Brett Dennen

Brett Dennen (born October 28, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter from Oakdale, California who performed at the Usana Amphitheatre in Salt Lake City, Utah on August 17,2019, warming up for Dave Matthews. I first saw Brett perform live last fall at the 2009 Rocky Mountain Folk festival in Lyons Colorado where he was a clear stand out and drove the crowd wild with his incredible voice and disarming charm.

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 theScrubs episode "My No Good Reason".

He also appeared shoeless on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on April 8, 2008, Late Night with Conan O’Brien on February 9, 2009, The Ellen DeGeneres Show on April 21, 2009, The Late Show with David Letterman on October 9, 2009, and was the featured guest on Last Call with Carson Dalyon December 22, 2009.

In addition to television series, Dennen’s music, for reasons not immediately clear, has also been used in national advertising campaigns for companies such as Hilton Hotels. His single- Heaven has also been used in the ipod/iphone app taptap revenge

He has toured extensively across the U.S. with his band, opening for better known musicians such as John Mayer, Michael Franti, 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 [1] 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."

In 2008, Entertainment Weekly named Dennen one of its eight "Guys on the Rise"

After a spring tour co-headlining with Mason Jennings and Missy Higgins, 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, Lyons Folk Festival, and the Mile High Music Festival in Colorado.

Dennen is tenuously signed to Downtown Records through a partnership with Dualtone.

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. Dennen also announced plans to tour the UK and Europe, including a show at the Hoxton Bar & Kitchen in London on the 7th May.

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 role in the July 14th solo debut release of the Crosby Loggins album "Time To Move", which also features John Mayer.

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."

For a complete set of photos of this performance see my Flickr set here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gonzoshots/sets/72157624702161427/

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 17th, 2010 at 6:30 pm. It is filed under Live music reviews, Usana and tagged with Brett Dennen, Salt Lake City, Usana. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.