Welcome to my new and improved website. Six years ago, I stepped off a plane in San Diego after an entire life lived in the Northeast ready for a new adventure and I have had many, many adventures since then! My name is Brenda Panneton. The first adventure involved learning to play the guitar, writing my own songs, and eventually performing them around San Diego. I met many people that I have and continue to collaborate with musically. My second adventure involves painting. Just like my music, I have never had any formal training, but I began painting and before I knew it I had a show and even sold a few paintings at shows and museums along the way! My third adventure, and I believe a merging of the first two adventures, is my discovery of expressive arts. Expressive arts, in it's simpliest terms, is where a person uses different mediums such as drawing, painting, journaling, singing, playing an instrument, movement, and dance to learn about their true essence. Without even realizing it, a person can discover key aspects about problems they may be having, roadblocks they have built up to keep them from reaching their full potential by looking at and feeling what they have expressed. The art becomes a mirror. I am now an expressive arts teacher offering classes in my home teaching people of all ages that creativity is a natural birthright. It has and always will be there and it heals.
Please enjoy browsing through the menu at the different musical groups I'm involved in presently, my expressive arts class schedule, my paintings, my solo CD, and my house concert series. I also have a blog attached to the website as I would love to get to know you and you to get to know me.
Also, check out the local magazine called Natural Awakenings located at Henry's, People's, places like that. My new business is listed in the community resource section and will continue to be as it allows me three slots in the calendar of events to advertise my art classes, my house concerts, and my music performances. I'll keep you posted on an editorial they will soon be doing on me!!
all videos on this site are by Richard Pollard
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Recently a friend of mine and I were talking about self-promotion and he said, "Why is that you so often go to someone's website and you never see them giving thanks to anyone that's helped them along the way?" Good question, so I've decided to devote part of my website for that very purpose.
My Gratitude List
 Hot Rod Harris - Though he didn't like my music very much at first and thought I should have given up the guitar, his open mic at Hot Java's gave me the opportunity to build my skills and confidence to venture out to do my own shows. Later on, he taught me so much about the guitar and stage preparation. He helped market me when I first began my first shows and later on we became a duo known as "Garden Road". He took the photos on my CD, the best pictures anyone ever took of me. The guitar I use today was a birthday gift from him. I am forever indebted to him not to mention that he has been the inspiration behind much of my music!
JTurtle - J gave me guitar lessons when I first moved out here in 2004. I couldn't even strum or pick before I met him. He also believed in my style and told me not to worry about fitting my songs into a certain format. I wouldn't have listened to him anyway if he thought I should have.
Hot Java Cafe - For just opening your doors to all of us crazy musicians for so long! It was my home away from home and just listening and talking to so many musicians gave me so much knowledge in an atmosphere that may never be matched again!
Anna Troy - Anna traveled from Hillcrest to Poway once a week to teach me how to play the blues and just to improve my guitar playing in general. She gave me my first show, letting me open for her and it was the best thing she could have done for my confidence. She has since gone to New York to try her hand at fame and fortune and I know she will be very successful. She has always been innovative and completely dedicated to her music. A very humble soul is she.
Mark Peabody - Another wonderful person I met at Hot Java. He believed in my voice and taught me harmony as well as introduced me to some fabulous covers. Whenever I think of "Blue" by Lucinda Williams, I am taken back to when we performed it together at Hot Java Cafe.
Dave Sawyer - Dave and I have developed what I would call a love/hate relationship, mostly love! We met at Hot Java where I always enjoyed listening to him accompany others and then when he'd sit down we'd laugh so much about some of the things that happened there. I remember the days when I would always ask him how I did right after a performance and finally one day he said, "Brenda, do you think anyone is going to tell you, you sucked?" He said, "You know how you did, that's all you need to know." He was right. He has been a very good friend; he has gotten me through some of the toughest times I've had out here just by listening and letting me be a fool.
