
In Search of a Song: Brett Dennen Part 1
Series: In Search of a Song with Jason Wilber
From: ISOAS Media
Length: 01:00:00
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BRETT DENNEN PART ONE: AVAILABLE 12 / 17 / 2011
IN SEARCH OF A SONG originates in BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA and is sponsored by: THE BLUEBIRD NIGHTCLUB, AIRTIME RECORDING STUDIO, and VISIT BLOOMINGTON.COM
As a young adult, Brett Dennen was a Community Studies major at UC Santa Cruz. After graduation he met a visionary woman with an ear for raw talent. Her gift for getting people to listen and share her excitement about his music, were a perfect incubator for his unique voice & insightful songs. Their work together would change his life.
Brett started working with Leslie Merical in December 2002. She encouraged him to pursue music seriously and made sure he wasn't slowed by the challenges most new artists face. Inspired by the good in his lyrics and the reaction to his songs, Merical started by convincing promoters at venues to give him a chance to play, despite his inexperience. She connected with his fans at every show and made them feel like they were part of something wonderful while guiding him along the path most artists have to travel alone.
For fun, she invited him into her studio to record a few of his songs in December of 2002, and as they worked, she became convinced she could turn the songs into an album and help him get his music to a global audience. The result was Brett's self-titled debut, which they released on her Three Angels & A Saint label in late 2003. Although the album was initially meant for less public ears, it became obvious to Merical that people wanted to hear the magical, lo-fi recordings and were moved by the songs. Almost immediately, she found connections to KCRW DJ Chris Douridas, who spun the unknown artist's glorified demo on Valentine's Day 2004. It was a big break for Brett and Merical, and an encouraging sign they were on to something and on the right path!
In 2006, Merical told a friend, bassist/producer Kevin McCormick (Jackson Brown, Keb Mo', Melissa Etheridge), about Brett, hoping to interest him in producing the 2nd album. He'd picked up some melodic African bass chops while living in Spain, that lent themselves perfectly to the new songs Brett was eager to record, and a few months later they found themselves recording 'So Much More' at Groovemasters in Santa Monica.
Along the way, he's been invited to play on Dave Matthews' Music Cruise, and to tour and/or play on bills with John Mayer, Sheryl Crow, Shawn Colvin, ALO, Jackson Brown, Taj Mahal, Ziggy Marley, Xavier Rudd, Corinne Bailey Rae and others.
Topics discussed include: Beach Boys strong influence and strong emotional reaction to Sloop John B "Gee mom I wanna go home", High Sierra camp, and how a natural ampitheatre and camp made him ( at 10 yrs old ) want to become a camp counselor that played the guitar at the campfire, college at UC Santa Cruz learning mandolin and guitar and starting to play gigs, Being initially shy and timid about his singing, his thoughts on voice and songwriting on early records of his own, his progression as a singer/songwriter, specificaly as a singer from early records to now on "Loverboy", his first jobs and gigs and recordings, a friends mom (Leslie Merical) allowed him to use Pro Tools studio to make his first records trying to figure out how to write and present something worthwhile
Musical selections include: Aint No Reason,There Is So Much More, She's Mine, The One Who Loves You The Most, San Francisco, So Far From Me.
This program is "Evergreen" and not date specific.
For more information, visit IN SEARCH OF A SONG CLICK HERE
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Piece Description
BRETT DENNEN PART ONE: AVAILABLE 12 / 17 / 2011
IN SEARCH OF A SONG originates in BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA and is sponsored by: THE BLUEBIRD NIGHTCLUB, AIRTIME RECORDING STUDIO, and VISIT BLOOMINGTON.COM
As a young adult, Brett Dennen was a Community Studies major at UC Santa Cruz. After graduation he met a visionary woman with an ear for raw talent. Her gift for getting people to listen and share her excitement about his music, were a perfect incubator for his unique voice & insightful songs. Their work together would change his life.
Brett started working with Leslie Merical in December 2002. She encouraged him to pursue music seriously and made sure he wasn't slowed by the challenges most new artists face. Inspired by the good in his lyrics and the reaction to his songs, Merical started by convincing promoters at venues to give him a chance to play, despite his inexperience. She connected with his fans at every show and made them feel like they were part of something wonderful while guiding him along the path most artists have to travel alone.
