Win Tickets ($90) True West Presents Brett Dennen – Art is Life @ Aladdin Theater

We are giving away a pair of tickets to Brett Dennen – Art Is Life on June 14. To win, comment below on this post why you’d like to attend. Winner will be drawn and emailed June 8.

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From our sponsors:

Brett Dennen – Art Is Life
June 14, 2026
7PM doors, 8PM show | $45.93+ | All ages
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Aladdin Theater
3017 Southeast Milwaukie Avenue, Portland, OR

Across his career, Brett Dennen has established himself as the kind of singer-songwriter who finds inspiration by digging into the nooks and crannies of the human condition—exploring pain, joy, sadness, and all points in between. If It Takes Forever (Mick Music), the California native’s eighth solo album and first full-length since 2021’s See the World, is no exception. The warm, immersive collection boasts deeply felt sentiments, underpinned by rich acoustic guitars and Dennen’s earnest vocals, in the vein of dusky Americana (“Golden State of Mind”), harmonica-driven blues (the Tom Petty-esque “Careful What You Wish For”), rootsy indie (“Don’t Go Talking”), and meditative folk-rock (highlight “Time To Wake Up”).

If It Takes Forever emerged out of a tough 2023 for Dennen, as he was dealing with the death of his dad. “He was such a strong figure in my life that I depended on so much as both a dad and a best friend,” he said. “And I knew immediately in order for me to deal with his death, the best thing I could do was to make an album about it.”
Understandably, Dennen took his time coming up with song ideas for If It Takes Forever, and spent the bulk of a year simply thinking about “what kind of album I was going to make and what kinds of songs were going to be on the album,” he says. “I jotted down ideas on paper, made little voice memos with ideas of songs, melodies and choruses, or sometimes even just talked into a voice recorder.”

Since debuting in 2004 with a self-titled album, Dennen has amassed a loyal fanbase thanks to a steady touring schedule, including alongside artists like John Mayer, Jason Mraz and G Love and Special Sauce, as well as multiple song placements in the TV show Parenthood. Another tune, “Comeback Kid (That’s My Dog),” became the theme song for the TV adaptation About A Boy. Along the way, Dennen has also had multiple top 10 hits on the AAA radio charts, with the keening title track of See the World, an encouraging song about growing up and forging your own path in life, landing at No. 4 in 2021.

With If It Takes Forever, Dennen plans to hit the road once again, but he possesses additional perspective on—and gratitude for—the solace provided by art and music. “To really boil it down, this is life,” he says. “Life is full of things that get complicated and make you busy, and are really hard to deal with. But if you write songs about it, and put it into art, then it makes it a lot more relevant and meaningful and worthy of celebration.”