With the arrival of her fierce and fiery single “Jawbreaker” in fall 2022, Laura Bryna kicked off a bold new era of her extraordinary career. A wildly catchy anthem full of sass, swagger, and so much heart, “Jawbreaker” spotlights Bryna’s larger-than-life energy and powerhouse voice like never before, echoing the unapologetic freedom she’s recently discovered in her songwriting. For the latest turn in a whirlwind journey that’s included sharing stages with superstars like Taylor Swift and legends like Emmylou Harris—and making an indelible impact as a U.S. Air National Guard spokesperson, humanitarian, radio host, and children’s book author—Bryna is now gearing up to share a body of work that blurs genres and bends the rules all in the name of a good time.
Based in Nashville and Los Angeles, Bryna has spent much of the past year working with A-list collaborators like Cameron Bartolini (whose credits include Walker Hayes’ six-times-platinum “Fancy Like”) and Jonny Price (Tim McGraw, Keith Urban, Duncan Laurence), building up a batch of songs that bring a gritty but fun-loving flavor to modern-day Country. As she reveals, “Jawbreaker” was a major turning point in uncovering the raw emotional truth of her new material. “I love a good anthem, so I wanted to write one that would empower women everywhere to be the most authentic version of themselves they can be,” Bryna explains. “It’s saying, ‘This is who I am, take it or leave it,’ which is exactly how I felt when we were writing.”
In fall 2023, Bryna doubled down on that unbridled authenticity with the release of “Certified”—a gloriously rowdy track that warns off any man who might even attempt to outshine her. Supported by more than 100 radio stations (and later remixed by fast-rising producer Deerock), the arena-sized rocker shot to the top 50 on both the Mediabase Indicator and MusicRow charts and soon became a top trending song on Shazam due to its massive popularity. Meanwhile, its captivating video quickly amassed over one million views and led to more than 3,000 user-generated videos on TikTok.
As Bryna continues her unstoppable rise, she’s now unleashing her new single “Over Being Under You”—a smoldering but strong-minded track that leans further into the high-powered sound she describes as “a little rock, a little country, a little blues—in-your-face, sassy!” One of the few female artists exploring that edgier side of the Country world, Bryna has joined the likes of Ashley McBryde in embracing hard-hitting drums and blazing electric guitars, ultimately dreaming up an exhilarating sound all her own. With its stomping rhythms, scorching guitar tones, and lush banjo lines, “Over Being Under You” centers on a spellbinding vocal performance from Bryna as she vents her frustration at a bad-news lover—and, in the end—breaks free from his soul-crushing hold on her.
Listing everyone from Etta James to Wynonna Judd to Joan Jett among her inspirations, Bryna grew up on timeless pop hits from the ’50s and ’60s thanks to the jukebox in her family’s basement in Mount Airy, Maryland. A born performer who got her start singing Elvis songs in home concerts with her sisters, she fell in love with Country music at a young age and found herself irresistibly drawn to the genre’s true-to-life storytelling. Not long after moving to Nashville as a teenager, Bryna inked a deal with a record label and soon made her debut with Trying to Be Me—an album featuring “Hometown Heroes,” a straight-from-the-heart track she co-wrote in tribute to the Air National Guard and later premiered on Fox’s Monday Night Football. Along with opening for major artists like Carrie Underwood, Tim McGraw, and Luke Bryan, she’s since brought her soul-stirring vocals and radiant presence to a multitude of USO events, including a 2019 tour that traveled to such far-flung countries as Kuwait and Kosovo. “I remember standing there in Kuwait with all these men and women who sacrifice so much to protect us, and wanting to soak up every moment so I’d never forget what it felt like,” she recalls. “It’s important to me to give back to the people who give all their time and energy so that we can live in freedom.”
A passionate humanitarian, Bryna is also closely involved with such causes as Homes For Our Troops (a nonprofit that provides specially adapted custom homes for injured veterans) and the Make-A-Wish Foundation (an organization she first encountered as a small child, after her brother suffered a brain aneurysm). “My brother ended up getting better, but learning about Make-A-Wish at such a young age made me want to help other kids too,” says Bryna, who served as a board member for the foundation’s Mid-Atlantic chapter and still works with the Nashville and L.A. chapters. “My thinking is: ‘I’m here living my dream, and these kids should all be living theirs.’”
A true force of nature, Bryna made her debut as a children’s book author just a month after releasing “Jawbreaker,” marking yet another triumph in a blockbuster year that also included the release of “Body First”—a seductive single in the vein of past hits like “Sweet Revenge,” a dance-leaning 2019 track whose Dave Aude-produced remix climbed to No. 10 on Billboard’s Dance Club Songs chart. By the end of 2022, she’d also delivered her Christmas single “Wishlist” to enormous fanfare, including landing on over 20,000 user playlists across Spotify and emerging as an instant holiday classic that once again ruled the charts in 2023, hitting the top 5 on the Billboard Holiday chart, the top 20 on the Billboard Hot AC chart, and No. 1 on the What’s In-Store chart.
For Bryna, no amount of chart success can match the satisfaction that comes from interacting with her fanbase, a deeply devoted following who’ve named themselves “The Bryniacs.” With her latest live experience including making her debut performance at SXSW and at Napa Valley’s Live In The Vineyard Goes Country, she’s looking forward to hitting the road this summer and performing for her beloved fans all over the country. “They’re all different ages and from all walks of life, but we’ve come together because of this love and passion we feel for music, and for each other,” says Bryna. “It feels so good to have a safe, positive space where nobody’s judging; it’s definitely helped me to grow and learn so much about myself. Now I’m at a place where I’m so comfortable in my own skin, and I’m making music as the best me that I know how to be.”
