Briana Marie Turner—better known as BMT—steps into the spotlight with a sound and style that feel both timeless and electric. Born in Memphis and raised in the musical heartbeat of her Indiana family, she’s a Vintage Belle with a pop twist, blending rockabilly charm with a bold, modern edge. From church‑choir beginnings to touring with major artists and collaborating with industry powerhouses, BMT has carved out a lane entirely her own. Now signed to VYRUS MEDIA under multi‑platinum, Grammy Award–winning producer Charles Farrar, she’s entering a defining era—one fueled by authenticity, artistry, and a voice built to turn heads.
Your style is described as a “Vintage Belle with a pop twist.” Coming from Memphis and being raised in Indiana, how do those two different American landscapes influence your rockabilly-meets-modern-pop aesthetic?
Well the main two genres of music I grew up around were Country and Rock. My family all owned Car dealerships and collected vintage cars. A lot of my family members are motorcyclists. I’ve always adored the 1950s aesthetic. So I think all of those attributes come together collectively to create my sound/style.
You grew up in a household where every reunion was a “full-blown concert.” What is the most important lesson about performing you learned from your family before you ever stepped onto a professional stage?
Just to have fun with it! I grew up watching them all have a blast playing music together so it automatically made it so much fun for me. It also made it feel natural to be on stage because I was lucky enough to have grown up on one my whole life.
You’ve embraced the “beauty school dropout” label. Was there a specific moment during a class or a shift where you realized that music wasn’t just a hobby, but the only path you could take?
It was when I signed to my previous manager who worked for universal records and started traveling alot. I knew I had to give it my all and didn’t want to be distracted by anything else.
You went from singing in and teaching children’s church choirs to touring with Machine Gun Kelly and working with WILL.I.AM‘s circle. How does that early choral training help you maintain your vocal health and “commanding presence” in the high-energy world of pop and rock?
I’ve just always loved performing and being on stage. I was very active in the church I grew up in and I think the main thing I took from it was “rehearsing is so important”. My cousins and I used to all spend the night at my great grandparents house the nights before church and we’d all practice our parts and it made all the difference when we performed our parts.
After touring with major groups and artists, you transitioned to a solo career working with the same creatives who discovered legends like Lady Gaga and Whitney Houston. What was the biggest challenge in finding your own voice after years of being part of a group dynamic?
I’ve always been very in tune with who I am. Very certain of what I want to bring to the table. Growing up performing my whole life helped me find my voice young. So the transition into my solo career came naturally.
“VERTIGO” is described as a collision of country and pop. In a world of “genre-bending,” how did you and producer Charles Farrar work to ensure the track felt like a new “rockabilly flair” rather than just a standard pop song?
Each song that we make is an accumulation of different genres and sounds. We both like to think outside of the box. I don’t know if I would personally consider “Vertigo” to be a rockabilly song, but considering rockabilly is my style I feel like my personality brings that feel to it, but with this song specifically we were going for more fun country/pop sound. One thing about us is that you never know what you’re gonna get because creatively we are always doing different things and bringing different visions that we have to life.
The music video for “VERTIGO” uses jumpy cuts and blurred light trails to create a “sensory overload.” How much of that visual chaos was inspired by your own personal experiences with that “drunk-on-the-night” feeling?
For us, we were more so trying to find all of the comparisons between someone having vertigo and someone being blackout drunk, so that’s where all of the spinning blurred visuals came in into play. We were connecting the dots between the two. It wasn’t necessarily based on my own personal experience, but I think we’ve all had one of those nights lol.
The hook “I got vertigo / the room is spinning round” is incredibly hypnotic. Is the song purely about a wild night out, or is it a metaphor for the dizzying pace of your journey in the music industry so far?
The song actually came about because my manager had experienced vertigo. He’s great now, thankfully. After he recovered from it, we decided to make this song comparing it to being drunk. Pretty much turning lemons into lemonade.
Being signed to VYRUS MEDIA under Grammy-winner Charles Farrar is a huge milestone. What is the most “platinum-level” piece of advice he has given you during the recording of your debut material?
Probably not to be a perfectionist, to always keep working, and no ideas are bad ideas. I’m very lucky to have a manager who sees me for who I am and understands what I’m trying to do. He’s extremely talented and having a manager who’s also my executive producer really insures that the creative visions come to life.
You’ve already collaborated with heavyweights like Darius Rucker and toured with MGK. Now that the spotlight is firmly on you as a solo artist, what is the one thing you want the world to know about Briana Marie Turner that they haven’t seen yet?
I want the world to see all of the different versions of a musician that I am. I want to always keep them on their toes as to what I will do next.
