MARLA Vannucci

Traveling Together is a new album by Brighter Light Brigade, a Nashville-based music collective. The album is their second and was just released this fall by 8 Pound Gorilla Records on October 7, 2022. Each of the seven songs on the album contain something special, such as ideas about feelings, self-awareness, family, and community. Brighter Light Brigade is made up of moms and licensed mental health professionals, Amyliza de Jesus and Marla Vannucci. Their music evolved naturally from a place of giving support to children and families as they navigate life, with socio-emotional health being the common theme woven throughout songs that range in style from folk and country to indie rock/punk.  Amyliza de Jesus and Marla Vannucci recently discussed the album and more via an exclusive interview. 

Meagan Meehan (Q): How did you get interested in music and songwriting, and did you always gravitate towards the children’s genre?   

Amyliza de Jesus (A): I’ve been a music person since I was a kid - I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t interested in music!  As for songwriting, I started in college.  I was a music major (piano performance), and the music department offered a songwriting workshop my junior year.  I’d always been interested in it, and it was a nice departure from my classical studies.  As for writing children’s music - it was purely accidental.  There was a period of time where I was taking a break from social work and working as a nanny in Chicago.  The little girl I nannied loved Little Miss Ann’s music, and so we ended up taking one of her music classes.  Since Ann and I are both first-generation Filipina-Americans, we’d often chat after class.  One day, it came up that I’m from Nashville, and she asked if I played any instruments and sang.  That led to me joining the Little Miss Ann Band, and shortly after, collaborating with her on our joint album, Keep On.  Once I started playing shows and writing music for families, I was hooked - it really is such a fulfilling genre. 

Marla Vannucci (M): Like Amy, music has been a part of me always. As a kid and pre-teen, I was the emcee for my school’s choral shows, and I wrote a really terribly cheesy musical when I was in junior high. But somehow my theater teacher liked it, and we ended up putting it on and performing it for all the schools in the area. I did community theater and storytelling competitions, in addition to school musicals, and originally, I wanted to be a playwright, which was my initial major in college. Songwriting is another way to tell a story, and I started writing and performing regularly in my 20’s. I had left playwriting to become a psychologist - I was pulled to helping others tell their stories and reformulate them in a more meaningful and positive way. As a psychologist, I began to use songwriting as a therapeutic tool with the kids who were my clients, and after my son was born, I wrote songs to sing to him. But it was Amy who really introduced me to children’s music as a genre. I was a huge fan of Keep On - and I was delighted when Amy invited me to collaborate with her!  

Q: How did you meet, and what’s it like to create music with your friend? 

A: Marla and I also met through the Old Town School of Folk Music - she was my very first bandmate!  It’s so amazing to be creating family music with her 20 years later - it feels really full circle, especially now that we’re both moms. 

M: It’s the greatest! And it’s been wonderful to see how we’ve developed over the years and the new perspectives we each bring to our songwriting. We are both cheerleaders for each other, and we bring different strengths as songwriters, which I think really makes the experience richer. 

Q: You’re both mental health professionals, so how does that play into your creativity? 

A: My mission with my music is to write songs that connect, heal, and inspire.  So, I suppose that I’m usually writing from a socio-emotional bent.  I also do therapeutic songwriting with clients - most recently with veterans experiencing PTSD.  In addition, I use songwriting as therapy and self-care for myself - it’s such a powerful medium for self-expression. 

M: I think we both have always been drawn to writing songs that convey emotion, sometimes complex emotion. And with children’s music, the challenge, at least for me, has been to speak in a way that resonates with kids who may not have the language to name all their emotions or the perspective to know that everyone feels like they do - so to highlight kids’ uniqueness and commonalities in words they know while challenging them to learn new ones. 

Q: What do you wish more people knew about mental health? 

A: I think this has improved a little bit, but still has a ways to go - that there doesn’t need to be shame or stigma surrounding mental health.  I wish more people understood that everyone has strengths and skills, and that our brain differences are to be celebrated, not diminished.  I also hope that people who are struggling know that there is always help. 

