On the Cover – Laura Bryna

Dec. 2007/Jan. 2008 – December 2007/January 2008 — Rewind 07

Label: Equity Music Group
Management: Roger Sarchet, WRPG Entertainment
Producers: Kyle Lehning and Roger Sarchet
Current Single: “Make A Wish”
Current Album: Trying To Be Me
Current Video: “Make A Wish”

Interests: Fluent in French, having studied it for 12 years in school. She also dabbles in anthropology and archeology.
Interesting Facts: Endorsed by M.A.C Cosmetics. Also owns three colorful pet birds, each with a unique personality. “They are my kids,” says Bryna, of her Congo African Grey, Tyler; her Senegal parrot, Harmony; and her Lesser Sulfur Crested Cockatoo, Snuggle.
Musical Influences: Patsy Cline, Elvis Presley, Anne Murray, Wynonna Judd

One of the most trying times in Laura Bryna’s life spawned her love of country music and her dream to share it with the world. During long car trips to visit her older brother in the hospital, a young Bryna and her mother spent hours listening to country radio. “Country music really got us through some very tough times,” she recalls. “They were songs about real life experiences, similar to what my family was going through.”

While in high school she participated in the Kennedy Center’s Summer Drama Workshop and also travelled with the renowned African a cappella singing group Ladysmith Black Mambazo teaching inner-city kids about life experiences. Bryna went on to attend Philadelphia’s University of the Arts, studying acting, singing and dance. After family friend Ted Neeley, star of the Broadway hit Jesus Christ Superstar, attended her college senior recital she was asked to perform in a recording of the Broadway musical Rasputin. The experience further solidified her passion for music and she moved to Nashville. She enrolled in music classes at Belmont College and landed internships at Sony/Tree and DreamWorks Publishing.

Bryna first learned about the Make-A-Wish Foundation during her brother’s illness and continued her work with the organization in Nashville. “I’ve stuffed envelopes, taken artists on visits to meet the kids, granted wishes, done whatever I could to help,” she says. Bryna felt so strongly about the cause that she co-wrote her new single about it.

A promotional push for her debut album Trying To Be Me will take place in Las Vegas in December, with the project to be released Jan. 22, 2008. During the Vegas promotion the video for “Make A Wish” will air continuously across 35 flat screen monitors in the Luxor and Excalibur Hotels for more than one month. Two 10,000 square foot images of Bryna will adorn the Luxor Tower and her video will be seen regularly on four huge video screens in front of the Fashion Show Mall on the Las Vegas Strip. Bryna, a fashion lover, will also perform at a Macy’s sponsored event at Fashion Show Mall featuring noted designers while her music video "I Don't Have A Thing To Wear" airs on screens. Bryna will celebrate the album release with a performance at the Luxor’s LAX nightclub on Jan. 14. LAX has played host to many Hollywood celebrities, but this marks the first time a country artist will play the club.