Writer, filmmaker, performer and singer-songwriter Cait Brennan is perhaps one of the most prolific artists you’ve never heard of. Unknown outside of a small cult audience, Brennan has appeared in (and written) feature films, written dozens of nationally published short stories and magazine articles, directed short films and plays, and written dozens of irresistible pop and country gems that she performs for an ever-growing circle of fans and friends.
Long before her gender transition, Brennan began putting her somewhat unusual point of view to good use, writing stories and songs that explored heretofore-uncharted worlds between the sexes and genders, training her keen (and often merciless) observational eye on human relationships, straight, gay and otherwise. Rarely sparing herself in the process, she also composed uncompromisingly honest songs of her own life and the difficulties of living “on the outside” and her struggles with her gender. But before you start thinking she’s dour and over-earnest, her natural sense of the ridiculous and relentless self-mockery shines through, leaving sour singer-songwriters behind with such classics as “You’re The Fly In My Soup”, “My Cat Left Home” and “Willie Nelson’s Gay Wife Stole My Wife (And Willie Don’t care)”. Her relentless pop instincts and gift for melody have produced numerous would-be hits, from “Travelin’ Girl” and “Heaven’s Treasure” to “Emerald City” and “I Want You Back”.
As one of the early originators of the bedroom pop and “New Weird America” sound, Brennan’s albums were mainly recorded on primitive equipment and minimal budget, and circulated from fan to fan on the tape-trading circuit of the 80s and 90s. Several of her experimental power-pop tapes bounced around the southwest in the 80s, but her songwriting really matured in the early 90s; Two self-released tape gained her acclaim, 1991’s “Eskimo” and 1994’s “M. C. Brennan (etc)”; A major label soon expressed interest, but alas, it was not to be. The stripped-down, unfinished demos that resulted from that session became the “San Francisco Sessions” album. A final 90s record, the electrified “Black Diamond”, showed much promise but fell apart amid financial ruin and hilariously awful personal doom. Since 2000, between working on writing and film projects, she has been quietly issuing demos old and new on various websites, blogs and peer-to-peer networks for the benefit of those cherished few who’ve followed her this far. Long overdue for rediscovery (or just plain discovery), Brennan is recording a new record, “The Many Moods Of M. C. Brennan”, cheekily named after Murry Wilson’s magnum opus, and hopefully at least as good. |
