How Syracuse music community helped junior Briana Gilyard flourish

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Briana Gilyard commands the attention of the room immediately, and her audience quickly settles down.

“I’ll wait,” Gilyard told the crowd.

More than 100 people lined Livingston Avenue on Saturday night, but only a lucky few — about 75 — have been let in to see her show. As the faint hints of chatter and laughter simmer to a quiet hum, Xander Luke takes his guitar and strums the chords of Gilyard’s opening song, “Comin’ Thru.” Gilyard, known as BRI to her fans, flips her hair over her shoulder and smiles wide. The show begins.

Gilyard, a 19-year-old Syracuse University music industry major from Summit, New Jersey, said she has always been a performer. Her father is a pastor, and her music career began in the church choir. In high school, she was the lead in several musicals but never had any formal or technical training until she came to SU.

“It was a leap,” she said about choosing a music industry major. The singer-songwriter wanted to perform and develop her artistry, and the SU music community was going to help her do just that.

Her music is a reflection of her personality, which Luke said is “fun” and “outgoing.” Gilyard’s audience danced along to the jazzy and upbeat vibe of her music.

Freshman year, Gilyard started writing songs seriously. She looked up to others in her program, especially Sarah Gross, an SU senior and student musician. She credited Gross as her inspiration; watching her play at past house shows encouraged Gilyard to write more music.

Gilyard’s passion for her music has influenced her work ethic and drive.

“I’m a very independent type of person,” she said. “I didn’t want a voice teacher. I didn’t want lessons in high school.”

But Gilyard said coming to Syracuse was a great learning experience for her, as she got formal training in her major. Gilyard learned to play the piano and violin in elementary school and ended up teaching herself to play guitar once she got to Syracuse. Her curiosity and drive to keep writing and performing enabled her to grow as an artist, she said.

Throughout the pandemic, Gilyard used Instagram Live to put on performances and is now back to performing at small house shows. She wants to make up for lost time this past year and dive head first into her music, she said.

Her music is about more than just performing, though. Gilyard feels that the music she creates not only represents her own identity, but also speaks to many different and underrepresented voices in the community. She wants to challenge SU’s status quo of the past and let her music diversify the audience. Eventually, she knows the industry can change as well.

“Being here, there are so many different types of people, especially musicians,” she said. “I like to make music for, not specifically girls, but the girls who were never the top tier.”

Gilyard’s long term goals are simple. Getting to the Grammys would be great, but that major accolade doesn’t show all the hard work and excitement leading up to the success, she said. The Syracuse singer is focusing on herself and her career one day at a time, and plans to record, perform and just become a better artist overall.

Gilyard wants to work on branding and marketing to grow and curate her audience. Through house shows, social media and reaching out to student organizations, she hopes to widen the reach of her work. Her motivations come from a sense of independence, and it shows.

The junior leaves no chord, note or lyric unnoticed. In rehearsals, she guides her collaborators and doesn’t skip over any minor details. While working with her backup singers, they practiced one harmony countless times until solidifying the blending of their voices.

Gilyard loves engaging with her audience and bringing relatability through her songs. Her music explores narratives of friendships, falling outs, situationships and vibing through life, and her fans connect to the simple yet powerful themes.

ALTWL by Miss Renee
we just be singing smtimes:notes:

A photo posted by
bri4romtheblock

While performing, she commands the space and encourages her audience to engage with her. “Feel free to vibe with me,” she told the crowd, as they sang along, clapped and danced to her hit original song, “Better With You.”

“I love moments where you can tap into people in ways you never thought you could,” she said. “It really does affect people long term.”

At her performance this past Saturday night, Gilyard sang seven songs, including two covers of “Bills, Bills, Bills” by Destiny’s Child and “The Weekend” by SZA. But the majority of her songs were originals she wrote both alone and in collaboration with other Syracuse students.

Luke played guitar, Brandon Ferrante played on keys, and Jamie Shin and Tessa Pulgar sang backup vocals for Gilyard.

Gilyard expressed her appreciation and admiration for her collaborators. Luke, a music industry major from Brooklyn, grew close with Gilyard this past year, and helped her this past summer as she met with producers in the New York City borough. Luke writes and plays music, but also dabbles in production.

“I’m not too extroverted. I keep to myself,” Luke said. “Bri is like the opposite.”

But both Luke and Gilyard agree that their friendship and collaborations are a great mix between doing their own thing and working as a team.

Pulgar, a student in the Bandier Program who is also from Summit, New Jersey, collaborated with Gilyard to write her first song of the night, “Comin’ Thru,” and sang the opening set of music for the Saturday night show. The two have known each other since they were 5 years old, and they feel connected through both music and Syracuse.

“I feel like we’re all the building blocks of something bigger,” Pulgar said. “We all have this deep love for music, so every time I’m with people that love music … I feel magnified as a person.”

Despite their success, the young musicians try not to think too far ahead. Luke said they will all just keep going, and eventually opportunities will arise.

“You can’t focus on that one peak moment,” Gilyard said. “Why not just enjoy the process?”