BY SKYLER SMITH
INTRO ~ When I walked into her kitchen and met Baylee Morrison for the first time she was wearing a t-shirt that read, “be happy, be bright.” Well, let me tell you something, the girl lives up to her billing. Baylee exudes charisma, enthusiasm and talent and with her curly blonde hair splashing in waves across her head and coolly cascading down to her shoulder, she looks like the ultimate California Girl. Speaking kid-about-kid, she’s the most accomplished 13-year-old kid this kid has ever met. What’s the girl done? Stick around and I’ll tell the tale.
Of the many talented rising stars in the Rochester area, Baylee is #1 on my list of most likely to make it to the big time. One reason she is at the top of my poll is that she has a 4-pronged attack; she can sing, dance, model and act. She has already achieved success in all four areas. At this point I’m sure some of you are saying, “Skyler, enough with the audacious adulating accolades, what the heck has the girl actually done?”
Ask and ye shall receive. Baylee’s resume currently includes the following: She landed her first paid acting gig in an ad for Stickley Furniture at the age of 7. She spent three months as a fit model for Forever 21. She has sung the national anthem at more than 200 public events including three Buffalo Bills games. On iTunes you can buy music she’s written and recorded and she’s appeared in an episode of The Bachelorette. Dad, always the master of self-deprecating sarcasm, at this point chimes in with, “When I was 13, I had a paper route.” Everybody laughs.
BUFFALO BILLS ~ I mentioned that Baylee has sung the national anthem at three Buffalo Bills games; I’m thinking that many of my readers haven’t even been able to sing-along at three. Next I asked her what her favorite Buffalo Bills story was. She told me that at her first Bills game she was informed that after singing the anthem she would get to watch the game from Jim Kelly’s suite on the upper level. She loved that part because the view and the food were equally exquisite.
But she did have one embarrassing moment. Not a huge football fan, Baylee confused her famous “Jim’s”. When Jim Kelly was pointed out to her, she approached him and called him Jim Carrey. At this point, I’m thinking, Baylee’s thinking, “Jim Kelly sure does look a lot different when he’s not in his Grinch costume.”
THE BACHELORETTE ~ One thing that definitely caught my eye on Baylee’s resume was the fact that she had appeared on The Bachelorette TV show. I was surprised to find out that she was only 8 years old when she made this appearance. Since she is 13 now, I knew going in that she was not one of the contestants, so I was curious about what the context of her role was in the show.
This story is interesting. Personally I’m not a Bachelorette follower, but if you are, Baylee’s experience occurred during the season when Kaitlin was the bachelorette. At the point that the number of bachelors had been whittled down to ten, they did a segment where each of the bachelors was cast as a teacher, and placed in a schoolroom in LA, in front of a mock classroom of students. The students were prepped with questions to ask, and the goal for the bachelors was to convey charisma through their responses to the kids’ questions.
Baylee and her mom both shared an observation about the questions given to the kids. The parents were assured that the questions would be totally g-rated, but as the segment played out, several of the questions had sexual connotations that may have crossed the line of appropriateness when being asked by 8-year-old children. I guess that’s Hollywood. About this experience Baylee said, “I left thinking I might be able to skip health class somewhere down the road.”
FIRST GIG ~ Baylee filmed her first commercial, for Stickley Furniture, when she was 7 years old. She says she’ll always remember it because she costarred with a dog who was included to help create a homey atmosphere. The dog seemed to really like her which on the surface would seem good, but the filming lasted for hours during which time the dog was constantly licking Baylee and rubbing against her. Subsequently Baylee had to be rolled down with a lint brush prior to each new filming sequence.
FIRST BIG SONG ~ Baylee’s most successful song so far has been one called “Discommunication” and the theme of the tune is one she returned to on multiple occasions during my interview. It was actually inspired by two recent incidents which were totally similar in theme, yet totally different in setting.
Incident #1) While sitting at a lunch table at school, Baylee notices that all the girls around her are looking down at their phones, texting people. The fact that none of these girls are even talking to the human beings in their immediate proximity leaves Baylee questioning the teenage perspective on life.
But the absolute kicker is, when Baylee questions her comrades about their lack of neighborhood communication, she’s informed that she’s wrong. Yes, they’re texting, but Baylee’s concern about respect for the people in their neighborhood is ill-founded. Turns out the girls are texting; they’re texting each other . . while all sitting at the same table! Baylee’s Brain meets Webster’s Dictionary and a new word is created . . . “Discommunication”.
Incident #2) In an example of classic creative karma, the school experience is followed by a “same theme, different setting” event at home. That afternoon, desirous of taking some time off of her hopefully professional pursuits, she asks her sisters to come out and play with her but they are unable to tear themselves away from their electronic devices to engage in some significant sibling human interaction. At that point, Baylee retreats to her treehouse (cooler-than-cool, they have a huge one in their side yard) and writes a song about her day. Baylee’s Brain meets Apple iTunes and a new song is created . . . “Discommunication”.
Finalizing her explanation about the song’s storyline and theme, Baylee says, “I think people in general, and kids in particular, don’t directly communicate enough with one another. They spend too much time staring at screens.” And for the record, if Your Wallet would like to meet Baylee’s Brain you can go to iTunes and purchase “Discommunication”. Might be the best 99 cents you ever spent.
