We were lucky to catch up with Megan B recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Megan thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

I am so blessed and grateful to have the love, support, and encouragement from both of my parents. From a young age, they enabled my creativity and passion for music to flow freely, and quickly established themselves as my “biggest fans”. Every choir concert, musical theatre production, and singing contest, I would look out into the audience to see their beaming faces looking back at me. One of my fondest memories growing up is the road trips my Dad and I would often take up and down the east coast to various auditions and competitions. I would ride shotgun as we drove through the Lincoln Tunnel for an off-broadway musical open cast audition, or down to Tennessee for a State Fair singing contest. My Dad stood in line with me for hours and hours as we awaited my turn to audition for a shot on “The Voice”, “American Idol”, and “America’s Got Talent”. Everything I have accomplished both musically and non-musically is because of the unwavering support and encouragement from my parents.

Megan, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Megan B and I am a classically trained singer, songwriter, and board-certified music therapist residing in Newport News, Virginia. From a very young age, I realized that I had been blessed with an ear for music and a gift of song, and I quickly began pursuing a life where I could share those gifts with others. I remember sitting at my Yamaha keyboard for hours at a time cranking out melodies and lyrics, making singing groups with my friends in the neighborhood, and singing out loud while I rode my bike. I began taking voice lessons in the 6th grade, and with the help and support from my parents, started traveling up and down the East Coast to as many singing competitions and auditions as we could find – from state fairs and musical theatre auditions to TV shows like “The Voice” and “American Idol”. Throughout high school, I dedicated myself to choir, theatre, and vocal lessons while continuing to compete in local, regional, and national music competitions. I then pursued my Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance at Christopher Newport University where I was exposed to some of the most profound musical knowledge and experiences, to include singing with a live symphony orchestra and performing the leading role in our department’s production of “L’incoronazione di Poppea”, an Italian opera by Claudio Monteverdi. A few years after graduating in 2014 and working at a local music school teaching voice lessons, I pursued an Equivalency Bachelor’s of Music Therapy at Saint Mary of the Woods College. Shortly after achieving board-certification, I co-founded “Tidewater Music Therapy” in 2019, a local private practice providing music therapy services to all ages of our community. I feel so incredibly fortunate and grateful to be able to use the gifts that I’ve been blessed with to serve and uplift others, and am excited to celebrate a huge milestone of 5 years in practice this May!

While establishing the practice, I began to feel that familiar pull from my creative side, nudging me to get back into performing and writing. After putting those passions on the back burner for several years after college, I decided to send in one audition tape. A few close friends and colleagues had reached out to send me an article announcing auditions for singers needed for a “revolutionary gospel choir”, a project lead by none other than Pharrell Williams. On the deadline date for submissions, I sat in my car, recorded my audition, and sent it in. 5 years later and I still pinch myself when I reminisce on that phone call I got on July 10th, 2019, notifying me that I got a callback I got a yes! Being a member of “Voices of Fire” has not only blessed me with life changing and unforgettable experiences – like a Netflix debut and my first trip abroad to sing at Louis Vuitton Men’s Spring-Summer 2024 Fashion Show in Paris, France – but it has also blessed me with the most beautiful family of incredibly talented and dedicated individuals.

Joining the choir set a fire under me (pun intended) to pursue my passion for singing and performing without reservation, excuses, or unnecessary doubts, and I released my first studio album titled, “Mood”, produced by Rothstein Beatz on December 9th. I’ve started recording my second project to be released later this year, and I can’t wait to see what else 2024 has in store for me – I know little Megan B would be so proud!

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

My Mom often tells me, with tears in her eyes, that she can hear my Grandmother’s voice when I sing. I’ve listened to the stories my Mom has told about her Mom, and watched the home videos of her strumming the guitar and singing bluegrass. My Grandmother passed the same year I was born and yet I have always felt so incredibly close to her and like our musical journey’s are connected in some way. Making my family and loved ones proud, both on this earth and beyond, is what drives me.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I spent so many years of my young adult life actively pursuing a career in the performing arts and trying to “make it” – going to countless auditions and competitions and always seeming to come up short. All of the “no’s” and closed doors started to wear on me after a while, and I began to honestly give up on my dream. I really wasn’t making any music of my own or writing, only singing in the car or the shower. While I was grateful to be working after college doing something music related, I still felt like something was missing. I knew what that ‘something’ was, but didn’t think it was attainable for me…and then a few friends sent me this audition notice for “Voices of Fire”. After I had just about lost all hope in making my dream any sort of a reality, here comes this one “yes” that sets me on a life changing, whirlwind adventure that is beyond anything I could have ever imagined for myself.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://tidewatermusictherapy.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/megan.b.music/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ItsMeganBMusic/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0OqrDUKNumbu1SMvNh4-7A

Image Credits
IMG_ 4390, 4109, & 7104 – Rothstein Beatz IMG_4614 & 4613 – Shot by Shugg Image 2-7-22 – Humble Vizion WaveyStill – ColorCode Digital