Brett Dennen

Who the hell is Brett Dennen? I couldn’t have answered this question until a few weeks ago when I saw him at the Rocky Mountain Folks Festival in Lyons Colorado. He had me when I heard him sing his original song “Heaven” with the classic line “What the hell is Heaven?” See him perform the song “unplugged” here: http://www.billboard.com?bcpid=1444170225&bctid=35268468001

He came on after M. Ward’s stellar set and I couldn’t imagine anyone coming on after Matt and not paling in comparison. Don’t get me wrong these two are as different as black and green tea and yet they are both the same in one way, extremely talented and unique musicians.

Singer-songwriter Brett Dennen gained a lot of television and touring momentum with his third album, “Hope for the Hopeless,” released last October. He performed single “Make You Crazy” across the daytime and late night talk show circuit (watch his acoustic performance of the song in the video below), and the album, which reached No. 4 on Billboard’s Independent Albums chart and No. 41 on the Billboard 200, is still building.

Dennen’s next single will be a new version of the track “Heaven,” re-recorded as a duet with Natalie Merchant. The song will be available on iTunes on Sept. 1.

“I’m of the generation that grew up listening to Natalie and the 10,000 Maniacs, so doing a duet with her has not only been a dream of mine for a long time, but doing a duet of a song that I wrote is something that I could never dream up on my own,” Dennen tells Billboard.com. “I met her in a studio in the Hudson Valley, and we went for a drive and went to a farmers market and ate some berries and talked about the song, and spent the afternoon recording, and it came out really nice. I think not only my fans but Natalie’s fans will really like it.”

Dennen has toured with John Mayer and completed a headlining tour this year. He’ll launch another trek this fall with Vermont rock band Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, with dates to be announced.

“I’m really excited about this tour because I think it’s going to be a little more rocking than tours I’ve done in the past,” says Dennen. “Before when I’ve taken out openers I’ve had more of a mellow, acoustic evening. But this tour that I’m headlining in the fall, Grace really knows how to rock it.”

In addition, from Sept. 8 through Sept. 22, “Hope for the Hopeless” will be discounted to $5 on the online retailer Amie Street. One dollar from each sale will be donated to the Life is Good Kids Foundation, a non-profit that Dennen took with him on his most recent tour as part of his “Love Speaks” program. For the program, Dennen gives non-profit organizations merchandizing space and stage time to describe their work at each of his concerts.

Lyrics to Heaven by Brett Dennen

Beyond the rules of religion
The cloth of conviction
Above all the competition
Where fact and fiction meet

There’s No color lines or casts or classes
There is no fooling the masses
Whatever faith you practice
Whatever you believe

Heaven. Heaven.
What the hell is Heaven?
Is there a home for the homeless?
Is there hope for the hopeless?

Throw away your myth misconceptions
There ain’t no walls around heaven
There are no codes you gotta know to get in
No minutemen or border patrol

You must lose all earthly possession
Leave behind your weapon
You cannot buy your salvation
There is no pot of gold

(chorus)

Heaven ain’t got no prisons
No government no business
No banks or politicians
No armies and No police

Castles and cathedrals crumble
Pyramids and pipelines tumble
The failure keeps you humble
Leads us closer to peace

—-

For a complete set of photos from this performance see:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/30893898@N08/sets/72157621974039285/

Brett Dennen (born October 28, 1979^[1]) is a folk/pop singer-songwriter from Oakdale, California.

Biography

In 2004, Dennen released his first self-titled album, Brett Dennen. His second album, So Much More, including the singles “Ain’t No Reason”, “She’s Mine” and “Darlin’ Do Not Fear”. Dennen also contributed a cover of “Private Life” to the 2006 tribute album Drink To Bones That Turn To Dust: A Toast To Oingo Boingo. Dennen’s music has been featured in several television shows, including Roadtrip Nation on PBS, Grey’s Anatomy, the House episode “Family“, The Unit episode “Freefall“, and the Scrubs episode “My No Good Reason“. He also appeared live on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on April 8, 2008, Late Night with Conan O’Brien on February 9, 2009, and The Ellen DeGeneres Show on April 21, 2009. In addition to television series, Dennen’s music has also been used in national advertising campaigns for companies such as Hilton Hotels.

He has toured extensively across the U.S. with his band (including drummer Randy Schwartz), supporting such musicians as John Mayer and guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela. In 2007, he toured with Guster and singer-songwriters Meiko and Joshua James.

Dennen has been a part of The Mosaic Project, a San Francisco Bay Area-based non-profit organization, since its inception. The Mosaic Project works towards a peaceful future by uniting young children of diverse backgrounds, providing them with essential skills to thrive in an increasingly diverse society, and empowering them to strive for peace. As The Mosaic Project’s Resident Rock Star, Dennen created an original musical curriculum for the program, which they released as an album called Children’s Songs for Peace and a Better World, in 2003. It won a Children’s Music Web 2004 Award and a Parent’s Choice 2004 Approved Award.

In November 2007, Dennen was named as one of Rolling Stone Magazine’s “10 Artists To Watch.”^[2]

In 2008, Entertainment Weekly named Dennen one of its eight “Guys on the Rise”^[3] After a spring tour co-headlining with Mason Jennings and Missy Higgins, Dennen entered the studio to record his 3rd album. He spent the summer of 2008 on tour with John Mayer and Colbie Caillat, playing festivals such as the Rothbury Music Festival in Michigan, Telluride Bluegrass Festival and the Mile High Music Festival in Colorado.

Dennen is currently signed to Downtown Records through a partnership with Dualtone. ^[5]

In 2008, Dennen, along with Jason Mraz, contributed the song “Long Road to Forgiveness” to the Survival International charity album Songs for Survival. Earlier in the fall, Dennen toured Australia with Pete Murray. In late October, Hope for the Hopeless, Dennen’s third album, was released on the Downtown/Dualtone partnership. The song “Ain’t Gonna Lose You” was featured on Grey’s Anatomy and topped the iTunes folk charts. The record reached number 6 in the digital charts, and was followed by a successful mini-tour.

In January 2009, Dennen embarked on a 3-month headlining tour of the US, with support acts Erin McCarley and Angus & Julia Stone.^[4] Dennen also announced plans to tour the UK and Europe, including a show at the Hoxton Bar & Kitchen in London on the 7th May.^[7] In 2009, Brett’s song “Ain’t Going to Lose You” was also used in the closing sequence of an Ugly Betty episode. Brett also played a major songwriting roll in the July 14th solo debut release of the Crosby Loggins album “Time To Move”, which also features John Mayer.

Dennen at Newport Folk Festival 2009

On August 1, 2009, Dennen performed at the Newport Folk Festival in Newport, Rhode Island, USA. On the Waterside Stage he and his band performed the following songs to an overflow crowd: “When You Feel It,” “Who Do You Think,” “Wrong About Me,” “Ain’t No Reason,” “Darlin,’” “Heaven,” “I Ain’t Gonna Lose You,” and “She’s Mine.” ^[9]

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This entry was posted on Sunday, August 16th, 2009 at 6:15 pm. It is filed under Live music reviews, Rocky Mountain Folks Festival 2009 and tagged with Brett Dennen, Rocky Mountain Folks Festival 2009. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.