Nashville singer gets nod for national anthem

CLEVELAND — When a then 12-year-old Ayla Brown sang the national anthem before a high school girls basketball game in a half-filled gymnasium, she never thought she would be singing it again 16 years later at the Republican National Convention, right before Donald Trump accepts party's nomination.

“That was my first national anthem gig,” Brown said. “I got paid a check for $12 and I ran over to my mom and said, ‘Mom I got paid to sing the National Anthem, could I do this as a job?’ She was so sweet. She told me, ‘Ayla if you work hard, maybe this could be your job some day.’”

Turns out Brown’s mom was right. The Nashville-based country artist will be singing the national anthem in front of more than 3,000 delegates, elected officials, and guests at Quicken Loans Arena on Thursday night.

Brown’s singing career has taken her all across the globe. Brown said that when she sung the anthem at 12-years-old, that was the first time she sang for a crowd, and now it has come full circle in Cleveland.

“I’ve sung the anthem thousands of times in my singing career,” Brown said. “Mostly for sports, a lot of them have been for political events, but this will be one of the biggest stages of my performing career. It’s a surreal moment.”

Her relationship with the Republican Party started four years ago, when she sang the national anthem at the 2012 Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., and more recently in December during CNN’s televised GOP debate.

Brown said she never had the opportunity to meet Trump, but everyone in her family has done so. Brown is the daughter of former U.S. Senator Scott Brown, R-Mass., who endorsed Trump in February.

Brown said she plans to make Thursday night’s performance special. She just recently returned from a two-week trip to the Middle East, where she sang for and met members of the U.S. military. Brown said the experience changed her worldview.

“I’m dedicating my performance to our men and women overseas,” Brown said. “During my tour in Afghanistan, I saw what these men and women do to protect us, firsthand. It was also a scary experience. I left Turkey just ten hours before the coup began. I have so much respect for our veterans who returned from similar environments.”

Novelly writes for the Tennessean in Nashville.