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FREE Bud Light Hi-Fi Concert featuring Brett Dennen with Matthew Moon March 22, 2013 Snowmass Base Village 3pm: Matthew Moon 5pm: Brett Dennen
“In many ways this is my first album,” Brett Dennen says of his fourth record, Loverboy, out April 12th, 2011. “On my previous albums I said what I needed to say. I evoked every different mood and sentiment and emotion. Now I don’t really have anything to prove. I’ve been the new kid on the block and now that phase is over. I get to start all over again, relax, and refocus.” He pauses and flashes a laidback grin. “And what I’m focused on is having fun.”
Dennen’s wunderkind rise has been impressive. In 2004 Dennen released his self-titled debut, followed quickly by his sophomore LP So Much More (2006,) which spent months on the Billboard Heatseeker chart. The release drew the attention of John Mayer, for whom Dennen opened in 2006 and 2007. In 2008 the artist released his follow-up, Hope for the Hopeless, which debuted at #41 on the Billboard Top 200 and firmly established Dennen as a definitive new voice in modern songwriting. He’s worked with Femi Kuti, Natalie Merchant, and Jason Mraz; he’s toured with Dave Matthews, Rodrigo y Gabriela, and The John Butler Trio; and he’s played Bonarroo, Austin City Limits, Coachella, Outside Lands, and Newport Folk Festival. He’s also become the go-to guy for some of the best and most artfully soundtracked contemporary TV shows. His songs have appeared on Scrubs, Grey’s Anatomy, Parenthood, Brothers & Sisters, and House among others.
It wasn’t until December of 2009 that he had a chance to think about a fourth record. “I had two weeks off from the road, my housemate and I built a studio in our living room and we made demo versions of a bunch of songs,” he remembers. “The plan was to crank this album out in early 2010. Turns out we didn’t end up recording until July of that year.” Dennen was frustrated. He likes to keep things moving. But the break turned out to be the best thing possible for the record. “Sometimes when you’re put against a wall you do your best work,” he muses. “While we were waiting to figure out what we were doing with this album I kept writing new songs. One of them was “Sydney (I’ll Come Running,)” one of them was “Comeback Kid” and one of them was “Only Rain.” And those are the tracks that will really pull people in.”
Brett Dennen has the right guys backing him up, the right vision for his future in mind, and the right album to get him where he wants to go. “I want people to put on Loverboy and feel good. I want to make people dance!” Mathew Moon “Cool folk meets smart pop” is how radio impresario, Keith Cunningham, has described the music of Matthew Moon. With an “elastic” voice that has drawn comparisons to Freddy Mercury, Paul McCartney, and Ben Folds, Moon possesses a wide vocal range that lets him go from gentle to growl, as evident when he fronted Velvet Revolver at the Sundance Film Festival in 2008. As Moon took the stage with Slash, Duff McKagen, and Matt Sorum, the crowd – which was full of Sundance celebs and pop culture icons – went wild with approval. The experience led to an onslaught of attention and rumors from online blogs and the print media, including LA Weekly, Popbytes.com, Blabbermouth.net, Music Connection and Laist.com. The question: Is Moon replacing Weiland? While the answer was unquestionably no, the stir caused Moon’s popularity to further grow. For Snowmass lodging specials, and activity and event information, click here.