M: I 100% agree with Amy! I’d love for people to see mental health as simply another dimension of health and to know that there are strategies to support better health. 

Q: You write your own songs. So, what comes to you first, the lyrics or the melodies? 

A: Usually lyrics come first to me… but the melodies often aren’t far behind! 

M: That’s funny - I’m completely the opposite! I usually hear the music first or else I have a phrase and then hear a tune and the rest of the lyrics come after that. 

Q: How did you break into the music industry and how would you describe your style? 

A: Regarding children’s music - Little Miss Ann was the person who looped me into the scene, and I’m so grateful for her foresight and encouragement.  I feel like Brighter Light Brigade’s style is pretty eclectic, which is a reflection of our many musical influences.  I think my songs in particular are a mix of pop, folk, Americana, bluegrass, and jazz. 

M: I spent a long time in Chicago playing in an original indie rock band and then a popular 50’s/60’s cover band, and I loved the music scene in Chicago and having a steady group of folks who would follow us, but I really owe my introduction into the children’s world to Amy, and I’m incredibly grateful for her bringing me into this wonderful and welcoming community. I’m excited about all the artists I’m meeting and the opportunities for more collaboration. My style tends to incorporate blues, Americana, and pop, with a little punk rock thrown in here and there. 

Q: How long did it take you to complete this recent album? 

A: The first song, “Kindness Is King” was written in the summer of 2019, recorded virtually during the beginning of the pandemic, and released on World Kindness Day in 2020.  Marla and I knew that we wanted to write more in the future… but didn’t have a set timeline, really.  Until we received interest from 8 Pound Gorilla Records - who inquired what was next for us…!  So, we got to writing, recorded the songs over a week in July 2021 with producer Dean Jones at his studio in Hudson Valley, NY, and released them as 2 EPs in the summer of 2022. 

Q: Out of all the songs on the album, do you have any personal favorites?  If so, which ones and why? 

A: It’s so hard to pick!  But I’d say my personal faves are: 

“See You in the Summertime” - this song was written during the pandemic, as things were starting to open up, and the prospect of traveling over the summer seemed likely again.  I absolutely LOVE Mista Cookie Jar’s rap - it’s so fun and adds so much to the song! “Kindness Is King” - this one’s a sentimental fave, as it was the first BLB song.  I also love it because it was inspired by Mavis Staples and shares a message that’s really important to Marla and me.  “Pancakes on Sunday Morning” - this song is my JAM!  Marla’s so great at writing catchy tunes with a bluesy feel.  I love dancing and singing along to it at home with my son.  I also love its message of connection through sharing family recipes, cooking together in the kitchen, and spending time with loved ones around the kitchen table.  “Fire Inside” - this song started out as a song for my son, but I quickly realized it was also for me… and that it might resonate with others as well.  It’s another song whose message I love.  “Different” - this was a co-write with a local Nashville student, through the Words & Music Program at the Country Music Hall of Fame.  I received the lyrics a few days after the Atlanta Shootings in March 2021, and immediately knew I had to put music to it.  “Traveling Together” - this song was originally an Old Town Troubadours (a duo with my husband) song that he wrote about our experience with miscarriage.  When we recorded it, our producer mentioned that her young son really loved it, and jokingly suggested that we re-record it with different lyrics for a kids’ album.  So we did!  I love that this is the “happy ending” version, with wishes for our son.  I hope that it also resonates with other parents.  “Goodbye Summer” - I love this song written by Marla.  To me, it’s like a love letter to Chicago.  I also love singing the 90s-inspired harmonies on it - so fun! 

M: SO hard to pick! Amy hit a lot of my faves too. A few thoughts I’ll add - I think one of my top faves is “Fire Inside” - it really highlights the amazing things Amy can do with a beautiful and unique melody and a deeply meaningful message. The song and Amy’s singing on it is so lovely that I struggled to do the harmonies because I’d get lost in her singing and forget to come in!   

