Brennen Leigh Live at OK Theatre

When it comes to Brennen Leigh, there is no question. Always and assuredly precise in her ability to craft country music of the highest caliber, her latest album - the uncompromisingly titled Don’t You Ever Give Up On Love - is packed full of playful earworms, tender tearjerkers and honky tonk quintessence that two steps straight to the heart. 

Offered as a declaration for the desperate, the titular track that opens the album was initially composed by friend and fellow musician Elijah Ocean, who had completed a portion of the song with Leigh in mind. “My immediate reply was ‘Don’t you dare finish that without me,’”says Leigh. Bright and blissful, the resulting co-write boasts a cinematic quality akin to the soundtrack of a countrified happily-ever-after ending.

Nodding to some of the more cautionary cuts of artists like Loretta Lynn, Leigh quickly removes herself from a rubbish romantic relationship in stride on the pedal steel heavy “Dumpster Diving.” Although self-described as a “trashy little tune,” do not discard the wisdom earned from Leigh’s brief suffering by “settling for less than we deserve in love.”

A lover of subjects tried and true to the genre, Leigh’s talents as a writer apply equally to songs of both the cheating and drinking variety. “This album needed one more country & western cheating song,” explains Leigh of the twangy “Tell Me.” “This one is about when you already know something isn’t right, but you need to hear it from someone else. I imagine it as a phone call to the other woman, who isn’t telling the truth.” While “Tell Me” anticipates terrible news, “A Reason to Drink” serves something sadder. “One of my favorite topics in country & western music is alcoholic denial and shame,” shares Leigh. “The love interest in this song chases an unavailable person because she gives him a reason to drink excessively, while the singer chases the unavailable alcoholic. It’s a dysfunctional cycle I don’t recommend, unless you’re trying to gather material for country songs.”

“Thank God You’re Gone” is the first of three tunes that appear on this record credited to Leigh and singer, songwriter and console steel guitar player Alex Miller as part of the pair’s prolific writing sessions. One of two written on the same day, the jaunty track is a euphoric expression of good riddance capable of calling all to the dance floor.

A country & western tale of comeuppance, “You’re Finally Hurtin’” might sound sad but Leigh offers no sympathy here. “My friend and I were talking about someone in our social circle who finally ran himself into public shame by repeated bad behavior toward women,” says Leigh. “Neither of us felt sorry for the guy when it all came back to bite him, and she made a joke that gave me the idea for ‘You’re Finally Hurtin’.’” 

“Mary Bragg is one of my favorite writers and was the exact perfect person to bring this one to life with me,” says Leigh of the self-deprecating and barroom-ready track “Nothing You Can’t Fix.” The hearty honky tonk romp ensures that no problem is beyond repair for a potential suitor, but Leigh is reminded that can be a misguided belief. “Sometimes in the past I have thought another person could fix me,” she explains. “Apparently I’m the only person who can do that. 

Sorrow never sounded so smooth on "How’s The Getting Over Me Going.” “I wrote this with the brilliant Dean Fields,” says Leigh. “It’s about wondering what your lost love is up to; what their day to day is like. It’s about broken up love and the grief that comes with missing someone you still care for a great deal.” Lyrical daydream musings and a heavy sigh-inducing melody to match make for a sublime combination.

“Tumbleweeds are the wildest, most unruly and least domesticated things you’ve ever seen,” warns Leigh about her windswept waltz “Texas Tumbleweed.” “They’re best admired from afar, rolling across the plains, as God intended them to be.” From the same gust of creativity that formed “Thank God You’re Gone,” this lulling lament came about during Leigh and Alex Miller’s much inspired meeting. “I love the image of someone who’s running from love, characterized as a tumbleweed in West Texas,” says Leigh.

Ever at home in Western swing, “Alone In The Lone Star” appropriately arrived via long distance as the third collaboration between Leigh and Alex Miller. “He sent me a demo of the first verse, and I wrote the second one,” says Leigh. The lively tempo of the band definitely makes the Texas-sized blues more bearable for Leigh and her not so subtle exaggeration of a loveless situation. “It’s hard to be truly lonely under a Texas moon,” shares Leigh. “But I think Tex-Mex food is probably best enjoyed with someone you love.

As the penultimate track on the record, “I’m Easy To Love After All” is the waltz-time ballad bookend and companion track to the album opener that hits just right before the credits roll. Penned for producer Kevin Skrla, Leigh acknowledges how the whole project was a labor of love in more ways than one. “His knowledge of country & western is deep, and he’s the reason our record sounds like it does,” explains Leigh. “He’s the gentlest and smartest person I know, crucial qualities in a good producer. We know it’s a country music cliche for a singer and her producer to wind up together, but Kevin is uniquely qualified for all of the above.”

Acting as an encore, “Little Magic Wolf” is a trotting Western instrumental with the ambiance of a night on the range. Guitar, piano and pedal steel ride in the foreground while a faint howl fades in and out not far behind.

Don’t You Ever Give Up On Love was recorded at Wolfe Island Recording Co. in Dayton, TX.

“Brennen Leigh plays guitar like a mother#$%%.”

- Guy Clark

“Brennen is as cool as they come. I think this album really showcases that. The writing, musicality, arrangements, production, but mostly how much fun it is! If you don’t wanna start two stepping to this one, you’re probably dead.”

- Colter Wall

“An adventurous artist wholly and authentically herself.”

– No Depression

“A story-telling poet,landscape painter, passionate observer of the human condition and a cultural preservationist.”

- Rodney Crowell

“Brennen will carry the torch for REAL roots American music for her generation, and she’s the best one to do it in my opinion”

- Ray Benson

"Leigh's 'You've Never Been to North Dakota' soothes like Cole Porter, timelessly lyrical both literally and vocally."

-Raoul Hernandez, Austin Chronicle