The Georgia native and Battle Creek-based R&B singer Asia Sings (A’Siaunnya Bryant) will be part of Bell’s Spring Concert Series after releasing several singles in recent years. The Artist Spotlight.
Asia Sings: Surrounded by music from a young age. (Courtesy Photo)
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Growing up in Georgia as the oldest of four children, A’Siaunnya (Asia) Bryant recalls corralling her younger siblings and cousins into forming a band in the backyard.
She took it seriously, requiring the other kids to stand in a circle outside to practice harmonies as the sun baked the entire neighborhood.
“My family, they bring that up to this day. They’re like, ‘Asia didn’t let us do nothing.’ I didn’t understand what the word ‘passion’ was back then, but that’s really what it was. That’s really what it still is. But I didn’t know it as a kid,” Bryant says.
“Growing up, I just remember music. I had a really good childhood. I was in church Monday through Sunday so I had no choice but to be surrounded by music and I enjoyed it.”
On Stage: She’ll play Bell’s on May 1. (Courtesy Photo)
Today, Bryant is an R&B artist (under the moniker Asia Sings), a music teacher for Kalamazoo Public Schools and the mother of a rambunctious five-year-old who she says is “her biggest fan and inspiration.” Based in Battle Creek, she performs regionally with her band around the Kalamazoo, Lansing, Grand Rapids and Battle Creek areas.
Her next performance takes place on Friday, May 1 at Bell’s Brewery in Kalamazoo, in support of Yolonda Lavender — with Ja’Leeyna also on the bill — as part of Bell’s Spring Concert Series featuring Michigan artists. Tickets are $15 and available online here, with music starting at 8 p.m.
On her recordings — several singles released over the past three years — Bryant’s voice seeps through the speakers in a velvety, inviting tone, backed by the smooth sensations of a backing R&B band. Her music is both emotional and introspective, navigating the depths of love, loss and spirituality.
As she sits in the warmth of a window seat inside a Grand Rapids coffee shop, she recalls her earliest musical memories. They took place a thousand miles away in Albany, Georgia and revolve mostly around the church she attended with her mother.
It was a small Pentecostal church but each wooden pew would fill up every Sunday and its brick walls echoed constantly with gospel music. “Foot stomping, deep Southern gospel music” Bryant vividly remembers. From the age of three, she was onstage, singing in the choir and even leading songs on her own.
“It was nothing fancy — but full of life. A church family that felt like home. The worship was powerful and very expressive — tambourines, strong harmonies, people praising without holding back. It was the kind of place where you could really feel God in the room. That environment shaped my faith and honestly laid the foundation for how I sing even now,” Bryant says.
LISTEN: Asia Sings, “S.O.S.”
‘THIS IS BIGGER THAN ME’
Home wasn’t all that different. There was always music playing. Her mother, who raised Bryant and her siblings on her own, was an active musician and a playwright.
“My mom was a single parent. My dad passed when I was about eight years old. So my mom worked really hard, and she really invested in all of her children,” Bryant says.
“So when she saw that I really took to music, she put me in lessons. Vocal lessons. Piano lessons. She wasn’t able to come to all of my events because she worked so much, but she did make sure she paid all my dues.”
By 15, Bryant had learned the piano, which proved to be a further gateway into songwriting. But when college approached, she chose to pursue an English degree instead.
Asia Sings and band (Courtesy Photo)
Managing, but miserable in her chosen studies, Bryant snapped out of a semester-long rut after a mentor urged her to use her musical gifts as a compass. She applied for a scholarship to the music program at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College and was accepted with a full-ride scholarship. She later transferred to Savannah State University to continue her musical studies on another full ride scholarship.
It’s a full-circle feeling, when Bryant considers her current role as a music teacher and mentor to young students throughout the Kalamazoo area. She finds great joy in passing along her musical knowledge and immersing students in the world of the arts.
Motherhood is perhaps Bryant’s greatest inspiration. When her daughter was born, Bryant was on the brink of turning her back on music for good. But it was her daughter’s own musical inclination and response to her singing that kept her dedicated to making music of her own.
“I didn’t think when I became a mom that I’d continue pursuing my dream. But she inspired me to pursue it even harder,” Bryant says.
“When she was two months old, I was in my senior year of college, and I was practicing for my senior recital. I was freshly postpartum. I was singing in Italian. And I was so frustrated with the music. I just remember I sat down on the floor in my room with my head in my hands.
“But there she was. I had her just propped up, just a happy baby. She was staring at me smiling. Then I realized my baby was mimicking what I was doing, trying to sing back to me. That’s when I realized that this is bigger than me. That’s what really pushes me.”
LISTEN: Asia Sings, “3AM”
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