Namoli Brennet's name is inspired by the word "anomaly," meaning an exception to the rule.
She is that, and also a singer-songwriter with keen talent.
"She's an excellent musician," said Kathleen Williamson, a veteran local musician. "Her songs are heartfelt in the writing and performance."
Brennet, 38, came to town in 1996 from Connecticut to study choral conducting as a graduate student at the University of Arizona.
She would eventually drop out to focus more seriously on writing music, and in 2002 she released the album "Boy in a Dress."
The title of the album hinted at a larger life issue Brennet was grappling with: Brennet was born male but identified as a female.
Sometime after 2002, Brennet started the transition to living her life as a female, and it was then she discovered how much she loved Tucson.
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"People weren't fazed by it," said Brennet, who chose her first name to reflect her new identity.
The transition has helped Brennet grow artistically as well, as she's gained more confidence in her music.
"Because I was living a not completely authentic life, I felt like I had not completely authentic music coming out of me," she said. "As I began to take more risks and get a little more true to myself, I felt like my music kind of fell into step with that."
Brennet also produces, engineers and releases her albums on her own label, Flaming Dame Records, averaging about one a year since 2002.
Her last record was 2007's "Singer Shine Your Light." It's a gorgeous, poppy heartache of a folk record with strings, harmonica and Brennet's sun-dried voice fluctuating from tender to defiant.
Despite her unique life journey, Brennet's lyrics are accessible and capable of speaking to shared experiences. Although she doesn't often refer directly to gender transition, the theme of self-discovery informs her work.
"I feel like a lot of people go through a process like that, where they sort of have to buck other people's expectations," Brennet said.
The full-time musician, who has a habit of blowing through her lips after long bouts of speaking, works on her songs at her home near Downtown. Sometimes her recording is interrupted by the whistle of a passing freight train. She uses her laptop to capture her music, usually during the day when her neighbors are at work.
A huge poster from "Rent," her favorite musical, hangs in Brennet's living room along with images of women in a framed collage.
She regularly plays venues Downtown such as Plush and Club Congress, and she tours the East Coast and the Midwest several times a year.
One state she has mixed feelings about is California.
Brennet was playing a Long Beach coffee shop for tips, and, as she performed, four people in the front row talked away on their cellphones.
The situation led to her writing "California," the opening track on "Singer Shine Your Light."
California
Are you listening
Cause I am trying to get through to you
California
You are trembling
Tell me what would we do
If you just fall into the sea?
For a free download of Namoli Brennet's song "California," go to AzNightbuzz.com.
Namoli Brennet
Next show: Sunday at the Festival for Life, a 4 p.m. fundraiser for the Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation at the UA grand ballroom. Advance tickets $60; it's $75 at the door.
Taste of her lyrics:
Seven times you called me up
And seven times I hung up the phone
Seven times was just enough
To let you see how little I've grown
Even so, it's easier said than done
I'm wrong, yeah
But I'm still the toughest one.
— from "Seven Times"
