Brenn Hill is a young man in his early
thirties but unlike many of his
contemporaries who are hell bent on
Turning Music Row into Disco Drive,
he remains wholly and passionately
Country in the traditional sense. His
songs pay homage to Western
music's greatest traditions but also
depict life in the modern mountain
west, a place with which he is
familiar and which is very dear to his
heart.
Home for Brenn is Hooper, Utah
which is about 50 miles north west of
Salt Lake and it was from here that
Brenn spoke to me about his music
and the beautiful scenery and
landscapes that surround him and
give him inspiration for his
songwriting. Relaxing in his living
room (or trying to, with his German
Shepherd and Retriever dogs
crawling over him), Brenn's
contentment with his environs was
evident as he chatted about his home
and the attraction that the area holds
for him. ‘This is an agricultural
community which is still very much a
farming and ranching area’, he told
me. As we spoke, his horses grazed
outside on the couple of acres of
land upon which his home stands
and his love for animals and nature is
evident. ‘There's the bond with the
animals and the bond with the land,
it's something that we all long for.’
During our conversation, Brenn made
frequent reference to ‘painting’ and
‘pictures’. It is a particular talent of
his to bring to life scenes and
situations, especially for those of us
not privileged to have visited the
places he describes in his songs.
Is this the idea he has in mind when
he writes? ‘Definitely’, he agrees.
‘That's the idea, to bring together
people from all walks of life, all parts of the world so that they can see what you are painting.’
Brenn's fascination for words began at the age of 14 or 15 as he recalls, ‘writing poetry and short stories always seemed like an escape to me. I liked to find a blank piece of paper and start writing. I'd try to conjure up stories to connect places, people and events that were meaningful to me through emotions that everybody could relate to.

’ Eventually those short stories evolved into songs as he continues, ‘songwriting to me is very efficient. A song lasts three and a half to five minutes. You really present an idea, try to support it, build a melody around it and sort of leave it there for the listener to dig in.
The best songwriters to me are those lyricists that present an idea and leave it out there for the audience to digest and interpret. I think that's why my writing evolved into songwriting. Once I got a guitar in my hand, it just kind of fell together.’ Given his inspiration, how long does it take to write a song? I wondered, hours, days, months? ‘All of the above’, he laughs. ‘Some fit together like a puzzle. I formulate an idea and present it. I usually have a formula in mind when I start to write with an end in sight.’ His writing skills were gaining recognition for him at the young age of 16 when he performed at the famed, National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada and by the age of 20 he was a popular performer on the Western music circuit. His debut album, Rangefire, earning him the Rising Star Award from the Academy of Western Artists. Four further albums followed, each one attracting increased interest and filling up the walls of Brenn's home with numerous awards including the Academy of Western Artists' Album of the Year in 2000 for Trail Through Yesterday and Male Vocalist of the Year for his 2004 album, Endangered.
Being such an accomplished songwriter, Brenn need never look further than his own compositions when deciding what to record but he told me of one artist that he makes an exception for. ‘One artist I've covered is Ian Tyson, a Canadian singer/songwriter. He has been a mentor and teacher to me.’
When describing his own style Brenn says, ‘I'm a little bit George Strait, a little bit of Bruce Springsteen and a whole lot of Ian Tyson and John Denver.’ Whilst the styles may be representative, the voice of Brenn Hill is distinctly unique. In the way that one instantly recognises Dwight Yoakam or Josh Turner for their inimitable vocals, Brenn, likewise has his own exclusive sound making him stand out from the crowd.

His latest project is the new album, What A Man's Got To Do, marking Brenn's initial move into production. ‘It is an album with 15 songs of such diversity they will stir your soul, make you laugh and break your heart all within the space of an hour. Brenn was especially pleased to hear of the line dance inspired by his song, Casa Blanca taken from the album. ‘This song is near and dear to my heart. Casa Blanca is a winter resort where myself and my wife spent our honeymoon.’

Brenn Hill has that knack of nurturing and keeping alive Western music's best traditions whilst embracing and exploring new and contemporary themes.Of the Western way of life,he says:‘Music is a way I can try to bring that lifestyle back to the forefront of people's hearts and minds.If I can activate the people who live this Western lifestyle as well as the people who are fascinated by it, maybe I've accomplished something beyond making music.’

UP COUNTRY MAGAZINE
SEPTEMBER 2008

www.upcountrymagazine.co.uk/