Bree Jaxson on balancing singing career with military service: 'Music is where my heart is'

Bree Jaxson got real about pursing a music career while on active duty as part of the United States military.

Currently serving as director of operations for Operation Lone Star on the Mexican border, Jaxson spoke to Fox News Digital about how she balances motherhood and her burgeoning music career with making sure her squadron is running smoothly. As if that was not enough, she also works as a cybersecurity consultant for a bank when she is not on active duty.

"I just really spend time being productive, meticulously outlining what I have to do during the day, for the military, what I have to do for my other job, and then focusing on music, because that's my true passion," Jaxson explained. "I love serving, and I've done it for 13 years, but music is where my heart is, so just making that a priority."

Making music a priority while deployed means taking time to write something every day "whether it's a couple of lines of something, whether it's a whole song, just trying to keep that creativity flowing."

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Jaxson recently released her new song "With You" which was inspired by her children. She said her kids, ages 9 and 7, "have been accustomed to the military deployment life since they were born, but as they get older, it's definitely harder." She explained the idea for the song came after a phone call with her daughter, who was upset and missing her mom since Jaxson had been in Mexico for almost year. 

"She calls me, and she's just hysterically crying. I can hear it through the phone, and she's just begging me to come home," she said. "I hung up the phone and of course, I'm in tears, she's in tears, and I just sat down, and I wanted to write them a song that they could put on, or they could listen to, to comfort them when I'm gone and just letting them know that I was with them, even though I couldn't physically be there with them."

The song debuted in early November, and Jaxson was surprised by the positive reaction from fans. She said it was "probably the best feedback I've gotten on any of my music," adding she thinks it may be "because it was genuinely from the heart." 

She struggled with the idea of releasing the song for the public or keeping it private, but the feedback has made her happy with her decision to share it.

"I wanted it to be something special for my kids to have, and then I thought of all the other people that I started with or who have to be gone for jobs and how this could kind of comfort them," Jaxson explained. "Even grandmothers and mothers of like older children are messaging me and like, 'this song is beautiful. It just reminds me of my kids when they were younger.' It's been so cool to hear."

Jaxson hopes the song, which "has gotten the best response so far," will help her break through and fully launch her music career when she eventually retires from the military. She is not currently working with a label, having released "With You" on her own, working as an independent.

"I would love to be able to do my passion as my job, as my career, and as I'm getting closer to kind of retirement in the military, it gives me a little glimmer of hope that there might be time to be able to jump all the way," she explained. "My family is very supportive. They're super supportive, which I couldn't ask for anything more. My husband, while I'm deployed, he has my kids, and when I do music, they're right there cheering you on."

While it has been hard on her to be away from her family, the mom of two chooses to look on the bright side, saying being away from home has actually "given (her) an advantage" when it comes to making music. 

"At home I'm a mom, and so I do sports and dinner and running around every five seconds," Jaxson said.  "Here I'm very busy. I'm taking care of 150 people versus two, but at nighttime, it's quiet. I get to focus and kind of hone in on my craft where at home, I don't necessarily get that opportunity as much."

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When it comes to musical inspirations, Jaxson says it depends on what mood she is in and the kind of song she is writing. When writing something like "With You," she says "Adele was a big inspiration," because "she speaks from the heart, and you can really hear that" in her music. In general, she is a country music fan and draws a lot of inspiration from Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood.

The 32-year-old said she also loves Martina McBride and Christina Aguilera, and she is excited to "travel in their shoes."

Jaxson is looking forward to returning home and continuing to make an impact with her music.

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"I will be here until August, so I'll be almost here for two years when all of this is said and done," she said. "I really hope that they can listen to this song and really just feel like a sense of home. That's just something I kind of want to push out there and hope that people get when they listen to it. "