Transgendered singer/songwriter Namoli Brennet has been criss-crossing 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 been sighted 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 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.
"Brennet's gravelled voice sings through to the bone. A female Tom Waits."
- CE Skidmore, CommUNITY
"Brennet sings and plays with an intensity and intelligence that can't be ignored."
- Performing Songwriter Magazine
