Breagh MacKinnon (born 1991), known professionally as Breagh Isabel, is a Canadian recording artist, songwriter, and producer based in Halifax,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

. She has written for a variety of Canadian artists, including

Banners A banner can be a flag or another piece of cloth bearing a symbol, logo, slogan or another message. A flag whose design is the same as the shield in a coat of arms (but usually in a square or rectangular shape) is called a banner of arms. Also, ...

, Donovan Woods,

Classified Classified may refer to: General *Classified information, material that a government body deems to be sensitive *Classified advertising or "classifieds" Music *Classified (rapper) (born 1977), Canadian rapper * The Classified, a 1980s American ro ...

, and

Ria Mae Ria MacNutt, known professionally as Ria Mae, is a Canadian singer and songwriter from Halifax, Nova Scotia. Career As a child, Mae's family moved around Halifax, switching from school to school while she learned to write songs. Ria has describ ...

Life and career

Born into a musical family on

Cape Breton Island Cape Breton Island (, formerly '; or '; ) is a rugged and irregularly shaped island on the Atlantic coast of North America and part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. The island accounts for 18.7% of Nova Scotia's total area. Although ...

, Isabel began writing songs in high school. In college, she majored in jazz piano performance, while writing and recording music of her own. In 2015, Isabel, still performing as Breagh MacKinnon, teamed up with fellow singer-songwriters Dylan Guthro and

Carleton Stone Carleton Stone is a Canadian singer-songwriter based in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. After recording three albums as a solo artist, Stone joined forces in 2015 with musicians Dylan Guthro and Breagh Mackinnon to form the p ...

to form the band Port Cities. In 2016, the band was signed to Turtlemusik and Warner Music. Port Cities' debut album, produced by

Gordie Sampson Gordon Francis Sampson (born July 30, 1971) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and producer from Big Pond, Nova Scotia. Beginning his career as a performer on his hometown island of Cape Breton, both in bands and on his own, Sampson has gone on t ...

, was released on February 10, 2017. That same year, the band took home five Nova Scotia Music Awards, winning Entertainer of the Year, Digital Artist of the Year, Group Recording of the Year, Pop Recording of the Year, and recording of the Year. Isabel parted ways with the band in 2019, following the release of their single "Sorry," which was co-produced by Grammy-winning Canadian songwriter and producer

Greg Wells William Gregory Wells (born 1968) is a Canadian record producer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and mix engineer. He has worked with Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Quincy Jones, J*Davey, Burt Bacharach, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Missy Elliott, ...

. Isabel made her production debut in 2020, co-producing the single "Missing Me" by

Jocelyn Alice Jocelyn Alice Strang is a Canadian singer and songwriter. One half of the now defunct Canadian indie soul pop duo Jocelyn & Lisa from Calgary, Alberta, Alice began performing as a solo artist in 2015. Her debut single "Jackpot" was certified Pl ...

and Mathew V, released in 604 Records. In the spring of 2020, under the name Breagh Isabel, she featured as a recording artist and co-writer on the single "Good News," by the award-winning Canadian rapper and producer

. Within one year of its release, "Good News" became a certified Gold single (40.000 units sold), peaked at #23 on the Canadian Billboard Charts, and has since generated more than 10 million digital streams. Isabel is an out member of the LGBTQ community. In June 2021, she released her debut solo single, "Girlfriends" and its accompanying music video. "Girlfriends" tells a story of two young girls' friendship-turned-romance. In 2020, Isabel joined the roster of Concord Music Publishing in Nashville, which has to led to her music being placed in major network promos (CBS, NBC, FOX), TV series (''

Grey's Anatomy ''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series focusing on the personal and professional lives of surgical internship (medicine), interns, residency (medicine), residents, and attending physician, attendings at the fictional ...

'', ''Virgin River'', ''Sullivan's Crossing''), and international marketing campaigns (Kia Motors, NSLC, Destination Cape Breton). Her work as a songwriter and producer has earned accolades, including SOCAN Songwriter of the Year - Music Nova Scotia (2021), East Coast Music Award for Song of the Year (2022), and a Canadian Screen Award nomination for her work on the soundtrack of '' Dawn, Her Dad & the Tractor (2023). In 2023, Isabel began releasing music that has been featured in film or television under two side projects, Izzy Harlow and Sea Saint. In September 2024, she released the single "Imposter," which reached number 6 on the CBC Top 20 chart and was featured in the LGBTQ film ''Lakeview'', which premiered at the Halifax Film Festival in 2024.

Selected discography

References

External links

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Breagh Isabel on Spotify
{{DEFAULTSORT:Isabel, Breagh 1991 births Canadian pop singers Canadian women singer-songwriters 21st-century Canadian singer-songwriters Living people Musicians from Halifax, Nova Scotia Singers from Nova Scotia