Into her music, teen stays upbeat
She writes songs and taught herself to play piano, guitar and drums. If she can just learn the bass and grow six more arms, she’ll be an unstoppable one-girl band.
“People are really interesting to watch,” says 15-year-old Brittany Roberts of her lyrical inspirations. Especially when you see “things they do when they think no one’s looking,” she adds.
Slender and enthusiastic with long blond hair and clear, blue eyes, she lives in a remote desert town by the Salton Sea with her grandmother Liane Adams. It’s a 40-minute drive to the nearest city, Indio.
When Brittany was young, her mother was abusing drugs and alcohol. After splitting with Brittany’s father, she became mired in a violent relationship with a boyfriend.
“I was on the top bunk and they were fighting,” says Brittany of her most vivid memory of that time. “Throwing plates at each other. When my mom came in, she had blood on her face. When my little sister asked what was wrong, I told her they were having an adult talk and she should go back to sleep.”
When Brittany was 5, Adams says, “her mother went to Arizona to make a better life for herself. She couldn’t take Brittany out of the state without her father’s permission.”
Her mother is clean now, Adams says, living in Arizona with her other four daughters and a new husband. Brittany visits her once a year but avoids contact with her father.
Adams and her “headstrong, generous” granddaughter are very close. But while the grandmother thrives on the area’s isolation, Brittany itches for the stimulation of a big city.
Through the Boys & Girls Club, Brittany has attended Pathfinder Camp near Idyllwild every year since she was 7. She’ll be there again this summer, courtesy of the Los Angeles Times Summer Camp Campaign, this time as a camper in leadership training.
Maria Gonzalez, volunteer coordinator at the Boys & Girls Club of Coachella Valley, says she could count on Brittany every year. “She’s not a regular member of the club because she’s so far out, but she’d always be the first one on that list.”
Brittany is focused on the future now, especially on plans to record some of her songs with friends. She says her music “is like soft rock/alternative but it’s not dancing music. It has off beats; it’s weird.”
About 11,000 children will go to camp this summer, thanks to $1.6 million raised last year.
The annual fundraising campaign is part of the Los Angeles Times Family Fund of the McCormick Tribune Foundation, which this year will match the first $1.1 million in contributions at 50 cents on the dollar.
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