Celebrating Wilderness Through Music: Brett Dennen shares his thoughts - and his tunes

November 14, 2008 By Andrea Imler

Brett Dennen

Last week I sat down and listened to a live acoustic guitar session by singer-songwriter, Brett Dennen. I have to admit that I had heard of Brett, but hadn’t ever heard his music. I was floored by the passion he showed as he strummed his guitar and sang with ease. I also learned that he has another passion – wilderness.

Brett enjoys backpacking, fly fishing and hiking in the mountains. When asked how he copes with not being able to head out into the wilderness while spending long days on the road touring, Brett had this to say:

“I love to be around trees and rocks and plants and stuff like that. But really, I think the thing that most people thrive [on] when they’re in wild places is the connection that you have with the elements, you know, you feel like you’re part of something. You tap into this inner thing that you’ve got going on inside of you, this inner wild. You feel at peace with what you’re doing and where you are. So I try to tap into that more while I’m out on the road.”

I was given the opportunity to see Brett perform live as part of The Mountain’s (a radio station in Seattle) Mountain Music Lounge in-studio performances The Mountain has been a generous partner of The Wilderness Society, donating over $1 million dollars from proceeds of their popular Live From The Music Lounge compilation albums.

Listen to Brett’s live session.