Brett Dennen and Natalie Merchant to release duet

Brett Dennen’s busy summer of festivals and tour dates with O.A.R. paused for a day recently when the folk/rock songwriter joined Natalie Merchant in an upstate New York recording studio where the pair re-recorded Dennen’s, “Heaven,” as a powerful duet. Originally appearing on Dennen’s Hope For The Hopeless album, the duet version will now be available for both an exclusive first listen at AOL Music and for iTunes download on September 1st. “Heaven” will then impact Triple A radio on September 14th.

“It was a magical experience and a complete honor to hear Natalie Merchant put her voice into words I wrote,” Brett recently told Billboard Magazine. “The song, “Heaven” is about finding joy in sadness, remaining optimistic during difficult times… it’s what I write about most, which is why the line, “is there hope for the hopeless,” from “Heaven” ultimately became the name of the album.”

This Fall, Brett will perform at Bumbershoot, the Outside Lands Festival in his hometown of San Francisco and the Austin City Limits Festival. Additionally, Grace Potter & The Nocturnals will join him as he mounts another cross-country tour, with dates to be announced soon. Throughout the Summer of 2009, Dennen has performed at festivals such at Rothbury, Bonnaroo, Summerfest and Mountain Jam while also opening dates with O.A.R. at renowned venues like Red Rocks and Madison Square Garden.

With Dennen’s vibrant mix of messages and melody, grass-roots explosion as an artist to watch and captivating live performances, he is on the way to proving Rolling Stone right – upon the release of Hope For The Hopeless, the magazine predicted “he may soon give Dave Matthews a run for his tour grosses.”

ABOUT BRETT: The 6’4” former camp counselor, organic gardener, backpacker from Northern California seems an unlikely front man, yet he nonetheless radiates ease in his own skin. His wit and sentiment amount to a captivating performance and as the audience grows, Brett remains the folky, soulful, and insightful artist that first captured hearts in California coffee houses five years ago.

Dennen’s most recent album, Hope For The Hopeless (Dualtone/Downtown Records) debuted in October 2008 as the #4 Independent Album, the #6 Digital Album and at #41 on the Billboard Top 200 Chart. The first single, “Make You Crazy” features Femi Kuti, became a Top Five hit at AAA Radio and was accompanied by a tongue-in-cheek music video featuring Mandy Moore in an ironic take on “trends” as seen on VH1.

Rolling Stone named Dennen an "Artist to Watch in 2008," and upon the release of Hope For The Hopeless, Dennen performed on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Good Morning America Weekend, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, CBS Saturday Early Show, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson and Last Call with Carson Daly. His music has been featured on Grey’s Anatomy, Scrubs and House, among others.