The California folk-pop artist next week plays The Big Room in Grand Rapids and The Ark in Ann Arbor, with plans to display paintings on stage to add to the fan experience. The Local Spins interview.
Brett Dennen: Tuning into the rhythm of nature’s surroundings. (Courtesy Photo)
EDITOR’S NOTE: Congratulations to Local Spins readers Arthur Veneklase and Alex Gates: They’ve won tickets to see Brett Dennen at The Big Room after entering our contest in Local Spins’ weekly ‘Amplified’ newsletter. To participate in more concert ticket giveaways, sign up for Local Spins email updates online here. Scroll down to listen to Dennen’s music.
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When Brett Dennen isn’t on stage, he’s often outside.
Spending time in nature, whether it’s hiking, camping or surfing, is important for Dennen. The 46-year-old songwriter from California will even get ideas for songs during his outdoor excursions.
“I find that if I spend time outside while I’m working on that song it makes it easier to write it. Pieces fit together better that way when you’re not trying to force them to fit together,” Dennen says by phone in an interview with Local Spins.
Dennen has launched a national solo tour this fall with dates around the Midwest. He performs at The Ark in Ann Arbor on Friday (Nov. 21), followed by a concert at The Big Room next to Silva in Grand Rapids on Nov. 22. Tickets, $40, for The Ark show available online here; tickets, $38.50 for the 7 p.m. concert at The Big Room are available via etix.com.
Returning to Michigan: Dennen on stage at Meijer Gardens in 2018. (Photo/Jamie Geysbeek)
Dennen has garnered a loyal following with eight studio albums under his belt and guest appearances with artists such as John Mayer, Jason Mraz and G. Love & Special Sauce. Additionally, Dennen has had his work used in popular TV shows, including “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Parenthood.”
Known for carefully crafted songs that explore and examine the human experience ranging from pain to joy and everything in between, Dennen chatted recently with Local Spins writer Enrique Olmos about his touring and his music.
Local Spins: What were you up to before this interview today?
Brett Dennen: My kids are on fall break coming up and he goes to an elementary school that normally has Fridays as minimal days, so Fridays typically are days where kids do their crafts or sometimes they have parties and sometimes they just get to work independently or sometimes they have a beach day. But today was a big fall festival. They had to go out and work on their pumpkins and find prizes. I was volunteering in the classroom helping kids make skeletons out of paper chain links and then we were wrapping the kids up in toilet paper like mummies. So I’ve been doing that most of the morning.
Local Spins: Do you have any rituals or practices to prepare for a tour?
Brett Dennen: I wish I could say, ‘Yes, I do have things I normally do,’ but no my only routine is to check my instruments and my equipment and make sure they work, and then I have a really silly routine where I pack my bags maybe five days before tour. I always overpack and then I spend the next three or four days seeing what I can get rid of and seeing how I can make my bag lighter and bring less stuff because I’m always happier when I bring less stuff. So that’s a silly little routine that I have.
Local Spins: What does that transition from home life to tour life feel?
Brett Dennen: I get really sad because I don’t want to leave home and I don’t want to leave my family. Then by the time I get to the airport, I’m really happy because I’m like oh my gosh, yes, I’m doing what I’m meant to do. This is what I’m supposed to, I’ve been missing this from my life and then I get really excited. The first show is always hard to tell if it’s my best show or my worst show. I always think the first show is not my favorite because I’m always a little nervous since I’m stepping back into that world. I’m going from one world to another world.
Local Spins: I read that you enjoy snacks on tour and I’m wondering what your go-to is for fueling performances?
Brett Dennen: Well if you were to come back stage and look at my rider you would say what the hell is this: It’s such a weird combination. You’ll see dark chocolate, you’ll see cashews, you’ll see blueberries, you’ll see sardines. Which, I’m not saying that I eat those all the time or together or anything. You know, you got to put something on the rider and I know I’m going to eat all those things, where if you put a big old bag of chips you might not eat the whole thing. With sardines, I end up bringing those home a lot because I can just throw them in a suitcase because they’re in a can. Blueberries and cashews, I know I’m going to eat all day long. I don’t like to go out to dinner or go out to lunch. I think that’s probably why I eat snacks. I have toured for so long that I don’t look forward to going and sitting down at a restaurant and ordering and eating there unless I know the food is going to be amazing and I can’t get that food anywhere else. I would rather just have food ready to go whenever I want that can hold me over and eat at the venue.
LISTEN: Brett Dennen, Lua Flora, “Sea Level”
Local Spins: I also read that you enjoy outdoor activities and I’m wondering if you could talk a bit about which activities you enjoy and why you find them lifegiving?
Brett Dennen: I’ve always loved camping and nature and hiking. You gotta move your body if you want to be happy. I’m not the kind of person who’s gonna go play a pickup basketball game or go to a gym all the time. I’m lucky right now because I live by the ocean, so I can surf, I can run on the beach, there’s hills all around me so I can go on hikes. I spend a lot of time in the mountains. It’s kind of like a double whammy, since you can get outside and get your heart going and breathe and feel good, but also nature just offers so much in terms of mental clarity. You tune into the rhythm of whatever your surroundings are. Nature’s peaceful. You’re feeling connected to nature then you’re gonna be peaceful.
Local Spins: Do you get any ideas for your music when you’re outdoors?
Brett Dennen: Sometimes absolutely. I’ve had almost whole ideas for songs come to me, but more typically if I’m working on a song, I find that it’s really much easier for me to complete a song if I spend a good deal of time outside away from a guitar and away from a room where I might be writing. Sometimes I’m just walking and thinking of songs kind of bouncing around in the back of my head.
Local Spins: What can audiences expect from your live show?
Brett Dennen: When I came up with the idea for this tour I pictured this venue outside of Chicago called Space in Evanston. There was a lot of work that went into the artwork and trying to connect people with art and song and get some audience feedback. It’s a work in progress, but I’m trying to come up with a unique show that people can really only experience once. I’m going to bring several big paintings on the road with me and put them up on stage. Then I’m gonna do two sets. So when people come in, they have the opportunity before the show starts or during intermission to take a piece of paper and write down a song or two that the paintings inspire, preferably a song of mine. I’ll come out on stage and I’ll spend the first set matching a set list of songs that I want to play that I think go with the big paintings specifically. I’m using the paintings as something for people to look at while I sing a song and see if they hear the song in a different way.
VIDEO: Brett Dennen, “See the World”
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