Kathleen Brennan

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Kathleen Brennan
Born
Kathleen Patricia Brennan

1955 (age 68–69)
Cork, Ireland
NationalityAmerican
Spouse
​
(m. 1980)​
Children3

Kathleen Patricia Brennan (born 1955) is an American musician, songwriter, record producer, and artist. She is married to Tom Waits and has been his main song-writing collaborator and producer since 1992.

Life

Brennan was born in Cork, Ireland and grew up in Johnsburg, Illinois in the US, after her family moved there when she was young.[1] Brennan and Waits met in 1978 when Waits made his acting debut in Paradise Alley,[2] and then again during the filming of the Francis Ford Coppola film One from the Heart.[3] They met on New Year's Eve.[4]

Waits was composing the original soundtrack for the film, while Brennan worked at the film's studio, American Zoetrope, as a script analyst.[5] Waits dedicated his 1980 song Jersey Girl to Brennan,[6] and they were married later that year[2] in the Always Forever Wedding Chapel a few months after they met.[7] After they married, Brennan encouraged Waits to become his own producer.[8] Waits has described Brennan as "a remarkable collaborator... She's bold, inventive and fearless. That's who you wanna go in the woods with, right? Somebody who finishes your sentences for you."[9] In 2008, Waits described their collaboration as "one person holds the nail and the other one swings the hammer".[10]

Brennan's first co-writing credit appears on Rain Dogs in 1985 for "Hang Down Your Head", and by 1992 she was his main producer and constant song-writing partner; her record collection introduced him to the music of Captain Beefheart.[11] She is generally regarded as the catalyst for Waits's more experimental sound beginning with the album Swordfishtrombones,[12][13] which Waits produced on dare from Brennan.[7] Waits has said: "She doesn't like the limelight, but she's an incandescent presence on all songs we work on together."[14] In 2016, John Prine, Waits, and Brennan were honored for songwriting at an event hosted by the JFK Library; during that event Colum McCann highlighted Brennan and Waits' work by noting “They illuminate the landscape and then they plunge it dark again".[15]

In 2020, Brennan described Waits' songs as either "grim reapers" or "grand weepers".[16]

Personal life

Brennan and Waits live in northern California with their three children.[17]

References

  1. ^ Patrick Humphries (December 17, 2009). The Many Lives of Tom Waits. Omnibus Press. p. 199. ISBN 9780857121257.
  2. ^ a b O'Hagan, Interview by Sean (October 28, 2006). "Off beat". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved August 11, 2017.
  3. ^ Maher, Paul (November 1, 2011). Tom Waits on Tom Waits: Interviews and Encounters. Aurum. ISBN 978-1-84513-827-1.
  4. ^ "Play it like your hair's on fire". Innocent when you dream : Tom Waits, the collected interviews. Internet Archive. London : Orion. 2007. p. 341. ISBN 978-0-7528-8126-3.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  5. ^ Innocent when you dream : Tom Waits, the collected interviews. Internet Archive. London : Orion. 2007. p. 294. ISBN 978-0-7528-8126-3.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  6. ^ Margotin, Philippe; Guesdon, Jean-Michel (October 6, 2020). Bruce Springsteen: All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track. Octopus. ISBN 978-1-78472-725-3.
  7. ^ a b Innocent when you dream : Tom Waits, the collected interviews. Internet Archive. London : Orion. 2007. ISBN 978-0-7528-8126-3.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  8. ^ "MUSIC; A Poet of Outcasts Who's Come Inside: MUSIC". New York Times (Online), New York: New York Times Company. May 5, 2002 – via Proquest.
  9. ^ Tom Waits Library – Biography – Quotes Archived August 13, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  10. ^ Brackett, Donald (September 30, 2008). Dark Mirror: The Pathology of the Singer-Songwriter: The Pathology of the Singer-Songwriter. ABC-CLIO. p. 79. ISBN 978-0-275-99899-8.
  11. ^ Sylvie Simmons (September 2004). "The Mojo Interview: Tom Waits Speaks". Mojo Magazine.
  12. ^ Robert Christgau (July 9, 2002). "Robert Christgau: Effective but Defective: Tom Waits". robertchristgau.com. Retrieved March 28, 2013.
  13. ^ Armstrong, Kurt (January 1, 2011). Why Love Will Always Be a Poor Investment: Marriage and Consumer Culture. Wipf and Stock Publishers. ISBN 978-1-62189-233-5.
  14. ^ Rip Rense (January 1999). "A Q&A About Mule Variations". www.msopr.com. Mitch Schneider Organisation.
  15. ^ Shanahan, Mark (September 19, 2016). "John Prine, Tom Waits, Kathleen Brennan honored for songwriting at star-studded event at JFK library - The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved November 28, 2022.
  16. ^ Waterman, Cole (November 17, 2020). "Between the Grooves: Tom Waits - 'Bone Machine'". PopMatters; Evanston – via Proquest.
  17. ^ "Tom Waits". nndb.com. 2012. Retrieved March 28, 2013.


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