BronweN: a biography of girl power and dedication to stop bullying

The Early Years

BronweN began her musical journey at the tender age of 4, when offered the chance to play violin. She advanced quickly, participating in music festivals and scoring high on examinations. She continued her classical studies for 8 years.

BronweN wrote her first song at age 11. One fateful day in grade 6, a classmate stole one of her songs from her backpack, photocopied it 100 times and wallpapered the class. “I was devastated. I was laughed at for weeks.” BronweN’s inspiration dried up. Her prolific songwriting came to a halt, and she quit the violin. Sick of the constant bullying at school, she took up smoking to try and fit in. “It wasn’t about being cool; it was about making friends. I desperately wanted to have a friend and smoking seemed like the way to make it happen.”

Fast forward to age 21, when BronweN’s poetry once again took lyrical form. Wanting a way to add music, she bought a guitar and the rockstar dream returned. As soon as she had mastered 4 chords she wrote “Evermore”, a song about her puppy love. “He always believed that I would be whatever I wanted to be. It’s cool that the first song I wrote when I came back to music was about him.”

At the age of 22, a friend let her borrow a violin. She describes it as coming home. “I knew that something was missing, but I didn’t know what until it was in my hands. In that moment I realised that the child bullies had taken away what I loved so much; music. I decided to make it a lifelong goal to talk to kids about persuing their dreams no matter what the bullies say. Everyone has a passion and everyone deserves to express their passion and be happy." She now plays the electric violin, preferring it to the acoustic because of the effects she can use. At 22 she also quit smoking. “That choice was a no-brainer. I want to be able to sing.”

Moving out, moving forward

In 2004 BronweN moved to Vancouver from Fredericton, NB and has been honing her performance skills in venues such as The Candy Bar, The Media Club, and The Five Point, as well as singing the Canadian and US national anthems at Nat Bailey Stadium. She placed third in the Sweet Basil Talent Search, a city wide competition with finalists performing original songs for a live audience. BronweN loves being on stage. “It is my drug. There is nothing else in this world that makes me happier.”

BronweN's first commercial release, Silent Victim, deals heavily with the theme of bullying. “It is something that I know all too well,” she says. “Bullying needs to be addressed and I hope to stimulate conversation through my music.” BronweN has teamed up with Kids Help Phone in the Artist Ambassador program. She is using her voice to raise awareness for Kids Help Phone and for issues that youth are facing everyday. Most recently, she appeared on CTV's Live At 5 to spread her message.

BronweN sings, plays electric violin, acoustic guitar, and keyboards. Joining her on the drums is the talented Simon Adam, formerly of Empyria. His parter in crime, bringing up the low end is Tony Gimondo. These three have the same goals and BronweN feels like she has won the lottery in finding this team. Check out "Eden" the newest piano driven hit, a fantastic girl power song from “Silent Victim”.