Brett Dennen

Twenty-nine-year-old Californian singer-songwriter Brett Dennen, whose prepubescent voice matches his baby-face and childish shocks of red hair, has spent years touring as second fiddle to similarly subdued alt-contemporary performers like John Mayer, Missy Higgins and Jason Mraz, but this year he finally accumulated enough notoriety to launch his own headlining tourguess all those “Grey’s Anatomy” soundtrack contributions finally paid off. Later this spring, though, he’ll slide Candy Land-style back down to the opening slot he’s so often held when he tours the United Kingdom with The Fray.