Brenda Cay grew up on the eastern shore of Maryland and originally forged her path in business as a Certified Public Accountant. However, her passion has always been music. She focuses on country music, but her songs are woven with subtle hints of pop, rock and R&B. Escaping the stresses of daily life and having fun are common themes in her lyrics and melodies, but she is not afraid to tackle more serious topics. Her songs are relatable, diverse and are constructed in a manner true to the tenets of country music storytelling.
Grew up on The Maryland Eastern Shore — from Kent Island, Maryland’s gateway to the eastern shore, to the ocean views in Chesapeake City, to watching the wild ponies on the beaches of Assateague Island. If you were to take someone on a tour of the historic sites in the area, where would you go?
My favorite places to visit are Assateague Island and Ocean City. Assateague is breathtaking and there is nothing like camping right on the beach surrounded by deer and wild ponies. Ocean City has a beautiful beach and the boardwalk has amusement rides and lots of shops and great food. A couple of my favorites are Thrasher’s Boardwalk Fries and Lombardi’s Pizza. Another great thing about the eastern shore is that it offers access to the Atlantic Ocean and the Chesapeake Bay so there are lots of places to go boating, fishing, and swimming. I love the water and tend to gravitate in that direction.
Business degree in accounting, formerly employed as a certified public accountant. You shared that intellectual and royalty laws need to be revised to level the playing field for songwriters and encourage creativity. What would be the first steps to achieving this?
I think the first step is creating awareness. The average music listener probably has no idea how songwriters are paid or even that the artist may not be the songwriter. I remember reading a report a few years ago about how Lady Gaga was paid just $167 for songwriting royalties for 1 million streams. The music industry has changed substantially since that time, but writers still aren’t compensated the way they should be. We write because we love it and…