A Show (and shop) to Remember1/31/2017  Donkey Coffee will always be my favorite venue and will at all times have my heart. I had such a fantastic time playing this past weekend. I've never seen the place so packed. Via an instagram contest, I gave away a free, handmade guitar string bracelet (which I hope to make more of). My loop pedal and my originals were absolute hits. The crowd laughed, smiled, sang, and cheered. They sure did make me feel like a star. Check out videos and more pictures from the night on my facebook page, Brenna Lynn Music. On stage, I was my typical silly, awkward, smiley self... but something felt different this time. I looked out at the crowd - some people sitting on the floor because they ran out of chairs - under the string lights at the humble coffee shop showroom. And I realized I might never get invited to play an invite Saturday night show at Donkey again since I'm graduating. Donkey is easily my favorite place in Athens. It's got the greatest open mic in town, it's got fun, quirky, and sometimes even pretty deep art. It's the most environmentally friendly coffee shop I've ever been in. It's got the friendly staff that draws things in your latte. It's got eclectic music and people. It's all fair trade and local. It's got the most delicious hot chocolate, coffee, and chai tea lattes. And of course it has Troy - he used to be the sound guy there - and he is quite potentially one of the kindest, purest, gentlest, most beautiful souls I've ever met. I miss Troy. Donkey has made me feel like a star, it's made me feel cozy when the whole world has felt cold, it's introduced me to beautiful local musicians, it's warmed my soul with lattes and friendliness, it's made me write and read poetry on stage, it's gotten me through finals week, and it will forever be my favorite coffee shop. My last song of the night was "You Are My Sunshine," and everyone in the shop sang and clapped along. It was quite beautiful, hearing all of the people sing along in the little venue that is my sunshine. Thank you Donkey Coffee for all you've done for me. Forever, Brenna Lynn
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Music City, USA1/24/2017  OH. MY. GOODNESS. This past weekend I had the pleasure of taking a super quick trip to Nashville. I needed to visit the graduate school down there, Vanderbilt University, so Brandon and I booked a hotel – using points so that it was only about 50 bucks for two nights believe it or not – and took the 6.5 hour drive from Athens to Music City. Well…I see why they call it music city! On Broadway Avenue, aka “Music Row” it’s impossible to not hear music. On every street corner, every floor of every bar, and every balcony and rooftop, there is live music. Bands everywhere! Brandon told me, “Brenna, I know you love tipping musicians, but you’re not gonna be able to tip them all.” We settled on tipping only the street performers with low-tech equipment and first rate performances, figuring they needed and deserved it the most. One fiddler in cowboy boots had me dancing in seconds, so she won my tip. We danced and sang all night long at each bar! My favorite bar was probably Honky Tonk Central, because of the balconies on the upper floors. We got some great craft beer and split a pizza at a delicious place called Rock Bottom, which I highly suggest. I absolutely loved being surrounded by music and couldn’t help but daydream about being up on the stages. I dream and pray that I will get into Vanderbilt University, and maybe even get my tuition paid for with scholarships, so that I can move to Nashville and put all of my free time towards music. If not, I’ll get my Master’s up in Ohio, and move to Music City as soon as I get my cap and gown. Until next time Nashville… Xoxo -Brenna Lynn Copyrights.1/14/2017  I don't know about you, but my art is sort of my life. My songs are my mind on paper...and if someone else ever claimed or profited off of my songs without my permission, it would be like they stole part of who I am.
Last night I just couldn't sleep, so around 2am I figured as long as I'm up, I might as well do something important. Copyrights. So how do you copyright your creative material? Technically, you own the copyright as soon as you put an idea into a tangible, reproducible form. So when you create a painting, take a picture, or scribble words on a napkin, it is YOUR copyrighted material. However... It's hard to prove that you truly created something before someone else did (especially in court) unless it's registered through the U.S. copyright office. Some people say that you can do a "poor man's copyright" by mailing yourself a copy of your work and not opening it. I am the QUEEN of poor man's mcgyver-y methods....but this is one process that is WORTH EVERY CENT. A poor man's copyright holds up very poorly in court. To copyright a song, it costs $35, or $55 for a collection of songs, so it makes more sense to do a load of songs at a time. Start by going to www.copyright.gov and go to the eCO office to register a copyright online. Once you get to the eCO site, create an account and login. Click "register a copyright" on the left hand side and answer the questions (yes or no) by checking the boxes. Since I wrote my songs and did all of the creative work myself, I answered "yes" on the last two questions, but because I was copyrighting a collection of songs, I clicked "no" for the first question. This brings you to the standard application (where you want to be when copyrighting an album rather than a single). From there, begin answering all of the questions and filling out your information. When it asks for a title, name the album, not the individual songs (you'll upload those later). I just called mine "Brenna's Songs 2016" since that's when they were recorded. After answering all of the questions, enter your payment information. After you officially pay the copyright office, you can begin submitting songs! I copyrighted 13 songs this time around...and it felt so good. Now that I know my creative material is safe (aka if someone used it illegally I could properly fight, sue, and/or correct the problem), I am excited to put more of my work out there! Get excited for some cool YouTube videos and downloadable songs on the horizon!! I hope all of my fellow artists that read this benefit from this post. If you'd like a video of me copyrighting material and explaining the process, please request one below in the comments section! Best $55 I ever spent. Love, An artist-loving songwriter New Years Resolution1/7/2017  Ok 2017. Listen up. This year I'm not joking around.
2016 was a year of performances: I had a lot of practice playing out at places like Donkey Coffee, The Symposium, The Smiling Skull, Gillespie's Map Room and more. It was a lot of fun and brought me some income to put towards more musical equipment. But 2017 needs to be more. 2017 will be the year I get down to business and record an album. I'm not positive it will be released this year, but I know it will be in the works, and I'm going to work my tail off on it. My album and my music will be my main priority this year. I, Brenna Lynn Innocenzi, hereby vow to spend AT LEAST 2 hours on recording an album each week. I PROMISE to at least record and release one song before the end of the year. That being said...enter the fans! What songs should I put on my album? What songs have you been dying to listen to at home? I have room for 10 songs and it's going to be tricky making decisions on which songs should take priority and get a slot on this album. STAY TUNED. This year I hope to have polls, prizes, votes, freebies, questions, contests, and artwork submissions for this album. I promise I will not disappoint. Tell your friends. I'm coming for you 2017. LOOPS BABY LOOPS1/7/2017 I have recently become addicted to my Boss RC-30 Loop station pedal. It was a little difficult to get the hang of, but I'm getting some traction and growing exponentially as a musician and a performer.
The RC-30 is capable of two channels. Basically, I can record one loop on one channel, and another (of equal length) on a second channel, and I can turn them on and off independently of each other. It's super cool! I'm learning a lot about percussion arrangements and simplifying drum patterns to be played on different part of the guitar, and I'm also learning a lot about harmonization and how to harmonize with myself. You can get a taste of what this looks like on my youtube channel, through my cover of Royals by Lorde. I plan to loop Superstition by Stevie Wonder, and Blank Space by Taylor Swift. I can't wait to make some videos and post them! Comment what covers you'd like me to loop!! Thanks lovelies! Ahh the Map Room!1/7/2017 Had a blast playing at the Map Room in Cleveland! What a cool bar! I hope everyone that came out had as much fun as I did. Thank you for filling my tip jar to the brim and thank you for all of your cheers and kind words. What venues should I play at next? Where would you like to see me on stage?
Brenna Lynn
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