Generation NEXT: Brittany BOSCO

"I hate interviews. I really do."

You have to at least appreciate honesty. And the doe-eyed beauty that goes by BOSCO (aka Brittany BOSCO) is nothing if not honest. The Savannah, GA native has built a following on the strength of impassioned songwriting and an artistic fearlessness that has won her fans from Atlanta to Austria. Her genre-bending sound and ever-evolving image makes David Bowie and Annie Lennox comparisons understandable--but they're also a little too easy. BOSCO is a unique voice all her own, and beneath the veneer of the unapproachable auteur lies a very relatable Southern girl who credits her personal and musical roots for her sound.

"I am really grounded in that whole very grass roots, very organic feel," BOSCO says of her background and its influence on her. "Savannah is very organic--that's my style. Its something that I brought [from there] that was different compared to the music scene in Atlanta."

She pauses thoughtfully, before adding, " I think thats how i relate."

BOSCO shares a story from her senior year of high school, when she had to sing in a cathedral, and how it helped prepare her for a musical career and it was the first time she stepped outside of her creative comfort zone. "You do this piece in another language," she shares. "You have different people come look at you; different colleges and stuff like that."

The experience was the first of many that set her on her current path, but even as she moved to Atlanta and took her first steps towards becoming one of the city's most promising indie acts, she found herself having to prove to cynics that she knew what she was doing. "You always figure 'Ohmigod, this is something that i wanna do,'" she says. "[But] its like, to people dreams can seem so far-fetched and not tangible."

"But its almost like getting over that fear of other people's insecurities," she continues. "I was just like 'Enough. i've had enough of that.'"

A 2010 tour of Europe helped crystallize for the young artist that she was doing what she meant to be doing, and her art was most important. "Right when I got back from my european tour," BOSCO says. "That's when it all resonated with me."

Despite Atlanta's reputation for hip hop club anthems, BOSCO has helped remind fans that the city's musical identity is far more varied than some may realize. "You have to create your own scene. you have to have that burst of creativity," she says. "But on the flip side of things, i want to cultivate and bring to the surface that there's more than mainstream hip hop in Atlanta. There's soul. There's indie rock. There's more than just that. "

Brittany represents the latest in a long-line of Georgia artists that are building their followings from the ground-up. Building on the tradition of indie rock godfathers R.E.M., BOSCO is putting together another DIY tour. "We're raising money to go on tour," she reveals. "We decided to use KickStarter to raise $5000. We're going to do a southeast tour in May and Europe in September."

BOSCO is confident that just being true to herself will make or break her career. She isn't planning on selling herself short or selling out. "If that was the case, I would've been signed two years ago!" she says with a laugh. "If I wanted to do that I would've been signed a long time ago. But I refuse. I'm just gonna keep doing what's true to me. It's not my fault if people don't comprehend. Just continue to walk and do it until their level of consciousness catches up with yours."

brittanybosco.bandcamp.com
kickstarter.com/profile/boscoband