Senior Korbyn Rachel Carleton has been working on accomplishing her dreams of producing music for her entire life. On Nov. 25, her dreams became a reality: her first single, “Breaking Chains”, was released on multiple music platforms, including iTunes and Spotify.

Carleton has worked at Sucker Punch studios in Bethesda for three years with her producer Mark Williams, who helped her write songs and work with iTunes.

“Working on “Breaking Chains’ with Korbyn was a delightful process that came together pretty quickly. She came to me with a verse and chorus and I wrote a bridge/solo section, arranged the track and we were off to the races,” Williams said. “She was really feeling the track and delivered a really inspired vocal.”

Carleton writes her own lyrics, sometimes with the help and inspiration of her friends and family, and usually puts it into her music. She composes and plays on her guitar, which she started playing at age 10.

“I’ve been singing as long as I can remember,” Carleton said.

She carries a tune with her wherever she goes. Carleton has 12 original songs and she is constantly drafting more. She now has enough songs to release a full album. Carleton will share the profits from the single with Williams and their distributor.

However, as a music artist new to the business, she must take small steps in order to advance her career. “My notes on my phone are mainly filled with one lines that pop into my mind for a song,” she said.

In the days leading up to the release of “Breaking Chains”, Carleton said, “I’m not in it for the fame, I am doing it because it is what I love to do.”

When Carleton and Williams finally chose to put her song on iTunes, they chose a date to do it through a company called Tunecore and stuck to it, constantly editing the song until it was ready to be released.

Carleton has enough songs to release a full album and she eventually plans to. First, she plans to release an Extended Play (EP) with about 5 songs.

Carleton’s mother Tonja Gustin noted, “When the EP is released, I think that is when who she is as an artist will be revealed.”

When she is not in the studio, Carleton is a very active part of RHSa�� drama club, is the International Thespian Society (ITS) vice president and she just starred in the fall musical, Rent: School Edition, as Mimi MA?rquez.

“As a student, I’m a busy girl– juggling theater, school, and work at the studio,” Carleton said. “My time is very limited, but I do my best to get over to [the studio] as much as possible because there’s no time to slack off when I’m working. Work, work, work, all the time.”