about me

I was born in Norfolk, VA on October 21, 1987. I spent the first few months of my life homeless, sleeping in a motel drawer in lieu of a bassinette. White trash by birth, my tumultuous childhood, and struggles with poverty informed my style, attitude, and accessible and activism-minded art from the start. When I was 3 years old, I was listening to a Michael Jackson cassette tape, when I had a vision of my grown-up self on stage singing to a stadium full of people. I’ve known what I wanted to do with my life ever since.

A scrappy child, a tomboy, and an autistic nonconformist, I played like I was practicing for my future. At 8 years old, I taught myself to play piano and guitar by ear and began writing full pop songs at the age of 10. A natural-born leader, I started a girl group where I wrote music, choreographed dances, and directed performances in my backyard. I also wrote films and plays, made music videos and talk shows with my handheld camcorder, and created whole elaborate imaginary worlds for my friends to inhabit when we played.

I performed in choirs and for my friends and family from an early age, but I struggled with debilitating stage fright, which I didn’t get a handle on until I attended Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va, where I studied opera. It was here that I was classified as the rare vocal fach “dramatic soprano” and could begin understanding, appreciating, and training my powerful and at times unwieldy instrument. I performed in the school’s Opera Workshop productions in the choir of Puccini’s Soir Angelica, and was later cast in the lead roles of Dorabella in Mozart’s Cosí fan Tutte, and Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, to very positive reviews.

I graduated ODU Summa Cum Laud, but struggled with where to go next, feeling burnt out from academia, and struggling with severe depression and anxiety following a sexual assault by a close friend in my senior year. Without a creative outlet or the pressure and distraction of school for the first time in my life, I made the life-saving decision to co-found my first band Britt and the Beard, a rock n soul duo that was considered “Norfolk’s cutest cover band.” I sang and played keys and drums. Britt and the Beard became known in the community by taking on the position of House Band for the Venue on 35th’s Burly Q at the Venue productions.

After exploring performing live music and singing pop, soul, and rock n roll, I fell back in love with writing. While teaching at the School of Rock in Norfolk, I connected with some fellow instructors and started Poly Shakedown, a synthpop band where I played keys and sang lead and backup vocals. Poly Shakedown released our full-length studio album No Stopping in 2013, which I co-wrote. Fans loved the eclectic synth vibe which harkened back to 80’s groups like Tears for Fears, Journey, and Toto. Some crowd favorites were Fridayyyuuugh, Dance Again, My Way, and Overnight. Poly Shakedown performed all over Hampton Roads, including on the main stage at the Poquoson Auto Show, and other festivals, fairs, and parties. Poly Shakedown was also featured on WHRO, WVEC, and at local top 40 radio station Z104’s yearly music festival Shagfest. After a couple of pop-filled years together, the band disbanded before we could make our second album.

It was around 2014 when I started to become interested in burlesque. After performing with the Burly Q at the Venue crowd for many years, and battling a lifelong struggle with body image and eating disorders, I felt inspired by the body and sex positivity and diversity in representation in the burlesque community. I debuted as my burlesque alter-ego Bree Madonna in August 2014. I combined my love of opera, jazz, the blues, and rock n roll with the classic bump and grind style of burlesque into unique and titillating performances. “The Vocal Vixen,” Bree Madonna helped me learn to take up space. I performed all over Virginia and landed a spot as Brienne of Tarth in the national tour of Burlesque is Coming, a burlesque tribute to the works of George R. R. Martin at the height of Game of Thrones’ popularity. I performed to sold-out crowds all over the country, and the tour was featured in many mainstream internet publications, including Playboy.com.

While regularly featuring as a burlesque performer, I found my footing as a pin-up and fetish model, a figure model for painters and artists, and as a hair and make-up model for local hair colorists and make-up artists. Creatives of all kind found my ability to quickly take direction and positive attitude a joy to collaborate with. My comfort, ferocity, and versatility in front of the camera, combined with my renaissance proportions and timeless style inspired many photographers and collaborators to create some of their best work.

I continued honing my writing skills while touring, performing, and modeling—branching out into essays, blogs, and poetry and elevating my songwriting to include more complicated vocal lines as my voice matured. Eventually, I felt called to retire Bree Madonna and once again step into the authenticity of Britt. With very little financial resources, I had to create art in a way that was free or cheap as hell, so I began busking, performing at local VA open mics, and posting covers and poems on Instagram and Youtube. In this vein, I honed my chops and took facing my fears of stage fright to new levels. Performing in this low-cost, low stakes, accessible way bolstered my confidence in my skills and in the art I create. I was rewarded with the positive feedback I needed to officially declare myself an Artist.

