Brooke Waggoner (born May 30, 1984) is an American singer-songwriter from

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, Louisiana, who resides in

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, Tennessee.

Early life

Waggoner was born in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, Texas, to Lewis Earl and Kris Allyn (Kulcke) Waggoner. She comes from a classical music background with 17 years of formal training.
She graduated with a music composition and orchestration degree from

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

in 2006. After graduating, she left for Nashville and began developing her current music.

Career (2007–present)

Waggoner has released four albums independently, with all music being fully written, orchestrated, and arranged by herself. Her debut release was an EP titled ''Fresh Pair of Eyes'' (2007). After touring nationally through the spring of 2008, Waggoner released her second album, ''Heal for the Honey'', in the fall of that year. She continued touring nationally with such artists as Copeland,

Bell X1 The Bell X-1 (Bell Model 44) is a Rocket-powered aircraft, rocket engine–powered aircraft, designated originally as the XS-1, and was a joint National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics–U.S. Army Air Forces–U.S. Air Force supersonic resea ...

Owen Owen may refer to: People and fictional characters * Owen (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname Places United States * Owen, Missouri, a ghost town * Owen, Wisconsin * Owen County, Indiana ...

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, and

Unwed Sailor Unwed Sailor is an American, mostly instrumental band, formed in 1998 by Johnathon Ford, with recordings that range from instrumental rock to ambient drones. The band's touring and recording lineups have largely been in rotation over the years, ...

. In 2009, she produced her third album, ''Go Easy Little Doves''. The album again debuted at #1 on the iTunes Singer/Songwriter charts. Waggoner spent fall of 2009 and spring of 2010 on tour with such artists as

Owl City Owl City is an American electronic music project created in 2007 in Owatonna, Minnesota. It is one of several projects by singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Adam Young (American musician), Adam Young, who created the project while exp ...

Rocky Votolato Rocky Votolato (born March 8, 1977, in Dallas, Texas, United States) is an American indie and folk singer-songwriter. He was also a member of the rock group Waxwing. in 2025, he started a new band called Suzzallo with bandmate Rudy Gajadhar on d ...

, and

Denison Witmer Denison Witmer is an American singer-songwriter from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, United States. His first release, in 1995, was a cassette titled ''My Luck, My Love''. He has since released six studio LPs; two live albums, a cover album (''Recover ...

. Waggoner has been a part of the long-running and award-winning radio show "NPR's Mountain Stage", appearing multiple times with acts such as

Wilco Wilco is an American Rock music, rock band based in Chicago. The band was formed in 1994 by the remaining members of alternative country group Uncle Tupelo after singer Jay Farrar's departure. Wilco's lineup changed frequently during its fir ...

, Au Pair,

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Jerry Douglas Gerald Calvin Douglas (born May 28, 1956) is an American Dobro and lap steel guitar player and record producer. He is widely regarded as "perhaps the finest Dobro player in contemporary acoustic music, and certainly the most celebrated and prol ...

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, and others. Her music has appeared on numerous TV shows such as ABC Family's ''

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

'', ''

Kyle XY ''Kyle XY'' is an American science fiction television series created by Eric Bress and J. Mackye Gruber and produced by ABC Signature, ABC Studios. The central character is a teenage boy (Matt Dallas) who awakens naked in a forest outside Seattl ...

'', ''

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'', and ''

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'', as well as CBS's ''

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'', and Lifetime's ''

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''. Waggoner released her first DVD, entitled ''And the World Opened Up'', in 2010. It contains a live performance recorded at Nashville's Art House America in late 2009. Her music from ''Go Easy Little Doves'' is presented for the first time with a complete live orchestra. The DVD also features biographical interviews with Waggoner, footage of her musical development, and animated sections. Production is credited to

Charlie Peacock Charles William Ashworth (born August 10, 1956), known professionally as Charlie Peacock, is an American singer, songwriter, pianist, record producer, and author. His albums include ''Love Press Ex-Curio'', ''Arc of the Circle'' and ''No Man's L ...