RETRO KID ~ I’m sure a lot of the parents in my audience are saying, “Amen” to that. Furthermore, I think a lot of my adult readers might find that in addition to liking Baylee’s philosophy, they might also like her music. At various points in my interview she refers to herself as both a “throwback kid” and a “retro kid”. In addition to writing her own songs Baylee has also done a number of cover songs. Check out the following list of artists who have influenced her.
Her CD, which she gave me, starts off with her own music, then goes to Elvis Presley and Journey before finishing with some Christmas tunes. The first two videos on her website are “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” by Tom Petty and Stevie Nicks, and “Heartbreaker” by Pat Benatar. Welcome back to the ‘80’s. I think I want my MTV.
And just to show
that Baylee can go
with the flow,
all aglow,
and more retro
than you’ll ever know
follow this flow
of tunes long ago
(look she’s even turned me into a song writer!)
Baylee often sits in to sing a few cover songs with local rock group Ruby Shooz. The thing they most like to have her do is a medley of all the Olivia Newton-John songs from Grease. Talk about your musical diversity, this 13 year old girl has got the past half century covered (pun intended).
LOCAL CONNECTION ~ To bring this whole article back home for our local Sentinel readers, please allow me to retrace the trail that connected us to Baylee in the first place. She lives in Macedon so she’s sorta local, but not Mendon local. Mendon enters the equation because her agents are the former Miss USA, Mary Therese Friel, and her husband Kent who happen to live and work at their Mary Therese Friel Modeling Agency right around the corner from us in beautiful downtown Mendon.
At a recent meeting of the Mendon Community Business Association, Mary Therese shares Baylee’s story with my boss, Sentinel publisher Chris Carosa. Mary Therese tells Chris that there is a large local legend looming on the horizon and if Chris has the right person, that person should be sent to interview Baylee Morrison as soon as possible, before she gets so big she’ll be difficult to reach. I appreciate the confidence that Chris has always placed in me and I am honored to be tabbed for the assignment to interview Baylee. Chris thinks that a kid-to-kid point of view might enhance the story and I’m doing my best to prove him right.
FRIEL CONNECTION ~ Mary Therese and Kent first met Baylee at the National American Miss pageant in the summer of 2015. They felt she had such a fresh and natural talent but they are always cautious about becoming involved with any prospective talent. The Friels will never engage with a client if they are not confident they can advance that client’s career. In talking with the Friels, they ooze integrity. It’s not about the money, it’s about doing things the right way.
It’s easy to identify the challenge faced by Baylee’s family. When a child is blessed with talent that ascends to such a lofty level there would be a natural tendency for that child’s ego to ascend to a similar level. It was the Morrisons’ successful parenting that sealed the deal for the Friels to blissfully board the Baylee bandwagon. Amazingly and impressively, Baylee’s humility actually trumps her ego.
She strives to balance her life and blend in with the crowd in junior high where she participates for school teams in cheerleading, volleyball and lacrosse, and works as a volunteer on community projects. Part of Mary Therese and Kent’s coaching of Baylee has been to convey that if she achieves fame in the future, she must not “hoard the fame” meaning she must never allow that fame to become an end, in and of itself, and compromise the solid standards that have characterized her personal growth to this point.
Baylee’s next step is to fly to LA where hopefully a meeting will occur with Damon Elliott. As Mary Therese Friel shared with us, the entertainment world is all about connections. We’re planning an upcoming article which will blow your mind with the connections the Friels have established over their lifetime. But circling back to Damon Elliott, not only is he the son of Dionne Warwick, he is also the current producer of Gwen Stefani, Miley Cyrus, and Beyonce.
Mary Therese and Kent explained to us how the entertainment world is all about connections. They’ve spent their adult lifetime establishing theirs. And once these connections have been established you can’t jeopardize them by using them for favors that aren’t justified by the talent you’re offering. “Make that mistake once and you’ll never have the opportunity again,” said Mary Therese. In describing their attempt to link Baylee Morrison with Damon Elliott, Mary added, “In our 30 years of operation we’ve never attempted to link a girl of Baylee’s age with someone of Damon Elliott’s stature. That’s how confident we are in her. The entertainment world is fraught with coincidental lucky breaks, so nothing is ever certain. But in my decades of experience I’ve never had a better feeling about a young girl’s potential for success.”
THE FUTURE ~ Baylee is currently in a band called B.B.D.A.N.G. Musically she can play guitar and drums, but in this band her primary role is as the singer. In coming up with a name for the band Baylee was lobbying for “Six and a Chick”, which I thought was rather clever, but the boys outvoted her.
I’m looking forward to seeing Baylee perform. With all the success she’s already achieved you can’t help but wonder if you may be witnessing a piece of entertainment history, just before she gets that big break that skyrockets her to the top. But Baylee is realistic and level-headed. Her philosophy when participating in various competitions is, “If you’ve had fun, you’ve won”.
After spending time with her I’m seriously optimistic that Baylee Morrison will someday become a household name. “I know there are going to be obstacles,” says Baylee, “but you’re going to have to break them down if achieving your ultimate goal is important enough to you.” She has successfully instilled that sense of inspiration in me and I thank her for that. If Baylee’s covering Elvis more than 50 years after he’s been gone, I’m thinking somebody may be covering Baylee 50 years from now.