During this time, my healing journey had come to include yoga, spirituality, transcendental meditation, tarot, astrology, and witchcraft, as well as therapy and self-help. I was experimenting with ritual magic and psychedelics, which opened me up to higher and higher realms of consciousness. I dove deep into the generational trauma of my family of origin, got in touch with my wounded inner child, started laying boundaries, exploring my goals and dreams, and embracing my authenticity. This is where the philosophy (and song!) of Walk On was born.

I manifested a remote job as a celebrity gossip writer for the website Real Cool Nation and took the opportunity to move into my truck and travel the country on my own terms, busking along the way. Receiving positive reactions wherever I performed made me feel more confident than ever as a songwriter, vocalist, and performer, while writing for a fast-paced internet news site helped shape my voice—and skill—as a writer. I inspired many of my friends and followers through my Instagram posts, channeled messages, and travel blog Flight of the Final Girl. In the flow of surrender to What Is, and remaining open to receiving all the lessons and abundance that the Universe had to offer, I handled the challenges of van life with the enthusiasm of a voracious student. But tragically, my travel adventures had to come to an end.

After experiencing expensive vehicle trouble, losing my job, and becoming estranged from my family of origin, I found myself homeless. I found shelter by squatting in an abandoned house back in Norfolk, VA. Through divine intervention, I managed to book a few shows for a little money and continued writing, meditating, and inspiring, despite going through a time of such struggle. With the financial help of my loved ones through a GoFundMe, I sold my truck, took a leap of faith, and moved to New York City.

I began busking and performing at open mics in NYC and, once again, was surprised and encouraged by the reaction crowds had to my big voice, original music, and vulnerable poetry. I found community at the Bowery Poetry Club, where I was a featured artist 3 times (an honor for any artist of any caliber), and was even invited to perform at the holiday party in 2018. I booked gigs, was featured at Show N Tell, a popular open mic in Queens, the Bowery Electric, and went on to produce a queer music showcase of my own, featuring some of the best queer singer-songwriters in NYC.

In 2019, itching to share my life lessons, spiritual insights, and Big Healing Energy, I created the Walk On Podcast, a self-help and spirituality podcast made with the intention of inspiring the life-changing gift of spirituality, self-love, and healing in others. Through this process, I have learned to produce, write, record, host, edit, and promote the Walk On Podcast, which has experienced steady growth. Through my tarot readings, mentorship sessions, blogs, content, and podcast episodes, I feel that I am embodying my sacred mission to live a life of service and leave this world better than I found it.

In 2020, when the covid lockdown happened, I hosted a weekly healing circle on Zoom for anyone who needed comfort and connection, which helped several people through the early days of fear, isolation, and uncertainty. I maintained consistent podcast output and began working on branding my production company Walk On Productions, which encompasses, produces, and releases all the different manifestations of my artistry (and hopefully one day, the creations of many other artists with similar missions). I also wrote, produced, and recorded my debut EP as a solo artist Mantra, which is a mostly a capella 7-track pop album of channeled messages and healing affirmations, including the theme song to my podcast Walk On.

In October 2020, after months of deep healing and introspection, I began working on my debut poetry collection Flight of the Final Girl. I wrote and edited for a full year before self-publishing in October of 2021. This postmodern exploration of my childhood trauma— told through the lens of the horror genre— has been described as “powerful,” “brave,” “vulnerable,” and “devastating.” Most importantly of all, I felt like I was finally able to speak my truth. I am immensely proud of this tangible artifact—this living proof of how far I’ve come, and how much I’ve survived.

While writing Flight of the Final Girl, I was approached by Mario Shöenig of the band Lokomoko to write some songs for his upcoming album Shiny Silver Snakes. Mario and I collaborated all through early 2021, writing and recording the full-length work of rock n roll art. Shiny Silver Snakes is cool, innovative, catchy, fun, deep, poetic, and experimental. I learned so much about recording, producing, and curating an album from Mario, and am looking forward to working together on more projects in the future.

I have been so fortunate to be able to branch out into writing music for other artists, composing music for film, doing voice-over work, and copywriting. I have also designed and released a Self-Love Course for anyone who is interested in using the tools and techniques I have picked up along my long journey to healing, wholeness, and self-love in my own life. I am currently working on growing my podcast, writing and recording my first full-length album Hard Pop (to be released in late 2024), and outlining my next book Postmodern Spirituality (to be released in 2025).