Music Crowns Interviews Country Singer-Songwriter Brenda Cay

Brenda Cay is a Nashville country music recording artist and singer-songwriter. Some of her musical influences are Kenny Chesney, Terri Clark and Sara Evans. Brenda has received several accolades throughout her music career. In 2022, Brenda Cay signed a publishing deal with Heart Songs Music Group. 

 

Brenda has received several accolades throughout her music career. Brenda’s ‘Fragile Like a Bomb’ EP garnered 12 licensing deals and had two tracks featured on Apple Music Hot Tracks (Country). The EP has over 1.9 million Spotify streams. She has 18,320 monthly listeners on Spotify. 

 

Brenda was also nominated for Song of the Year in 2019 at the Josie Awards for her single, ‘Joe,’ in the Americana/Bluegrass category. Brenda is also a member of ASCAP, AMA & The Trop Rock Music Association. 

 

The music video for Brenda Cay’s ‘Love or Dreams’ is a sweet depiction of the emotional journey Cay takes to realize that she needs to leave the man she loves to chase her dreams. There are scenes in the music video that match up nicely with the lyrics of the song. The clip where Cay and her lover are tossing a beach ball on a porch to the lyrics “Ocean city beach on a hot summer day” adds a bit of fun and nostalgia to the video as in this lyric Cay is describing the day they met. 

Even better is the love Cay is leaving behind to pursue her dreams being featured throughout the video, though we never see his face. That’s clever, as it creates a distinct barrier between the viewer’s perspective as an outsider and Cay’s. Warm, domestic scenes of holding hands and sharing a bottle of wine really hammer home the tension in the decision of leaving or staying, of maintaining something extraordinary or pursuing something new. All in all, this is a great music video for an even greater song. 

 

How was your experience shooting the ‘Love or Dreams’ music video?

Shooting the video was a great experience! It’s super rewarding to bring a song to life visually. My favorite scenes were the ones we shot out on the porch and in front of the fireplace because they were playful, and we were having fun. Thankfully, Mother Nature cooperated too. We had beautiful weather, and anyone who knows me knows I love to be outside on a warm spring day. It took about five and a half hours to shoot the whole video, and it was a day well spent.

 

Do you ever regret choosing dreams over love?

I feel blessed because I may have to leave my husband sometimes, but I always get to come home to him. He has been so supportive, so I have never had to make the hard choice of giving up on love to follow my dreams. I will never regret chasing my dreams.

 

How much time did it take to write ‘Love or Dreams’ and what was that process like?

It’s hard to say how long it took to write ‘Love or Dreams.’ I wrote it a while ago and recorded a demo to pitch to other artists. Then maybe a year ago, I decided to rewrite it a little and record it so I could release it. I have no idea how much actual writing time went into it. There’s a saying in songwriting that good songs aren’t written, they’re rewritten, and this song has definitely seen its share of rewriting.

 

 What is your interpretation of the song vs what you have heard other people interpret it as?

I have heard some people refer to the song as ‘Love and Dreams,’ maybe that’s because my song has a happy ending, but life doesn’t always work that way. When I wrote this song, I wanted the listener to feel the anguish of choosing between love or dreams. So many factors weigh into this, but sometimes having one means giving up the other. I get a glimpse of that and experience some of that loss when I have to leave. Even though I know mine is temporary, it is still hard, and I’m happy that I have never been faced with an impossible choice!

 

 Did you come up with the concept for the music video and if so, how?

I came up with the concept for the music video by letting the lyrics tell the story visually. I tried to create a beach feel with the scenes on the porch (playing with a beach ball) to bring the first verse to life. The most important thing was for the video to show us having fun hammering home the point that leaving is hard because we love being together. The dogs kept trying to photobomb the video, which made me realize that I might have to write a song about how much I miss them when I’m gone.

 

Even better is the love Cay is leaving behind to pursue her dreams being featured throughout the video, though we never see his face. That’s clever, as it creates a distinct barrier between the viewer’s perspective as an outsider and Cay’s. Warm, domestic scenes of holding hands and sharing a bottle of wine together really hammer home the tension in the decision of leaving or staying, of maintaining something wonderful or pursuing something new. All in all, this is a great music video for an even greater song. 

 

How was your experience shooting the ‘Love or Dreams’ music video?

Shooting the video was a great experience! My favorite scenes were the ones we shot out on the porch and in front of the fireplace because they were playful and we were just having fun. Thankfully, Mother Nature cooperated too. We had beautiful weather and anyone who knows me knows I love to be outside on a warm spring day. It took about five and a half hours to shoot the whole video and it was a day well spent. It’s super rewarding to visually bring a song to life.

 

Do you ever regret choosing dreams over love?

I will never regret chasing my dreams. I feel really blessed because I may have to leave my husband at times, but I always get to come home to him. He has been so supportive and so I have never had to make the really hard choice of actually giving up on love to follow my dreams.

 

How much time did it take to write ‘Love or Dreams’ and what was that process like?

It’s hard to say how long it took to write ‘Love or Dreams’. I actually wrote it a while ago and recorded a demo to pitch to other artists. Then maybe a year ago, I decided to rewrite it a little and record it so I could release it. I have no idea how much actual writing time went into it. There’s a saying in songwriting that good songs aren’t written, they’re rewritten and this song has definitely seen its share of rewriting.

 

 What is your interpretation of the song vs what you have heard other people interpret it as?

I have heard some people refer to the song as “Love and Dreams” and maybe that’s because my song has a happy ending, but life doesn’t always work that way. When I wrote this song, I wanted the listener to feel the anguish of having to choose between love or dreams. There are so many factors that weigh into this, but sometimes having one means giving up the other. I get a glimpse of that and experience some of that loss when I have to leave. Even though I know mine is temporary, it is still hard and I’m happy that I have never been faced with would be an impossible choice!

 

 Did you come up with the concept for the music video and if so, how?

I came up with the concept for the music video by letting the lyrics tell the story visually. I tried to create a beach feel with the scenes out on the porch (playing with a beach ball) to bring the first verse to life. The most important thing was for the video to show us having fun hammering home the point that leaving is hard because we love being together. The dogs kept trying to photo bomb the video and that makes me realize that I might have to write a song about how much I miss them when I’m gone lol.

 

Listeners can find Cay on her website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Youtube