Toronto’s  Brown, will soon join an elite group of female singer / songwriters, such as Alanis Morissette, Alannah Myles (“Black Velvet”), Sarah Slean and Shania Twain, in being recognized as Canada’s next diva. After previewing, some select tracks from Brown’s soon to be released album The Love Chronicles, and meeting with her on Canada’s west coast, in the city of Vancouver, it became increasingly clear, that Brown will soon outgrow the smaller Canadian market. The vocally gifted Brown, whose music mixes old skool R&B vibes, with soulful phrases, and modern beats, to inspire wiggling hips, jiggly butts and dancing feet, will eventually accomplish what she has already done in Canada, which is, to light up the airwaves and stages across America.

Songs such as “Lay It On The Line,” “Boogie Slide,” and “Bebe,” are fun songs, that represent influences from three different periods of R&B history.  She explains, “What inspired me, were the memories of growing up, and listening to soul music. I got to listen to a lot of Al Green, Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin, and that type of stuff. With each artist, there are specific memories that are attached.”

The soulful phrases in Brown’s music, which first became evident in her hit single, “Old School Love,” from her self titled debut album, resurface on The Love Chronicles with, “Lay It On The Line,” a song which recalls Doo Wop girl groups, and blends the beat with soulful R&B melodies more commonly heard from artists such as Corrine Bailey Rae and Alicia Keys  Brown’s vocal performance exceeds that of Keys, and if the breaks go her way, she could soon find herself mentioned in the same breath as Rae. While Brown is the first to admit that her music, particularly on The Love Chronicles is inspired by artists who once dominated the rosters at Motown and Staxx Records, she has however, also succeeded in bridging the gap between her fondness for songs that were recorded before she was born, and original tunes that reflect contemporary dance music.

As we sat outside Starbucks, on this warm afternoon, Brown recalled the inspiration behind, “Lay It On The Line,” “That is just honesty right there. I was feeling this guy for the longest time. I wanted to tell him, but I was scared to, so I did it through this song (at this point she giggles as if she is a schoolgirl sharing about a big crush). At that point, I just released a lot of emotion into the song.”

“I had this line in my head and I just wrote (she breaks into the words of “Lay It On The Line”). A lot of the times, I write from what I am feeling. I write from an emotional perspective. It’s not like I am laying all of my business out in the open, but if I have just gone through something emotionally, or I am observant about something, I am definitely writing about that,” says Brown, while confessing that her writing can often be a very cathartic experience.

Brown worked with noted director Paul Boyd to create a video for “Lay It On The Line.” She says of the experience, “We wanted something that provided a fresh perspective, but was a throwback, with a new twist. It is very much about hanging out on the street corner, hanging out with my girls, and the guys across the way, kind of a feel. There is also the love interest thing, with the longing in my eyes (she laughs). We try to come from a fresh perspective on an old thing, Doo Wop. There is a little bit of a Doo Wop feel to it, yet the song is so contemporary. I haven’t seen the cuts (for the video) yet. I wanted the Doo Wop theme infused into something that is very urban. That was pretty important to Paul and me. I think that we achieved something that is fun.”

One of the best examples of Brown’s ability to bridge the past and the present can be heard in her new song, “Meet Me At The Roxy.” She breaks into a few lines of the song, before saying, “That is an Ike and Tina Turner kind of song. I have the most abstract way of putting things into songs, and if I tried to explain, where that came from to you, it wouldn’t make sense.”

Brown plays guitar on both “Meet Me At The Roxy,” and on the song, “Lay It On The Line.”