 Chelsea Flor - The first time I saw her perform at Hot Java, I was blown away by her stage presence and her inspirational music! We became fast friends and it was she that said she would not come to watch me perform if I didn't learn to stand with the guitar. She meant it. What a difference it makes being able to move to my guitar and of course how it opens up the lungs.
Amy Shamansky - One of the most talented musicians and artists I know. She was kind enough to let me share the stage with her a multitude of times; I loved the way our songs meshed. It was she who also introduced me to expressive arts which changed my life. A beautiful person inside and out.
Mike Hayter - He saw me one day hosting the open mic at Hot Java and decided he'd like to back me up on my originals. We started a band called "The Band Relationship" which was my first band. Even though it didn't last long, I learned so much about moving my music from just hearing myself to hearing others, not an easy move to make. I will always appreciate the confidence he gave me by enjoying my songs so much. He also is a gifted songwriter.
 Jane Berry - My best friend and soulmate. One day she showed me her mandolin that she was learning to play and I asked her if she'd like to play along to some of my music in my home. She did and she was good. We quickly built up a set list; she also learned the djembe on the spot, and we were soon gigging. Soon Jane was writing on her own. Annie Rettic joined us and we became "Blackbottom Pie". Jane introduced me to Ocean Beach, my new home and I never want to leave it! She also encouraged me to have my dream of having house concerts in my small little cottage telling me it could work on a smaller scale. She even named the series. We will be friends forever, walking down to the pier with our canes someday I'm sure with tons of fun memories.
Annie Rettic - My neighbor and bandmate. Though Annie has so much more training and background than I, she saw potential. Our band, Blackbottom Pie has now grown from adding some background to each other's songs, to rearrangments that include three part harmony. That's what Annie does, she sees potential and has infinite patience while waiting for it to blossom.
Sven-Erik Seaholm - A very talented musician I met through Hot Java. He was willing to put my first CD together on a shoestring budget. There were five musicians who collaborated with me, including Sven on that CD and we did it in less than a week! Another dear person that entered my life who believed in my music and opened an important door.
Crystal Pollard - Another soulmate of mine. I first met her at Cathryn Beek's Chick Camp and she was larger than life! She told me once that she has always been seventeen in her heart and when I'm with her, I feel the same. We are so mischevious and have the time of our lives. The truth is she is a wise, wise woman and if it's possible to have a seventeen year old mother, then she is that to me. She has encouraged me to be true to my music and to never stop singing. She has harmonized on some of my songs, but our latest endeavor is an al capelo trio that includes Annie Rettic.
Richard Pollard - Crystal's husband and my friend. He has been so supportive of my house concert series, he and Crystal coming to nearly every one, and he videotaping most all of them too. He has had wonderful ideas to help me be successful in my endeavors. A special man, indeed.
Dennis Driscoll - A more loyal fan I have yet to meet. He has become such a good friend, truly like the older brother I never had and always wished I had. He loved "Garden Road", but has been a fan of my own individual music, my bands, and my house concert series. He has given the best advice both in personal and professional matters, comes to as many concerts as he can, and donating chairs when I was starting the house concert series. I am so happy to have him in my life!!
Alan Land - A new friend and supporter of my endeavors, Alan has given me much valuable advice about making this website the best it can be. He reminds me to be true to myself and that I have many sides that should be portrayed.
Cathryn Beeks - One of the highlights of my life was singing at the "Acoustic Alliance" a few years back. It showed that Cathryn thought my music was worthy of being alongside so many talented people in our area and it did so much for my confidence. Her opinion matters to me greatly just because she's Cathryn Beeks.
Veronica Graciano - I met "Ronnie", I call her Veronica though, when Jeffrey Joe Morin performed in my cottage. She is his agent and she loved my place and my philosophy so much that she filled up every month's slot for a year and a half! She has come to most of them and worked so hard for her clients and for me so that I can offer this opportunity to local musicians. A beautiful, soulful person I'm lucky to know.
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