Get To Know Brandy Neelly: The Kentucky-Born Singer-Songwriter Ready For Her Next Chapter After ‘The Voice’

Brandy Neelly recognized her musical talent at a young age. With the encouragement from her grandfather and inspiration from ’90s country music women helping shape her dreams, she embarked on a journey that led her from Kentucky to Nashville for eight years and eventually, to Season 30 of The Voice.

Neelly first caught viewers’ attention during her Blind Audition on the singing competition show, where she delivered an energetic rendition of Jo Dee Messina’s “Lesson In Leavin’.” The 31-year-old’s performance earned chair turns from Riley Green and Queen Latifah, but she ultimately chose Team Riley, wanting to stay true to the genre that has always held a special place in her heart.

She made it to the Battle Rounds, where she competed against sister duo Ferryn and Brinkley for a spot in the next stage. Neelly was ultimately eliminated, but the experience has given her plenty of motivation to keep pushing forward with a whole new crop of fans now coming along for the ride. Looking ahead, Neelly plans to release new music soon while continuing her cake-decorating business on her side, giving her another creative outlet.

In a conversation with Country Now, Brandy Neelly opened up about discovering her voice as a child, pursuing her dreams in Nashville, the full-circle moment of working with Riley Green on The Voice, and what fans can expect from her next chapter.

When did your love for music really start to develop? 

My love for music developed when I was nine years old. I was on a trip to Florida with my grandpa, and I was in the car. Martina McBride was playing on the radio, and I loved Martina McBride growing up. I started singing “Where Would You Be” and my grandpa turned around and was like, “Oh my, she is hitting these notes. This is insane.” And then from there, I was in every single jamboree from Kentucky to Tennessee as a young girl singing Tammy Wynette, you name it, Gretchen Wilson, whatever I could sing on stage. And that’s really how it all started. And I really did all of that with my grandpa growing up. He had a love for music at a young age as well. And I think whenever he saw that in me, he was like, “We’ve got this. This is amazing.” 

What did your early days in Nashville look like?

I know that the belief that my grandpa had in me definitely nurtured it from the beginning. And then whenever I turned about 15, I really got into wanting to write my own songs and knew that some needed to be in Nashville. And that was just a huge dream of mine. Growing up in Louisville, there’s not a whole lot of opportunities outside of karaoke contests, singing contests. And I knew that I had my sights set on Nashville and that’s where I wanted to be. So my parents really wanted me to get a college degree and I said, okay. And so I went to WKU (Western Kentucky University), the closest college that I could get to Nashville. And then basically every weekend I’d be driving back and forth even through college, getting into the Nashville songwriters, circles, rounds, anywhere that I could get on stage in Nashville, and then I’d come back and do my schoolwork. And the second I graduated, I packed up my stuff and moved to Music City. 

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What made you decide to take another leap and audition for The Voice this year?

It just felt like the perfect timing. Nashville can be a hard town, and I’ve had so many amazing opportunities. I’ve written with songwriters that I’ve always dreamed of writing with and performed on stages that I’ve always dreamed of. And when it came to auditioning for The Voice, I had one of the producers reach out to me. And at the time I was like, “This might be really, really great. I would love the opportunity to connect with a bigger fan base.” And at that point I was like, “I’ve always loved to sing. Why not bring my talents to The Voice stage?” It just felt like the right timing of where I was at in my career and the right opportunity. 

Talk about choosing to perform Jo Dee Messina’s “Lesson In Leavin’” during your Blind Audition.

I grew up singing Jo Dee Messina and I grew up listening to all the ’90s country female artists, and that was really where my love for country music started was looking up to those women. And so when it came to picking my song, I knew that I really wanted to bring that back. I think that country music really is missing someone that is doing ’90s country in a modern way. And it was just an easy choice to choose a Jo Dee Messina song because I wanted to bring a lot of energy and a lot of my personality to the stage while still being able to showcase my voice. And I just believed that I could really stick to the original, but also make it my own in a fun way and just show a different side of myself. And that’s what I hope I was able to do. And obviously I got a chair turn from Riley and Queen Latifah. So I think I was able to do that. I think the most important thing for me was being able to show my voice and my personality. And I believe that that would set me apart in a way from the other contestants because I know that I could get on there and sing a ballad, but I really wanted to show that I could come out and rock an upbeat song as well. 

What was going through your mind in the moment when you saw both Riley Green and Queen Latifah turn their chairs for you?

It was honestly just a crazy, crazy experience because I’ve been on a lot of stages…but when you’re on such a production stage like The Voice, I mean, it’s just a different ball game. So navigating that and then knowing that I’m capable of getting up there and putting on a great performance, I had a little nerves, but I like to say that if you don’t have a little bit of nerves, then you’re probably not in the right place. So I tried to use them to my advantage, but man, I started singing that song and then about the first 10 seconds, my nerves calmed and then I was just holding on for the finish line, hoping that someone turned.

