Brianna Kočka’s upcoming release, Let It Stay, is a lesson in holing tight to what really matters. Starting with creating music that makes you happy, even or maybe because, it defies genre and time.
It was great to catch up with Brianna. We spoke to her in January 2020, before the pandemic. She was gearing up for a residency at the 331 and a few other gigs but settling in for a break from performing. Little did we know then that we’d all be taking a break.
Brianna surprised herself by creating an album in the last year. It started when she was invited to join a song writer, song-a-day challenge. She didn’t do a song a day but she did write three songs that have made it onto the upcoming album. Seasons, Sunset Vignette and Make Me a Quiet Place are about her current relationship. They are about being happy and meeting that person who makes you comfortable when you are alone and calm when things are chaotic. They are also about walking the line between cherishing what you have and worrying about its permanence.
All the Questions is a song about the quarantine. The questions we ask ourselves. The too much time in our own heads the chaos and the calm. Some Thoughts on Stories and Sleep is about her former partner, who passed away.
The album is very personal. The videos (for Seasons and Sunset Vignette) add a dimension to the songs. There are public domain videos from the mid-1900’s. They are a look into personal lives of strangers who feel like past generations. It adds to the timelessness of the songs. This is a new sound, a unique sound and there’s something about it that catches on the heartstrings.
Mostly Minnesota 