Driving around the downtown grid of a North East college campus, undoubtedly lost in my travels, I repeatedly began plugging away at my radio station dial searching for something that wasn’t fuzzy in nature. I landed upon the local university’s radio station, dead middle of a chorus line that’ll pretty much ‘make you go crazy’. I halted my finger on the dial and began to listen, listen and move. I was sure I had just stumbled upon something great.The artist I had come to find out is Brett Dennen, the song I was pathetically dancing around my car to and mouthing words I didn’t yet know is “Crazy.”
At a looming height of 6’5”, with a head full of red hair California native Brett Dennen resembles humbleness at best; his music also provides the soundtrack for many of such carefree settings.
With a sound some have compared to early John Mayer and even Dave Matthews Band. His vocals uniquely carry a pretty strong pop vibe brilliantly harmonized with quick picked guitar acoustics and witty lyrics. Back in November of 2007 Rolling Stone placed Brett Dennen on their Artist to Watch list. Well it seems that many have been watching and listening. Now on his third album Hope for the Hopeless it is clear that Brett will not be going anywhere anytime soon. 
His second single off of his latest album, entitled “I Ain’t Gonna Lose You,” is one of few songs that seems to play a softer side of Dennen; amazingly constructed through an understandable fight of witty lyrics such as: “I’ll sing it from the bus stop, I'll sing it on the street drunk to a cop, But I ain't gonna lose you.” One can’t help but relate too many of Brett’s songs, and why not when he makes it so easy!
Brett Dennen is currently on tour with some pretty serious stops along the way; Lollapalooza was one of them preceded after Folk Festival 50 in Newport, RI. I was privy to having seen him perform at Folk Fest and what an enthusiastic show it was. Making the majority of his set acoustic and barefoot, he brought the crowd in close underneath the tent to squeeze together in harmony to shake our hips while waving our hands submissively. The passion drawing from his stage presence demanded undivided attention and was received graciously. Brett will be performing at Austin's City Limits Music Festival this October then shortly thereafter embarking overseas to carry out his sharing of love, peace and folk!
Article comments
1 - Eagle_flh
Great review, thank you