A musical wunderkind from the get-go, Soren Bryce began writing songs at age eight and playing the violin at 10. Yet ironically, it was the 18-year-old Amarillo, TX native’s desire to be a professional actress that put her on a path to signing with Washington Square/Razor & Tie and working on her self-titled official debut EP with superstar producer David Kahne. Kahne helmed Tony Bennett’s Gram- my-winning MTV Unplugged album and has also worked with Lana Del Rey, Kelly Clarkson and Paul McCartney, among others.
Bryce didn’t tell many people in Los Angeles’ acting community about her music, but when her drama coach found out about Bryce’s first EP he took a listen and encouraged her to shop it to labels—and gave it to his friend, CAA agent Erin Culley, who in turn forwarded the brightly confessional tracks to independent music manager Beth Narducci. “Beth called me saying she really liked what she heard,” says Bryce. “I was only 14, and she was clearly interested in helping me progress. She encouraged me to explore a more hook-driven approach. That really changed how I write. It doesn’t take the therapy aspect out of it, but it made my songs more relatable.”
“She encouraged me to explore a more hook-driven approach.”
Because of Bryce’s age, Narducci originally thought she could develop into a “Disney pop person” (Bryce’s words), but the more somber, soulful material that the young artist wrote changed that vision completely. Bryce’s compositions proved so compelling that she raised $10,000 on PledgeMusic to record her debut EP. Narducci reached out to Kahne, who asked her to home-record demos of a handful of her favorites; he then signed on to produce the EP. Bryce used some of her crowdfunding money to pay for her trip to NYC. By that time, Narducci was also working in A&R for Washington Square Music. Bryce met with her and others at the label and its parent company Razor & Tie while recording the album, and soon inked a deal.
“Everything came together really quickly,” says Bryce, who recently toured with Norwegian indie-pop singer Mr. Little Jeans. “Beth has always championed me, and I immediately loved the vibe at the label. Everyone there works really hard for me and genuinely cares about helping my career develop.”
Photo by Kristen Burns
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