“Pancakes” is a fun one, and there is a lot of room for more blues in the children’s world. Both of my parents traveled for work every week, and me and my siblings were all over the place with sports and activities, and when my mom would be home and would cook, it was the time we all gathered together. My son actually loves to cook, and it’s been an important way for us to bond too. And Mista Cookie Jar’s rap mixed with Amy’s Debbie Gibson-esque vibe on “See You in the Summertime” - I love it! Can’t leave off “My Favorite Song” - that’s gotta be a favorite, right? It’s just a big, fun, dance party of a song, but it actually comes from some of the work I’ve done with clients around creating personal “soundtracks” to help them move through their days in a more positive way. Having a song in your head can inspire you like singing “Eye of the Tiger” before a big test or job interview or for one of my clients, improve your self-concept or self-image, such as her singing Cristina Aguilera’s “Beautiful” to herself at certain moments of the day. It’s a distraction from the emotion or behavior pattern that troubles you, and the message matters too. 

Q: What are you thinking music video-wise for these songs? 

A:  We have a couple of videos out: one for “Kindness Is King,” which is a fan compilation/lyric video.  We also have a video for “See You in the Summertime,” which has some fun animated collages with photos of us as kids. In the future, I’d love to do more lyric videos for our songs. 

M: For “Kindness is King”, we were pretty limited by the pandemic. We couldn’t get a group together or even be together (just me and Amy), nor a production crew to make that video, so we worked with Stacie Huckeba, who compiled clips that fans, friends, and family members made of them singing and displaying the lyrics. The end result was an experience of collaboration and solidarity that really communicated the message of the song. Amy mentioned “See You in the Summertime," and I want to give a shoutout also to our pets who made it into the video. No animals were harmed in the making of the video…. 

Q: What’s the best fan feedback you’ve gotten about your music? 

A: The best fan feedback I’ve received was when I was in Chicago towards the end of the summer last year.  I was at Lake Michigan, and this little girl came up to me and started singing “See You in the Summertime.”  There we were, on the beach, singing the chorus together, and it was just the sweetest! 

M: I love Amy’s story SO much! I have a good one too. A dear friend is a speech therapist in Florida who has built a kids’ gym that is used for play as well as different therapies. It’s called Mosaic Therapy. One day she called me and said “We’ve been playing your music nonstop in the gym and now parents and kids are requesting specific songs and the parents are asking how they can get your music - can you send us a poster or something? 

Q: How would you describe your live performances? 

A: We’ve had a handful of shows, and I’m just blown away by the musicians who play in our band - they really are top-notch!  I would say we have a feel-good vibe, which invites the audience to participate in the community experience. 

Q: How do you hope your career evolves over the next five years? 

A: I hope that I continue to write and collaborate with artists through Brighter Light Brigade, as well as release “grown-up” music through Old Town Troubadours.  I also really enjoy my work as a music therapist and hope to continue engaging clients in therapeutic songwriting.  I’d also love to continue playing gigs around town… (and maybe beyond!) 

M: I’m really feeling at home in the children’s genre - it allows me to bring humor that sometimes doesn’t fit as well in adult music. I’d like to continue to make fun and educational music for families and to work with teachers and parents to create programs that teach social-emotional concepts through music.  

Q: What are your ultimate goals for the future and is there anything else that you would like to mention? 

A: My ultimate goals for the future are to make my creativity a priority, through whatever medium feels right… to speak my truth… and to help others do the same.  I also hope that my commitment to creativity and self-expression is a model for my son to feel like he can express who he is in the ways he feels called. 

M: I want to find new ways to use music and songwriting as a tool for healing and learning and to continue to grow as a parent, a friend, a partner, a therapist, and a person.   

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Traveling Together is available at major digital retailers and at www.teambrighterlightbrigade.com or www.marvannucci.com. You can also follow them on Facebook and Instagram.