This biography was written with information courtesy of Inga for this site.
Inga Kirsten Brittingham was born on July 14, 1975 in Livingston, New Jersey. Inga attended college in Charlotte, North Carolina, where she studied theater.
Inga describes herself as a feisty and free person who loves the world, life, work, and partying! She enjoys hanging out with her friends, spending time with her husband, writing songs, listening to music (she would love to do a duet with Billy Idol),playing with her cats, and reading Nancy Drew books. Her grandfather wrote some of the Hardy Boys books!
Inga's mother, sister, and step-father reside in North Carolina, and are very supportive of Naked Beggars! Inga currently resides in Nashville, along with the rest of her band. She loves Nashville and states that “it is the most wonderful place that I have ever lived. The people are great!”
Inga met her husband, Eric Brittingham, the bassist and co-founder of the multi-platinum selling rock band, Cinderella, at a mall in Nashville! Eric and his drummer,Fred Coury invited Inga to hang out with them that evening. A 'whirlwind' romance between Inga and Eric ensued. They make an awesome couple! They are best friends, and their "personalities can handle one another!!" She and Eric are "just fun-spirited people!” Inga, along with a 3rd heart attack, recently helped Eric stop his long-time habit of smoking!
The devoted & talented duo, July 2006.
Inga met band-mate and Naked Beggars co-founder Kris Casamento through an ex-boyfriend. She was going to help Kris record some of his songs. Fate must have stepped in, as Inga “stumbled onto some of his songs which included no melodies and wrote a few songs to them.” Thus, in 1999, Naked Beggars was born! It was briefly named Lovechild. Later, Eric would help with the production of their first album. He also decided to join the band! Their first album, “Naked Beggars” can be purchased online or at a show.
Next, Naked Beggars welcomed the additional talents of guitarist Jeff LaBar (of Cinderella), keyboardist/violinist Kristine Brasuell, and drummer Shawn Hughes. Their second album, “Spit It Out” is described as having a “much richer and colorful sound” and “has more rock attitude than the first album.” It is also more unified as the band wrote the music together. “Spit It Out” can be ordered at the band's official site. The first 500 copies were autographed by the entire band.
Shawn left the band to join a country act, and soon after, Inga and the rest of Naked Beggars welcomed accomplished vocalist and "true rock" drummer, Lisa Rav. Their 3rd album 'XXX'was released on January 1, 2008. As of April 21, Naked Beggars and Jeff LaBar parted ways due to "due to personal & creative differences." Inga states that she hopes the separation doesn't leave fans "with any distaste for neither Jeff nor Eric. We were all like family. And I still love Jeff. However, it was definitely time for us to move on. But, the band, with or without Jeff will be the same band as always! Kris, myself, Lisa and Eric all contribute vast amounts to the creative side of the writing and live showmanship!"
On January 30, 2008, Lisa left Naked Beggars in order to pursue other endeavors. She was replaced by the band's former drummer, Dustin. Inga states that the band "will certainly miss her and her playing!! I love Lisa!" However, "on another note of fate..since Lisa left we had come to find that our original drummer was no longer with his other band...and of course we welcomed him with open arms! And man is he fun!"
In late 2008 Inga announced that she is pregnant with her 1st child, a daughter, and is due in July 2009! Inga is also the proud step-mother of 2 daughters.
A radiant Inga carrying baby Svea in March, 2009.
In January 2009, Inga released one of her newest songs, a country track, 'Forever You and Me' on her myspace page. In 2007 Inga had announced her plans to work on a Country/southern rock style CD as a side-project away from Naked Beggars. From January-March Naked Beggars described themselves as being on hiatus.
On April 11, 2009, Naked Beggars played their final show. Former members such as Doc Holliday, Kyle Wood, and Jeff LaBar participated in the farewell show.
On July 15th, 2009 Inga gave birth to her daughter, Svea Kirsten. She weighed 6 lbs, 4 oz, and was 18 in long!
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