Brittany Brook
Music was my first language. I grew up on a ranch in Judith Gap, Montana and my dad sang on his guitar for us nearly every day. As we grew, all four of us kids were expected to learn an instrument and perform with our parents for company, church, talent shows, funerals and weddings. Sometimes we were reluctant, but most of the time I think we all loved it, I know I did! When we were not herding cows, helping in the fields or cleaning and cooking inside, we were playing music together. My dad lead us on guitar with his John Denver tenor voice, my mom played piano and sang delicate harmony (when she wasn’t feeling too shy), my older sister Kaleigh played the stand-up bass with my little sister Kendra Jo singing and bowing enthusiastically on fiddle and my little brother and I on our guitars, he with a Johnny Cash bass voice. And so my early childhood was rich with connection through the traditions of folk, classic rock, bluegrass and American and Canadian fiddle music.
When I was 11, a woman moved from New York City to start a community theater in a community 30 miles from me. Lisa Carmen was my first vocal coach and theatrical mentor and how deeply important she was to me as a teacher! Growing up in a very rural farm town where boys are most certainly valued over girls and basketball rules all communal interest, that distant theater quickly became a most treasured outlet for my sister Jo and me.
I went on to pursue a career in actor-musicianship, getting my B.F.A. from The University of Idaho in Moscow where I met my incredible husband, Matt Whitfield. We loved living in New York City for seven years–working as professional actors, musicians, writers, and film creators. In 2015, my sister Jo and I founded our all-female bluegrass-folk band, The Snowy Mountain Sisters, that remains a vibrant collective of women sharing music in NYC and the Northeast. Inviting and highlighting women and GNC voices is now one of my deepest values and hopes for my musical journey.
While auditioning and working as an actor, I taught both private guitar at New York City Guitar School and children’s music at multiple early childhood preschools in the New York City, the main one being Kids at Work. While the theater industry started to feel petty and pointless to me, my “side hustles” filled up my heart and left me with a sense of purpose. So when the pandemic hit the city, I realized I wanted to make a much more concrete difference in the lives of children, families, women, and GNC and trans folx. Music has always been my tool for making friends and sharing ease, healing and laughter. I began to build my own company where music belongs to all voices and bodies, calling it Moonshadow Music for one of my all time favorite artists, Cat Stevens.
In 2020, my husband and I moved to Walla Walla, WA to support my older sister and her three kids through the pandemic. It was there I was able to really suss out what I wanted this company to be. I am so grateful to the Walla Walla Public Library, to the Y, and to my private students there for helping me understand what I am capable of through music around my guitar. I also thank my dear friend and coach Mikkei Fritz for his social media advice and constant cheerleading.
I am level-two certified in Trauma Informed Leadership with the Community Resilience Initiative and am loving learning with them! My mentors there, Becky and Ursula, have provided both inspiration and feedback on my calming songs, “The Balloon Song,” “I’m Just Right,” “Calming Candle,” and “Hot Chocolate.” I am also fluent in Spanish, having studied the language since junior high and became fluent in my study abroad to Madrid in 2010.
Because my sister Jo Brook is a Hard of Hearing person (as well as an incredible professional musician, by the way) we are learning ASL together from the amazing teachers at The ASL SHOP. It is my hope –through speaking Spanish, ASL, and maybe one day Mandarin and Japanese–to help as many folx feel welcome around my guitar as possible!
Check out more of Brittany’s original works as a Joni-MItchell-esc singer-songwriter:
WHat is Moonshadow Music?
Music is Magic: when we make music in a group, walls come down.
Science is revealing to us that singing and dancing in groups can bring about not only confidence and connection, but the healing of trauma. Teacher Brittany has seen this first hand, having spent her whole life playing music onstage, in living room gatherings, around campfires and in classes for kids.
When the pandemic hit, she knew she needed to shift her career from a performance focus to a community-building vocation. Moonshadow Music is all about developing a more positive orientation to our minds, our bodies, our neighbors, and our world. Be it through private guitar lessons or a LIVE show in a library, when you are with Teacher Brittany, magic is happening! The music does the work: she simply shows up, ready to greet you where you are.
Moonshadow’s Vision:
It is Teacher’s Brittany’s deepest intention to help all body types feel ownership in music. This is why she is currently learning ASL from a Deaf teacher, Stephanie, at the ASL SHOP!
It is Moonshadow’s long-term goal to make the website and classes accessible to all body types, abilities, ages, and to those who speak either Spanish or English, both in Portland and all over the world online. We also hope to incorporate ASL into our classes and videos soon–and always interpreted by a Deaf signer!
Moonshadow was first developed on the lands of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, home of the Cayuse, Umatilla and Walla Walla People. It now shares music based in Portland, which “rests on traditional village sites of the Multnomah, Kathlamet, Clackamas, Chinook, Tualatin Kalapuya, Molalla and many other tribes and bands.” This statement is incomplete and only the beginning of a hope to partner with and learn from these tribes in how I may better serve the land and their community.
We are always open to hearing from you how we can better include and support your community.
If you have comments or suggestions, please visit our Contact Page, and we thank you in advance for the learning!
Moonshadow in the news!
“Her interest in creating a more inclusive music culture and music’s ability to create community inspired Brook to establish Moonshadow Music LLC— its name is inspired by the Cat Stevens song ‘Moonshadow’ — to bring people together through jam sessions and music lessons.”
