The island pop duo Brittany and the Blisstones specialize in heart-crafted and smooth songs that sit in your soul, bringing love and serenity to any listener. Their musical style is unlike anything else with an expansive artistic palette of pop, orchestral, rock, jazz, reggae, ska, Latin, new wave, and beyond. Brittany Bliss contributes sultry vocals, jaunty ukulele playing, and co-writes the songs alongside her partner Reid Givens, an accomplished drummer and percussionist with an expansive command of rhythms and a keen sense for the healing power of good grooves.
The duo has started recording their debut EP, La La Love. “The pain that comes with living is inevitable, and it can breed fear that may stop us from daring to dream. Our songs are about finding the courage to face these fears, and being vulnerable and evolving,” shares Brittany. Reid adds: “These songs are born from our collective experience. There are uplifting vibes here, and when the songs are sad, they are there for solace.”
Their first two releases from La La Love, which are now streaming, took listeners by storm, setting them into a state of mindfulness and calm. Their new release, “La La Love,” the title track, continues the island vibe and reggae beat utilizing trumpets and other horn instruments. The song is about love, romantic and otherwise. “We believe that love is something that is always there, it’s ever-present, but it’s on us to recognize it and invite it to be part of our lives,” Brittany and Reid share. “That realization and invitation is what ‘La La Love’ is all about.”
“La La Love” carries almost an Alanis Morrisette meets Susan Tedeschi vibe. There’s a jam feeling, but also a deliberateness behind the music and lyrics. Brittany’s voice carries a separate, yet cohesive sense of peace and love as she sings “Love is what’s left over when the fighting’s through.”
Listen here:
Love exists even in pain and fear. It’s that part of our lives we can’t see that it’s the most present. “La La Love” is entrancing and hypnotic. You’ll be bound to replay the song over and over again.
Hailing from Chico, California, Brittany and the Blisstones are a duo who specialize in elegantly adorned, heart-crafted songs. Brittany Bliss and Reid Givens make up the twosome, and their journey is a touching story of reinvention, reclamation, and second chances on love. In addition to warming hearts, the couple are opening minds to female artists and helping shift the narrative of women in creative fields through support and exposure.
Their new single, ”Mermaid” is a song about reconnecting with nature, but it also seems to be about reconnecting with Brittany’s own human nature. The lyrics brim with breathtaking imagery and awe-inspiring reflective moments. She sings: By the sea/A mermaid rewrote the pages of all my dreams, so I found fear and faith in the waves. The music is as majestic as its impressionistic lyrical passages. The song lilts on a vaguely Jamaican pulse and brims with jeweled trumpet melodies, vocals that are sultry and sensitive, lush layers of harmony vocals, and moody chord changes that have a sweet sadness.
The band says, “Our music is silly and playful. We don’t take ourselves too seriously but we have a strong personal growth focus.” They create a unique sound that is echoed
“With Brittany’s ear for melody and Reid’s focus on rhythm, we have been coming up with parts for songs from the very start of our relationship. Song concepts were plentiful as well because a big part of our relationship is sharing ideas and growth, which we often come at from different perspectives.”
Brittany and Reid write songs that sweetly seduce you into mindfulness. The mellow tones of their distinct island-pop draw from an expansive artistic palette of pop, orchestral, rock, jazz, reggae, ska, Latin, new wave, and beyond. Brittany contributes sultry vocals, jaunty ukulele playing, and co-writes the songs alongside her partner Reid, an accomplished drummer and percussionist with an expansive command of rhythms and a keen sense for the healing power of good grooves.
Since forming in 2018, Brittany and The Blisstones have managed to earn an engaged fanbase through organic online exposure and their warmly intimate live shows. The duo has performed in various musical settings around the local Chico area and beyond, including playing venues in Berkeley and Oakland.
Newly divorced and making baby steps to reinvent their lives, Brittany and Reid first met at an open mic in Chico, CA in 2017. The fateful moment Brittany met Reid he was a fixture at the open mic, and Brittany was braving making her solo artist debut. Her performance that night captivated Reid. “You could tell she was very nervous,” he recalls. “But when she started to play, it was like she was channeling something that just hits you in a very vulnerable place.” The two spoke briefly that night, but felt an instant connection. Two weeks later, they saw each other again but this time they talked for longer, and the couple have been inseparable ever since.
“I think we both lost ourselves in our previous marriages, and rediscovering music was a way for both of us to heal and move past the pain,” Brittany shares. “When I dropped my youngest son off at college, I vowed to make music a priority again,” Reid says.
Despite being flushed with love and the joy of rediscovering music, Brittany and Reid found they had trouble turning their seedling ideas into songs. Wisely, they enrolled in a few online classes—including classes hosted by Ryan Tedder and Alicia Keys—and through diligence, and their innate talents were able to break down writer’s block and bask in the open floodgates of creativity.
“Mermaid” is the first song Brittany ever wrote. It is a song about reconnecting with nature, but it also seems to be about reconnecting with Brittany’s own human nature. The lyrics brim with breathtaking imagery and awe-inspiring reflective moments. She sings: By the sea/A mermaid rewrote the pages of all my dreams, so I found fear and faith in the waves. The music is as majestic as its impressionistic lyrical passages. The song lilts on a vaguely Jamaican pulse and brims with jeweled trumpet melodies, vocals that are sultry and sensitive, lush layers of harmony vocals, and moody chord changes that have a sweet sadness.
Listen to “Mermaid” here:
One of the biggest lessons of Brittany and The Blisstones is it’s never too late. It’s never too late to pick up an instrument. “Brittany just had her first piano recital since the second grade,” Reid marvels. And it’s never too late for love. Brittany says: “We got another chance at love, and rediscovering who we really are as people. It’s been such a beautiful restart.”
Modern Mystery 