boston progress radio

Brenda is originally from Harbin, China which is close to Russia’s southern border. She came to the United States to live with her grandmother when she was five until her mother arrived five years later. It was then that her mother began teaching Brenda how to play the piano and it was not a positive musical experience at first. She wanted to quit after four or five lessons and did not rekindle her love for music until she was inspired by the radio to learn the guitar instead. Brenda is an alumna of UC San Diego and currently resides in San Diego. For a few months after she started performing at local venues, music was all she focused on and found the time to record her EP “It’s True.” The need for food and shelter eventually forced her to take on a day job again but she hopes to make music her full-time gig someday.

“Count to Ten,” that’s the number of seconds it took for me to like Brenda’s voice. Powerful, yet gentle enough to sooth the ears. I can already picture myself sitting at a café performance, listening to acoustic versions of her songs, mesmerized by the simple beauty. I didn’t have to think too hard to make sense of her lyrics and it was just enough for me to relate. There are only six tracks on the EP and my favorite is, “She Knows.” Although I like the simplicity of her style, after awhile, the music became a little continuous for me. At some points I was expecting or maybe hoping for an out breaking cry, a scream, of some sort. Maybe that is an angry component I crave and need to work out on my own. Nevertheless, it’s all worth it in the end and I would definitely keep on the lookout for any new material. It’s only the very beginning for Brenda, she is just creepin’ up on the music scene.

Here she is performing “Count to Ten:”

Tags: featured artist, Video.