Kellogg going strong: Country singer-songwriter sees career gain steam

The local girl who blew audiences away with cover versions of country classics at county fairs and talent shows is all grown up and writing her own songs now.

Britnee Kellogg said she was the classic child performer who “was born singing and wearing high heels,” and hit the county fair circuit as early as she could. “I basically grew up on stage, performing,” she said.

Her dream of stardom was powered by an unforgettable Johnny and June Carter Cash concert she attended with her grandparents at age 9, she said. “It was that moment when it’s like, ‘I want to do that forever,’ ” Kellogg said. “I took one look and one listen. The connection was immediate.”

The dream carried her through graduation from Prairie High School, a trip to Nashville to meet Taylor Swift after winning a “Sing Like Taylor” contest in 2010, and a stint on “American Idol” in 2013. It faltered while she struggled through a too-early marriage that produced two children but didn’t endure, she said.

“I wasn’t singing during that time period,” she said. “When I left that marriage, I literally picked up where I left off, and I’ve never looked back.”

Stardom and single motherhood are difficult paths to follow simultaneously, she learned. Even while running off to play local shows at night, Kellogg worked full time during the day at Regents Bank in Vancouver.

“I had a lot of family support, an incredible support system around me, but it was hard. It was exhausting for a very long time,” Kellogg said. But she never stopped pursuing her dual dreams of reaching stardom while also “being there for my kids when they get off the bus from school,” she said.

That’s got to be a good example for her children, she added: “To see Mom being a good mom but pushing for her own dreams, too.”

The dreams and the hard work are all paying off, she said. Kellogg is remarried and now the mother of three. She doesn’t work at the bank anymore. Last year, she enjoyed some really high-profile gigs — especially opening for country superstar and TV personality Blake Shelton at the Pendleton Whiskey Music Festival in Pendleton, Ore.

“I’m really focusing on building a fan base outside the Portland-Vancouver area,” she said. “And I’m also focusing on doing a ton of writing. I just learned to play guitar about a year ago.” That’s because her manager called her with offers to book solo (bandless) gigs, she said.

“I had a guitar and I knew how to play, like, two chords,” Kellogg said, so she “buckled down” and joined the society of self-taught guitarists. “It’s super-fun to be able to pull up chord charts and play. It’s totally changed my career,” she said.

A new Kellogg power ballad that she described as “pretty much my own story” of lost family, lost years and turning toward the future, “Someone Somebody Loves,” is available today. A new five-song EP with the same title gets a CD release concert on April 4 at the Alberta Street Pub in Portland.

Scott Hewitt: 360-735-4525; scott.hewitt@columbian.com.