For fun, she invited him into her studio to record a few of his songs in December of 2002, and as they worked, she became convinced she could turn the songs into an album and help him get his music to a global audience. The result was Brett's self-titled debut, which they released on her Three Angels & A Saint label in late 2003. Although the album was initially meant for less public ears, it became obvious to Merical that people wanted to hear the magical, lo-fi recordings and were moved by the songs. Almost immediately, she found connections to KCRW DJ Chris Douridas, who spun the unknown artist's glorified demo on Valentine's Day 2004. It was a big break for Brett and Merical, and an encouraging sign they were on to something and on the right path!
In 2006, Merical told a friend, bassist/producer Kevin McCormick (Jackson Brown, Keb Mo', Melissa Etheridge), about Brett, hoping to interest him in producing the 2nd album. He'd picked up some melodic African bass chops while living in Spain, that lent themselves perfectly to the new songs Brett was eager to record, and a few months later they found themselves recording 'So Much More' at Groovemasters in Santa Monica.
Along the way, he's been invited to play on Dave Matthews' Music Cruise, and to tour and/or play on bills with John Mayer, Sheryl Crow, Shawn Colvin, ALO, Jackson Brown, Taj Mahal, Ziggy Marley, Xavier Rudd, Corinne Bailey Rae and others.
Topics discussed include: Beach Boys strong influence and strong emotional reaction to Sloop John B "Gee mom I wanna go home", High Sierra camp, and how a natural ampitheatre and camp made him ( at 10 yrs old ) want to become a camp counselor that played the guitar at the campfire, college at UC Santa Cruz learning mandolin and guitar and starting to play gigs, Being initially shy and timid about his singing, his thoughts on voice and songwriting on early records of his own, his progression as a singer/songwriter, specificaly as a singer from early records to now on "Loverboy", his first jobs and gigs and recordings, a friends mom (Leslie Merical) allowed him to use Pro Tools studio to make his first records trying to figure out how to write and present something worthwhile
Musical selections include: Aint No Reason,There Is So Much More, She's Mine, The One Who Loves You The Most, San Francisco, So Far From Me.
This program is "Evergreen" and not date specific.
For more information, visit IN SEARCH OF A SONG CLICK HERE
Broadcast History
WFHB - Bloomington, Indiana
WNKU - Cincinnati / Northern Kentucky area
WHEE - Martinsville, Virginia
Timing and Cues
Intro Billboard 00:00 - 00:59 / News Break (or guest intro with song) 00:59 - 05:59 / Music Bed0 5:59 : 06:29 / Segment A 06:29 - 18:59 / Music Bed 18:59 - 19:59 / Segment B 19:59 -38:59 / Music Bed 38:59 : 39:59 / Segment C 39:59 - 58:59 / Music Bed 58:59 - 59:59
Musical Works
| Title | Artist | Album | Label | Year | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aint No Reason | Brett Dennen | So Much More. | Dualtone Music Group | 2006 | 03:37 |
| There Is So Much More | Brett Dennen | So Much More. | Dualtone Music Group | 2006 | 05:05 |
| She's Mine | Brett Dennen | So Much More. | Dualtone Music Group | 2006 | 04:31 |
| The One Who Loves You The Most | Brett Dennen | So Much More. | Dualtone Music Group | 2006 | 04:59 |
| San Francisco | Brett Dennen | Hope For The Hopeless. | Dualtone Music Group | 2008 | 03:50 |
| So Far From Me | Brett Dennen | Hope For The Hopeless. | Dualtone Music Group | 2008 | 04:06 |
| Indian Summer (In Search of a Song Theme) | Jason Wilber | Behind The Midway. | Flat Earth | 2000 | 00:29 |
| You Don't Know What You're Getting Into (Break Music) | Jason Wilber | Lazy Afternoon. | Wilbertone | 2006 | 00:59 |
| Northern Lights Seen Over Lewisberg Tennessee (Break Music)" | Jason Wilber | Lazy Afternoon. | Wilbertone | 2006 | 00:59 |
| Your Destiny (Break Music) | Jason Wilber | Lazy Afternoon. | Wilbertone | 2006 | 00:59 |
Additional Credits
Executive Producer - Rich Reardin
Host - Jason Wilber






Chris Kuhar
Posted on January 04, 2012 at 12:01 PM | Permalink
Excellant Interview with Brett Dennen
another great interview by Jason, I really like the discussion about early singing and song writing.