Brooklyn Horner is living her dream as a person of faith and using her talent to spread joy and hope. Brooklyn is a sophomore at Mount Vernon Nazarene University and a graduate of Calvary Christian. She’s a cheerleader at college, but still comes home every weekend to attend Christ Our King Church and sing in the praise band. Brooklyn is also a talented musician who has released two singles. Her current song, “Promises”, just dropped in March. She has two more songs to release this year. The next single, “Well Done”, will drop in May. As many artists do, Brooklyn has a stage name. She’s known as Brook Abella. It’s a nickname her mother gave her as a child that combines her first and middle names.
Brooklyn knew she loved performing, even as a young girl. She got her first taste of being on stage at the Holland Theatre in Bellefontaine. She was hooked from the beginning. She did several local performances and pursued higher levels of acting including commercials. Her parents were approached by a major entertainment company who encouraged them to move to California. After prayer and discussion, the family (including Brooklyn) agreed they wanted to stay in Ohio.
Brooklyn started writing music in middle school. The songs she wrote were more pop-oriented, but she didn’t feel like the songs matched her personality. She waited a few years and decided to resume song writing. As Brooklyn describes, she opened her bible and picked up a pen and paper and started writing about biblical principles and how God has been good to her and her family and friends. She wants people to be inspired by her music.
Her mother (Shawna) asked if she could record her singing one of her songs. She sent the recording to her husband (Don). Don used to work at Rise FM and kept some contact numbers of Christian music artists he met. Don sent the recording to Ben Calhoun. Ben is the lead singer for the group CITIZEN WAY, and he’s the founder of General Records, an independent record company. Ben wanted Don and Brooklyn to come to Tennessee immediately for a recording session. During their first meeting, Ben suggested they collaborate on the song “Praise”. Having Ben on the song helped skyrocket the numbers when it was released in October.
While recording, Ben learned that Brooklyn is fluent in Spanish. He sent her back into the studio to produce a Spanish version of the song.
Ben has been a great mentor to Brooklyn. She also looks up to Christian artists TobyMac, Forrest Frank, Brandon Lake, and Josiah Queen. She draws her strength and inspiration from her family.
Since recording “Praise”, Brooklyn has been back-and-forth to Tennessee while balancing school and life. All of her songs, so far, have been singles.
The song “Promises” (released in March) stems from Brooklyn’s reading through the bible and noting the many promises God makes. That God will be your guide and shepherd and will always be there.
“Well Done”, which drops May 9, is an ode to her great-grandparents. They were catalysts in their family’s faith. She says they both lived life according to Matthew 25:23, which says; The lord said unto him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.” Both have passed away in the last few years, but that is something that Brooklyn will always remember about them. The song is about running the race, so when you get to heaven, the lord will say Well done.
Her third song, coming later this year, will be “Zion”. It is described as having a Classic Rock feel.
Brooklyn is wrapping up her second year at Mount Vernon, where she is majoring in Communication Media and Visual Arts with a minor in music.
She plans to finish college while continuing to write and record Christian music. Her dream is to one day travel around the world to spread joy and hope.
You can follow Brooklyn’s music on her Facebook page (click here) or on Instagram (click here)
To listen to “Praise” or “Promises,” just search for Brook Abella on any music platform.
Listen to our full interview with Brooklyn below.