. Waggoner has also produced records for other artists, including the 2010 vinyl release of ''The Sower'' by The Champion & His Burning Flame and the 2012 EP ''The Family Album'' for Jessica Ripka. In 2011, Waggoner recorded with

Jack White John Anthony White (; born July 9, 1975) is an American musician who achieved international fame as the guitarist and lead singer of the rock duo the White Stripes. As the White Stripes disbanded, he sought success with his solo career, subse ...

on his first solo album, ''

Blunderbuss The blunderbuss is a 17th- to mid-19th-century firearm with a short, large caliber Gun barrel, barrel. It is commonly flared at the muzzle (firearms), muzzle to help aid in the loading of Lead shot, shot and other projectiles of relevant quantity ...

''. She performed live with White in 2012, including a performance at the Grammys. Waggoner also appears on White's follow-up album, "

Lazaretto A lazaretto ( ), sometimes lazaret or lazarette ( ), is a quarantine station for maritime travelers. Lazarets can be ships permanently at anchor, isolated islands, or mainland buildings. In some lazarets, postal items were also disinfected, usu ...

" In September 2012, Waggoner was featured in the campaign "30 Songs / 30 Days" to support '' Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide'', a multi-platform media project inspired by

Nicholas Kristof Nicholas Donabet Kristof (born April 27, 1959) is an American journalist and political commentator. A winner of two Pulitzer Prizes, he is a regular CNN contributor and an op-ed columnist for ''The New York Times''. Born in Chicago, Kristof wa ...

and

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's book. Waggoner followed this with the release of her album ''Originator'' on March 5, 2013. After touring with

Ron Sexsmith Ronald Eldon Sexsmith (born January 8, 1964) is a Canadian singer-songwriter from St. Catharines, Ontario. He was the songwriter of the year at the 2005 Juno Awards. He began releasing recordings of his own material in 1985 at age 21, and has ...

, playing the 2013

SXSW South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

festival,

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festival, releasing two music videos and an additional single, she finished the year by playing the

Austin City Limits Music Festival Austin City Limits (ACL) Music Festival is an annual music festival that takes place in Zilker Park in Austin, Texas, on two consecutive three-day weekends and is inspired by the KLRU/PBS music series ''Austin City Limits''. The festival is pro ...

. In 2014, Waggoner signed a deal with Beijing-based label Pocket Records, and toured the entire country of China in partnership with Pocket Records for distribution of her albums ''Heal for the Honey and ''Go Easy Little Doves''. During 2015, the Nashville-based chamber music ensemble CHATTERBIRD commissioned Waggoner to compose a piece consisting of instrumentation for woodwinds, strings, and piano entitled "Minor-Born". The piece debuted at Abrasive Media in May 2015 and a second time as part of the Sideshow Fringe Festival in July 2015. In January 2016, Waggoner's self-produced album ''Sweven'' released on her own label, Swoon Moon Music. Flood Magazine called it her "most ambitious work to date".

Awards

Waggoner was nominated for an Independent Music Award for "Best Folk/Singer-Songwriter Album" in 2009. Also in 2009, she won the Nashville Music Award for "NBN Emerging Artist" of the year.

Discography

Studio albums * ''Heal for the Honey'' (2008) * ''Go Easy Little Doves'' (2009) * ''Originator'' (2013) * ''Sweven'' (2016) * ''Sweven Remixes'' (2017) EPs * '' Fresh Pair of Eyes'' (2007) * '' B-Sides Collection'' (2015) Live albums * ''Sing to Me (Live in Boston)'' (2013) DVDs * ''And the World Opened Up'' (2010) Singles * "Red-Robin Hood" (2010) * "Baby Shake-em" (2010) * "I Am Mine (remix)" (2010) * "So-So (original demo)" (2010) * "Squint –

JT Daly Justin Thomas "JT" Daly (born January 2, 1981) is an American musician A musician is someone who Composer, composes, Conducting, conducts, or Performing arts#Performers, performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, ...

Remix" (2013) * "The High Wind" (2014) * "Christmas Moon" (2015) * "Widow Maker" (2015) Also appears on * guest vocals on "Get Mad" by Kyle Andrews (2007) * string orchestration on "The Weight of Us" by

Sanders Bohlke Sanders Bohlke (born February 28, 1984) is an American songwriter and recording artist born in Sardis, Mississippi. His music has been variously described as experimental folk and indie alternative. He released his self-titled debut album in 2006 ...

