Indie singer/songwriter, Brooke Annibale’s evocative musicianship, nurtured by her fam-ily’s music store, is driven by an enduring passion for songwriting. Born and raised inPittsburgh, PA, Brooke’s maternal grandfather opened a music retail and live-sound business in the 1960’s, that is still family-run today. Also an accomplished player, he en-couraged Annibale to take an interest in the guitar. Music was ever-present in her life because of the store, where she started taking lessons at age 14. “I felt a natural inclina-tion to play guitar because it was always inmy family,”Annibale says. “My dad was a live sound engineer for the family business and that’s how he met my mom. Neither ofmy parents are musicians, but the love and respect for music inmy family runs really deep.”As a guitar player, Annibale stands out with her deep groove and interesting stylistic choices reminiscent ofan early Josh Rouse and inspiration by John Mayer. Guitar aside, it’s her magnetic voice, that smoldering and irresistible delivery, that draws you in, mak-ing you think of names like Lisa Hannigan, Norah Jones and Sarah McLachlan. Over the course of developing her dynamic sound, Annibale finds influence from musicians like Kathleen Edwards, The Swell Season and Brandi Carlile, who push boundaries and rede-fine what it means tobe a singer/songwriter in modern times, while remaining timeless. When it comes to songwriting, Annibale started young, writing as a 3rd grader, but really began taking music seriously as a teenager. This led to her picking up the guitar tocom-pliment her writing. Inspired by deep, meaningful lyricists like Elliott Smith, of the songwriting craft, she states; “I don’t think there’s really any better way to express my-self or relate to other people than through music. It’s just really powerful.”Annibale took that passion for songwriting and performing to Nashville, where she earned her degree inMusic Business at Belmont University. Not wanting tobe boxed in by a traditional music program, she was drawn to a more business oriented major that aligned with her entre-preneurial spirit. Brooke spent about six years living and making music in Nashville, in the winter of 2014, she officially moved back to Pittsburgh. Both cities had a lot to offer and have equally inspired Annibale’s music. Nashville’s musical amenities are incomparable to most cities, but Pittsburgh provides a sort of life balance that Music City could not. However, she has taken advantage of the resources in Nashville by way of recording two full albums and anEPat The Smoakstack along with producer Paul Moak (Silence Worth Breakingin 2011) and Engineer/Producer Justin March (Words In Your EyesEPin 2013, The Simple Fearin 2015).It’s ironic how Brooke Annibale’s fearlessness and eloquence exudes onan album titled The Simple Fear. Annibale had experienced a bout of writer’s block after releasing her 2013 Words In Your Eyes EP. After months of not being able to complete a single song, she wrote and demoed “Remind Me”all in the same day. The rest of the songs came like a flood during major life changes; including a move from Nashville back to her hometown of Pittsburgh. While writing the rest of the album, Annibale was contemplat-
ing basic life expectations as well as the fear that those expectations might not be met. “I had to deal with the fear of the unknown future and the struggle of letting go of the past. Those two conflicting feelings are woven throughout these songs: letting go and moving forward,”says Annibale. “Fear is always complicated, but it’s simple in the sense that weall have certain fears in common at some point in our lives.”Recorded over the course of 2014 and 2015 at the Smoakstack Studios in Nashville, The Simple Fear, picks upwhere the likes of Kathleen Edwards and The Swell Sea-son’s last records left off. Producer Justin March boldly showcases Annibale’s songs in a relevant, subtly experimental, and yet timeless offering. It progresses what itmeans tobe labeled a Dzsinger-songwriterdzorto have the word Dzfolkdz attached to a descriptor. This album’s centerpiece lays in Annibale’s subtle groove along with meaningful lyrics delivered in smoldering vocals, encased in layers of beautiful strings, guitar, piano and percussion. The persistence and musical affinity between March and Annibale resonates strongly even on first listen toThe Simple Fear.