Once Riley turned, I was just a little bit calmer. And then once Queen turned, I was just right back excited again because I could not believe it. And then once you get towards the end of your song, I started singing even more, I guess, theatrical or enthusiastically because then you’re hoping that the last few seconds of your song, you can get potentially someone else to turn their chair. So it was a wave of emotions all at once in that little clip of me singing that song. 

Why did you decide to go with Team Riley?

Just knowing that since I was a little girl I wanted to be in country music and having someone that is such a powerhouse, such a staple in country music right now, I really knew going into it, if he turned, I would more than likely want him to coach me because I really wanted to stick by my country roots. And that’s also exactly where I want to be in terms of my career is singing, writing, country music. And so that was almost really set in stone for me. But once Queen turned, I was like, “Well, this would be really cool too, because she is an absolute force to be reckoned with in the entertainment industry as a whole.” So it made it a hard decision, but at the end of the day, I really just felt at home being with Riley and sticking to what I’ve always loved, which is country music and really felt like that was a good fit for me. 

You mentioned having a connection with Riley Green before The Voice because you had baked him a cake. How did you get started with your baking business on the side?

Well, I’ve always been extremely creative and singing was an outlet for me to be creative, but I’ve always loved anything that I could put my own spin on. So crafts, painting, you name it. But one of my girlfriends asked me to bake her a cake for her birthday about two years ago because we were getting it from a bakery in town and she was like, “Brandy, I just really believe that you could do this because you’re just so creative and talented at things like this, and I just think you should try your hand at it.” And so I baked her cake and then there were 12 girls at the party, and then after that, everybody wanted a cake. And so I was just baking up a storm in my kitchen in Nashville and just by word of mouth, people started ordering cakes from me. It was just really fun and it was such a great way for me to make some extra money to fund my music and at the same time get to be creative. And then someone on Riley’s team had reached out to me and said, “Hey, we’re throwing a birthday party for Riley, and would you like to make their cake?” And I was like, “Of course I can.” I baked him a cake and brought it to the party and it just was crazy. And then getting on The Voice, once they announced the coaches, I was like, “What a full circle moment. What are the odds?” And at that point I was like, “Well, I really hope he turns because I’ve got to remind him about this whole cake situation.”

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Leading up to the Battle Round, you got the chance to work with Green and his guest mentor, Carly Pearce. What was it like learning from them behind the scenes?

Being able to be mentored by both Riley Green and Carly Pearce was just an absolute dream. I am such a Carly Pearce fan. Her career as a woman in country music is just astonishing, and I look up to her so much as someone doing whatever she can to chase that dream of becoming that someday. And I was just so excited. She’s also a Kentucky girl, so I was like, “Oh my gosh, this is crazy.” So I was just over the moon about that. And just the overall advice from both Riley and Carly was, at the end of the day, this is a competition and you guys are competing for a spot, but make sure that you guys are being true to yourself on that stage, true to what you do best, and let that shine through. And the amazing thing about being paired with Ferryn and Brinkley is we went into the whole battle as true battle partners, we formed a friendship together. And the most important thing to all of us at the end of the day was that we all had the opportunity to get up there, do what we do best, shine and work together as a team to just create a great performance for Team Riley. And I just feel really lucky that we were able to work together, bring that to The Voice stage and do that. And I felt that that was a win regardless of the outcome. I just felt it was a win for Team Riley to have voices on the stage showcased like that. 

Now that you’ve gained new fans from this journey, how do you plan to keep the momentum going?

So I’ve always written my own music and released my own music, and I’m going to continue to do that as soon as I can. I have a plan to get a lot more music out to the new people that are listening to me, which is just exciting. The support has been truly overwhelming and in such a good way. Just to see the comments and the support on all of the videos from The Voice performances, it’s just been truly such a dream. And at the end of the day, having people that support what I’m doing and can see where I’m going as an artist is exactly what I wanted, and I’m just really excited to see what’s going to come after this. I’m excited to see what stage I’m on next, and that’s where I’m going. And now I have some fans to bring along with me on this journey. We’re going to take it all the way.

Is there anything else that you feel fans should know about you?

Just that I plan on still baking cakes, so if any other celebrities need one, I’m your girl. I already told Carly, I was like, “Hey girl, I meant it. I’ll bake you a cake anytime.” And just that I’m really excited to release new music, and I’m going to get that to my fans as soon as I can. I’m working with Dylan Guthro, and he’s done a lot of production for Walker Hayes and we’re just excited to get in the studio, write some new music for you guys, and we’ll get it to you ASAP.