Etta Britt

A courageous and genuine artist, Etta Britt is a veteran performer who has toured the world many times, but has only recently — as her debut album’s title alludes — stepped Out Of The Shadows. Fans and major media outlets from The Today Show, where she performed in 2012, to The Huffington Post agree that Britt’s own rendezvous with the spotlight has been long overdue.

Britt has developed her thrilling style during a rich career as a session and touring singer. She’s a staple of Delbert McClinton’s well-respected band and has recorded and performed with everyone from Engelbert Humperdinck to Marty Stuart. The Lancaster, Kentucky native has called Nashville home since the late 1970s when she joined the group Dave & Sugar and immediately began honing her stagecraft in front of crowds of 30,000 and more. She was with the trio from 1979 to 1985. During that period they were nominated for CMA Vocal Group of the Year five times in a row and toured with Kenny Rogers, Dottie West, Tammy Wynette, Gallagher and Conway Twitty. Dave & Sugar also appeared on such TV programs as Pop! Goes the Country, Solid Gold, The Dinah Shore Show and Dance Fever.

After her tenure in that trio Britt put down roots in Nashville’s world-renown songwriting community. Britt also remained one of Music City’s most in-demand session vocalists, joined McClinton’s group and became part of the powerhouse female vocal trio Kentucky Thunder.

Slowly the tide turned toward her own emergence as a solo artist. Out Of The Shadows began to take shape after a songwriting session with country artist Rebecca Lynn Howard and award-winning songwriter Rachel Thibodeau. They co-penned the lovely “Quiet House” together, which was soon followed by Britt and Thibodeau’s “Dear You,” setting the album’s course. Out Of The Shadows features a cast of veteran supporting players led by Britt’s husband Bob, who’s also a busy session guitarist, and includes a duet with McClinton on his classic “Leap Of Faith.” That song’s a perfect choice for Britt, whose concerts show that she has every reason to believe the time is perfect for her to step out boldly on her own.