Brittany Jones’ mother Lisa uses the family’s intercom system each night to page her daughter from the bottom level of their three-tiered La Jolla home when it’s time for dinner.
Otherwise, the 16-year-old La Jolla High junior would keep right on rehearsing songs from her new album, “Just Released,” from her downstairs studio ” an expansive room with glass sliding doors that open to a large terrace and a breathtaking view.
“This was supposed to be our family room, but Brittany has kind of taken it over,” Lisa said on a recent evening, as she led the way through their home ” decorated with iron statues and elaborate furniture ” down a granite staircase to what she and Jones refer to as “the cave.”
Amid a medley of instruments, Jones is nestled in a corner, where she has been working since arriving home from school on perfecting several lines from a particular song.
The young singer-songwriter hasn’t had much time for anything besides homework and music since August, when she joined the Hollywood Pop Academy, requiring her to travel more than four hours every weekend to attend dance, singing and stage performance classes. On top of that, the independent production of her first CD, which was released Friday, Oct. 27 during a garden party at Azul, has certainly made life hectic.
But that’s nothing new for Jones, who has been pursuing routes to become a singer since age 11, when she decided to look up a vocal coach in the Yellow Pages and join a local choir.
“I want to be a broad, full-rounded musician,” Jones said one school night from atop a bar stool at her kitchen’s island counter. “I want to be able to write all my music, not just the lyrics. I do all the work vocally, but I want to do some instrumentally, and I’ve been starting with small goals and working my way up.”
At age 14, Jones was at the New York Music Festival in Las Vegas when she was approached by a music producer for Sonobe Entertainment and asked to sing on the spot.
“My mom always told me if that happened don’t ask any questions, just sing,” Jones said.
So she did, and from there she was transported from an aspiring youth to a young adult in the process of launching her career.
Shortly after the music festival, Jones was introduced to Adeka Stupart, a Universal Records New York song and music writer, who eventually helped her record several songs at Stupart’s New York studio.
Lyrics for songs on Jones’ first album were inspired from poetry she began writing in her early teens, dealing with gossip at school, the pains of growing up, and what she calls “parents keeping the leash tight” when she wanted to be free, Jones said.
Steadily gaining knowledge and skills with guidance from Pop Academy head coach Alex Cantrell, who has written and produced for JOJO, Nick Lachey and Lindsey Lohan, Jones was recently ranked near the top half of her 24-student class and has been performing every month at the Kodak Theatre, she said.
She has also taken the stage at B.B. King’s and the Avalon Theater Universal Walk, both at Universal Studios Hollywood, and says that large audiences help her gear up for performances.
“That’s the adrenaline rush ” the fear,” she said. “The bigger the crowd, the merrier. It’s just a lot of fun. What can I say?”
She isn’t taking any time off, however, to bask in her success. She recently began writing music for her second album that will reflect “more of a deeper level” of her thoughts and emotions, and will record it sometime next year, she said.
Jones will graduate from La Jolla High with the class of 2008 and plans to apply to the University of San Diego, where she will major in business and minor in music, according to her mother.
Although she is only 16 years old, she feels ready to produce a more mature-sounding album, she said. She admits there are still things for her to learn and work on in the entertainment profession.
But she’s OK with that and has accepted the challenge head-on, just as long as she can keep doing what she loves.
“One thing is that you can’t hurry perfection,” she said, while her mom smiled and nodded from the opposite side of the kitchen. “I’m down there every night, singing the same line over and over again.
“I don’t have enough time in the day to get everything done. But if you’re doing what you want to do, then it’s fun.”
For information, or to purchase “Just Released,” visit BrittanysMusic.com or myspace.com/BrittanyJonesMusic.