Alumni Brennen Henson releases debut Extended Play
PHOTO Chase Raymond
November 20, 2017
Heard and shared through earbuds in the hallways is alumni Brennen Henson’s debut EP, “Talking Dreamer”. Now with over 1,000 plays on Spotify, he is kick-starting his career and letting his voice be heard.
“He already has his own style that’s different than everyone else’s.” sophomore Brianna Cox said. “I don’t know how to explain it, but when you hear his songs, you know it is his. You don’t even have to ask.”
Inspired by John Mayer, Henson is starting to pursue the huge goals and aspirations he has had his whole life but did not feel he followed through on. This was the inspiration for the first track and name of the EP, “Talking Dreamer”.
“As I wrote the song ‘Talking Dreamer’ and was recording the demo to send to my producer,” Henson said, “I kept crying and having to restart because it was such an honest song and vulnerable song for me.”
From a songwriting standpoint, it is also very based in his faith and expresses his struggles to try and pursue it. This can be seen especially in the third track “Genie in a Lamp” and fourth track “Let Him In”.
“I was a little frightened to release it because I was worried people might not like how I talked about my faith,” Henson said. “But I came to the realization that I’m just singing about myself in an honest way and that it’s something I shouldn’t be ashamed of. I hope that others listen and will be inspired and filled with positivity.”
Although he has been writing songs since his freshman year of high school, Henson felt that the fourth and final track on the EP, “Stressing Out”, was the first “good” song he wrote.
“As an artist, there’s a lot of stress and anxiety that can come along with it, but I wrote that song to remind myself and others that everything will be okay.” Henson said. “You just need to be yourself and live a happy life because worrying never helped anything.”
“I love the album so much because I know how hard Brennen has worked on this and how much he’s been trying to make his dream a reality.” senior Skylar Matthews said. “My favorites are Talking Dreamer or Stressing Out because of how much meaning there is in the lyrics.”
This is just the beginning for Brennen as he is hoping to release music for the rest of his life. He has already continued writing for another EP, and as soon as he has the funds for it, the next one will be out.
“My next step is getting signed to a record label and doing this music thing until the day I die.” Henson said. “Music is so powerful and it’s what our world needs, especially in times like today.”
Brennen is hoping to release a Christmas single as soon as early December. His EP is available on Spotify, iTunes, Apple Music, Amazon Music and Google Play Music.
