Singer Shine Your Light
© Copyright-Namoli Brennet
(837101393744)
Record Label: Namoli Brennet
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Transgendered singer/songwriter Namoli Brennet has been relentlessly touring the country in her battered Volvo wagon since the release of her 2002 CD, Boy in a Dress. Based in Tucson, AZ, the enigmatic and colorful Brennet has covered over 30,000 miles and 43 states over the past 5 years, playing everywhere from the San Francisco Trans March to DC Pride, as well as legendary folk venues like Cambridge’s Club Passim and New York’s Bitter End. In between producing, engineering and releasing 6 CDs on her own label, Flaming Dame Records, she’s shared stages with Melissa Ferrick, Jill Sobule, Michelle Shocked, SONiA, Alix Olson, Garrison Starr, Todd Snider and Tim Easton.
She's also a 4-time Outmusic award nominee who's music has been featured in the Advocate, Chicago Free Press, No Depression and Performing Songwriter Magazine. Her song “We Belong” was recently featured in a documentary of the same name which details the struggle of a gay teen in rural PA who has the courage to stand up to bigotry and intolerance in his high school.
Promoting her latest release, Singer Shine Your Light, Brennet recently returned from a 40-city tour spanning over 10,000 miles. The talented multi-instrumentalist, who plays nearly everything on the record, still manages to outdo herself when it comes to live performance. Her guitar playing covers everything from whispery finger-picking to all-out flamenco-style strumming, and her gender-transcending voice, somewhere between Stevie Nicks and John Mayer, delivers her achingly personal and precise songs with unmatched intensity. Her music and her person, equal parts sophisticated, complex and heartfelt, continue to defy easy categorization.
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Best Album Yet
author: Alicia McMillen
Its great to see that Namoli keeps getting better
and better. Her musicianship and singing seem to be at there peak on this album.
Border Crossing is an amazing story of survival
which brought tears to my eyes and makes you appreciate what it must be like to be on the other side of the fence.The guitar palying is simply amazing as is the singing.
California is a very melodic and catchy song which just seems to flow and invite one to listen
on.
The Lottery Song is hypnotic and thought provoking.
Rough Enough is probably as good as any song I've
heard in recent times. It is reminiscent of Melissa Etheridge in Namoli's singing style.
Rebel Sun is a very hypnotic song that reminds me of Cheryl Crowe in it's rythm and style.
I Am Listening Now- Is well worth listening too
and a very well played and sung tune. I could listen to it all day.
Overall a great album from start to finish.
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No Depression
author: Linda Ray
Singer Shine Your Light (self-released). A tireless troubadour, Namoli Brennet has criss-crossed the country's coffeehouse circuit through five albums of original material. No doubt she's surprised a few of the regulars on that route: she's not your average, self-absorbed folkie. In fact, she's as apt to swing out a rocking, soulful keyboard as a cozy, sweet-sounding guitar, and her lyrics can be as harsh or witty as they are brooding or insightful. “California”, a pre-destination ode to its falling into the sea, lopes and swoons like a lost Pure Prairie League track. Contrastingly serious and sad is “Border Crossing”, an empathetic ballad that closes the gap between “us” and “them”. There's a smoother, quieter continuity to this album than in her previous releases, and while Brennet's penchant for gender-bending has often attracted outsized attention for its frankness, it takes a back seat here to almost gender-neutral portraits of humanity, lit deftly by her melodic dexterity. - Linda Ray
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Chicago Free Press
author: Gregg Shapiro
One of the most original and exciting voices to emerge on the LGBT music scene is trans musician Namoli Brennet. Beginning with 2002’s “Boy in a Dress” and continuing with each successive release, Brennet has established herself as a refreshing singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. “Singer Shine Your Light” (namolibrennet.com) is no exception, from the commercially appealing “California” through the acoustic blues of “Seven Times,” the bluegrass tears of “The Crying Wheel” and the radiant title tune.
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author: Tucson Weekly
This disc is another fine outing from folk-rocker
namoli brennet. "California", the album's first
song, is a sunny slice of shuffle-pop that pays
homage to it's namesake state in sound as well
as in it's lyrics. "Just Like Falling" features a strummy
indie-pop guitar and some vintage synth that doesn't
detract from it's homespun charm. "Rebel Sun" is an
atmospheric little creeper that somehow calls to
mind the Lindsey Buckingham/Stevie Nicks era of
Fleetwood Mac. Perhaps the most surprising thing
about Singer Shine Your Light, for those of us who
thought brennet was merely a fantastic singer/songwriter
and guitarist, anyway, comes via a perusal of the liner
notes: Aside from a trumpet part on one song and an
acoustic bass on another, brennet played an sang
everything on the entire album. Her credits, as they
appear here, include: "vocals, acoustic guitar, slide
guitar, bowed guitar, electric guitar, ebow, piano,
synth, vocoder, rhodes, drums, shakers, tambourine,
cajon, harmonica, banjo, mandolin, bass and
glockenspiel." Perhaps the most remarkable of
all, you'd never guess it from listening to the album,
which has the warm feel of a band hashing it out in
the studio, as opposed to the "home recording project"
that sometimes results in similar situations. With Singer
Shine Your Light, Brennet has once again furthered
her reputation as one of our musical treasures.
Stephen Siegel, Tucson Weekly (9/07)
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