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Brennen Leigh & Noel McKay return to Garden City for show at HPPR

HPPR welcomes singer-songwriters Brennen Leigh & Noel McKay to our Garden City studios for a Living Room Concert on Tuesday, June 10.

We are located at 210 N. 7th St. The doors will open at 7:00, and the show will start at 7:30.

This is Brennen and Noel's first show for HPPR and their first appearance in Garden City since performing at the Tumbleweed Festival a couple of years ago.About Brennen & Noel

Brennen Leigh and Noel McKay craft story songs with equal measures heart (“Before the World Was Made”) and humor (“Breaking Up And Making Up Again”). Evidence: Before the World Was Made. The Austin-based songwriters’ debut collaboration spotlights celebrated troubadours in peak form (“Before We Come to Our Senses”). “These are modern day country duets à la George Jones and Melba Montgomery,” producer GurfMorlix says, “but with very sophisticated songwriting.”

Before the World Was Made began taking shape three years ago right as Leigh’s solo high watermark The Box stirred waves far and wide. (Lee Ann Womack, Sunny Sweeney and the Carper Family have covered her defiantly traditional country songs.) By that point, Leigh was well rooted in Austin, where she moved after growing up playing in a family band in Minnesota. “I was attracted to the scene in Austin,” she says. “It’s a great place to learn and get better at what I do.”

Meanwhile, McKay fronted the regionally popular McKay Brothers (Cold Beer and Hot Tamales), a band legendary songwriter Guy Clark had been championing for years. “Noel and Brennen are great songwriters,” says Clark, whose new album My Favorite Picture of You contains the McKay co-write “El Coyote.” The album went on to win a Grammy for best Folk album in 2014.

The singular duo effortlessly balances wit (“Let’s Don’t Get Married”) and whimsy (“Let’s Go to Lubbock on Vacation”) throughout. “I’ve loaded up the Nomad and the tank is full of gas/We’ll ride along across the High Plains fast,” the latter goes. “We’ll find the sweetest spot on God’s creation, my pretty little turtle dove/Let’s go to Lubbock on vacation.” Punch line: “Then we’ll know we’re really in love.” The pair consistently doubles down with sharp snapshots charting equally unpredictable romantic byways (“Salty Kisses in the Sand,” “Great Big Oldsmobile”).

“We kind of set out to make out a record of songs that we were singing together, even if it wasn’t specifically duet songs,” McKay says. “We both have solo careers to think about, but we’ll probably revisit this over and over and it’s a nice thing we can keep doing.” “We got to where people were asking us about certain songs and lumping us together in their mind,”

Mike Fuller remains our station's favorite prodigal son. Former Music Director of High Plains Public Radio, and host of High Plains Morning (2010-2015), he has returned to HPPR with a new show called What The Folk?—a signature mix of folk, roots, Americana, and more—woven together by a unifying theme. Tune in every Saturday night at 7pm CT for a two-hour mix that could only come from the man himself.