music artist, Brittnee Belt. Since taking the stage at the Wylie Opry when she was only nine-years-old, the now 28-year-old has gone on to become a Radio Disney Kid DJ, has seen her music featured in television and movies, and is currently gearing up for the release of her upcoming CD, Breakin’ Up, on October 11th.
The Rockwall, Texas-native, currently living in Denton, is quick to point out that she has always been interested in music, however her passion for it truly started to take hold when she was in fourth grade. That is when she attended her very first concert and had an opportunity to meet country music legacy artist, Mickey Gilley.
“My family loved taking vacations and we were in Branson, Texas that year and went to Silver Dollar City,” she recounts. “Mickey Gilley was a big name in that area and we decided to go to the show because we kept hearing that it was really good. Something about that show made me want to be like him.”
Attending that show led to another great opportunity that set in motion the start of Belt’s music career. Opening for Gilley that night was country artist Joey Riley. Riley overheard Belt’s father talking and ultimately invited Brittnee to perform at the Wylie Opry the next time he played the venue. Nearly one month later, Brittnee found herself performing on the stage at the Wylie Opry.
“It was really neat to share the stage with a celebrity,” says Brittnee. “He was very supportive and encouraged me to continue with my musical dream.”
Little did Brittnee know at the time that her performance at the Wylie Opry was a sign of things to come. When she was 13-years-old, Brittnee was sitting in a doctor’s office looking at a magazine when she spotted an advertisement for auditions to become a Radio Disney Kid DJ. Her mother agreed to take her to the auditions, which were scheduled for the next day.
“We stood in line for hours with hundreds of other wannabe Disney kids. I got a callback and went to ABC Radio Productions the next week and ended up being one of ten selected for that year,” Brittnee explains.
The position as a Radio Disney Kid DJ came with many memorable opportunities for Brittnee. In addition to recording voice-overs for popular brands such as the Power Puff Girls, Hasbro, and Minute Maid Lemonade, she would also speak with studio executives about trends that were popular with kids and teenagers.
Since her days as a Radio Disney Kid DJ, Brittnee has also found success in the television and movie industries. Her original, Secret Identity, was the end credits theme song for the movie Minor Details, which starred Jennette McCurdy of iCarly and Savannah Jayde from Big Time Rush. She can also be heard singing the theme songs for Nickelodeon’s Miraculous Ladybug and the Netflix original series, The Popples. Additionally, she was asked to perform prior to the Dallas premiere of the Joan Jett and Cherie Currie biopic, The Runaways. That premiere was even attended by the film’s director and writer, Floria Sigismondi.
Brittnee has seen first-hand how music can have a positive impact on people. A video for her original song, With You racked up more than 600-thousand plays on MySpace, but one of the people watching it was a soldier serving overseas who opened his heart to her after hearing the song.
“He had shared with me that he was in the Army in Afghanistan and that he had been having suicidal thoughts,” she remembers. “He had mentioned that he didn’t know who the song was written about but he felt connected to it because he had a girlfriend back at home that he missed. He said that every time he listened to it, it reminded him of her and he didn’t feel suicidal anymore.”
She has also used her music to inspire school children. In 2011, Brittnee took part in Cruise With A Cause. The event allowed Brittnee to travel to Jamaica and perform in front of more than 12-hundred children, tell them her personal story, and talk to them about the importance of chasing your dreams.
In 2009, Brittnee was one of the first artists selected to take part in the Live and Local music program at Six Flags Over Texas. The program gave local singers and musicians an opportunity to perform in front of the park’s visitors. It became such a success that Six Flags decided to implement Live and Local at all of its parks throughout North America.
Over the years, Brittnee has performed at many notable venues and events, including the historical Austin City Limits TV set, House of Blues in Dallas, Two Old Hippies and Opry Mills Mall in Nashville, the Dallas Roughneck Pro Ultimate Frisbee event, and Marthaville Good Ole’ Days in Louisiana. She has also performed for patients at the Children’s Medical Center in Dallas and Cook Children’s Hospital in Fort Worth.
Away from music, Brittnee can be found spending time with her dog, Ashlee, whom Brittnee adopted from Woofstock 2nd Chance Camp. Brittnee says adopting Ashlee was one of the ten best moments in her life.
“She had been living on the streets in Fort Worth and it had been raining almost every day for thirty days,” Brittnee explains. “She was scheduled to be euthanized after they caught her and only had four hours left to live. The rescue group pulled her before they put her down and nursed her back to health.”
Since adopting Ashlee, Brittnee has become a spokesperson for Woofstock 2nd Chance Camp and has performed at the group’s functions for four consecutive years.
She also enjoys spending her spare time painting, watching movies, and baking.
“Good, god, girl, let me give it to you straight. Over the course of my career at Billboard I reviewed everyone from Celine and Springsteen to Ricky Martin and Britney Spears. If I’ve ever heard a bulls-eye HIT in my life, “Shadow” is right up there with the best. “Shadow” is a wondrous uptempo tour de force with all the ingredients of a massive mainstream hit - incomparable vocal fervors & a sticky sing-along chorus.”
— Chuck Taylor, Senior Writer at Billboard Magazine