(2009) * string orchestration on "Closer (to Love)" by

Mat Kearney Mathew William Kearney (; born December 1, 1978) is an American musician born in Eugene, Oregon, and based in Nashville, Tennessee. So far, he has a total of five top 20 hits on the Adult Top 40 Chart. '' Just Kids'' was released on February 2 ...

(2009) * guest vocals on "The Ol' College Try" by Nick Flora (2009) * vocals & keyboards on "Parkers Chapel" by

Hammock A hammock, from Spanish , borrowed from Taíno language, Taíno and Arawak language, Arawak , is a sling made of fabric, rope, or netting, suspended between two or more points, used for swing (seat), swinging, sleeping, or Human relaxation, res ...

(2011) * guest vocals on ''Yearbook'' by

Sleeping at Last Sleeping at Last is a musical project led by singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Ryan O'Neal (Born July 17, 1983). The project initially began in Wheaton, Illinois, as a three-piece band with Ryan O'Neal as the lead singer and guitarist ...

(2011) * guest keyboards on ''Out of the Jar'' by Stephen Gordon (2012) * guest

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, piano,

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on ''

'' by

(2012) * guest piano w/

Pokey LaFarge Pokey LaFarge (born Andrew Heissler, June 26, 1983) is an American musician and singer-songwriter. Early life LaFarge was born Andrew Heissler in Bloomington, Illinois. The nickname "Pokey" was coined by his mother, who would scold him to ...

on "Red's Theater of the Absurd" from the film ''

The Lone Ranger The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked former Texas Ranger who fought outlaws in the American Old West with his Native American friend Tonto. The character has been called an enduring icon of American culture. He first appeared in 1933 in a ...

'' (2013) * guest

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, Hammond,

Moog synthesizer The Moog synthesizer ( ) is a modular synthesizer invented by the American engineer Robert Moog in 1964. Moog's company, R. A. Moog Co., produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 2014. It was the first commercial synthesizer ...

, piano on ''

'' by Jack White (2014) * guest piano on '' Fantasize'' by Kye Kye (2014) * orchestration / copyist on "Don't Put Dirt on My Grave" / "Juliette (String & Horn Version)" for ABC's ''

'', episode 215 (2014) * guest piano w/ Jack White on "I'm Down" by

Beck Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970), known mononymously as Beck, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his Experimental music, experimental and Lo-fi mus ...

, sheet music book ''Song Reader'' (2014) * string orchestration / copyist on "Impossible Winner" by

the Dead Weather The Dead Weather is an American rock supergroup formed in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2009. Composed of Alison Mosshart (of the Kills and Discount), Jack White (of the White Stripes and the Raconteurs), Dean Fertita (of Queens of the Stone Age ...

(2015) * string orchestration / copyist on live video version of "Overactor" by Preston Lovinggood (2016) * guest vocals on "Heart Needs Medicine" by Don Tigra (2016) * guest piano on Pink Floyd cover "

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" by

Cody Jinks Meredith Cody Jinks (born August 18, 1980) is an American outlaw country music singer and songwriter. His breakout 2016 album, '' I'm Not the Devil'', reached No. 4 on the ''Billboard'' Country Albums chart, while a number of other albums such a ...

(2017) * guest piano, Hammond B3, Wurlitzer on ''Modern Plagues'' by the Whistles & the Bells (2017) * vocal harmonies on ''Himalayas'' by Scott Mulvahill (2018) * piano on '' Boarding House Reach'' by Jack White (2018) * piano on ''

Laurel Hell ''Laurel Hell'' is the sixth studio album by American singer-songwriter Mitski, released on February 4, 2022, through Dead Oceans. Patrick Hyland produced the album, which has been characterized as a record blending synth-pop, indie pop and electr ...

'' by

Mitski Mitsuki Laycock (born September 27, 1990), also known as Mitski Miyawaki, and known professionally as Mitski, is an American singer-songwriter. She Self-publishing, self-released her first two albums, ''Lush (Mitski album), Lush'' (2012), and '' ...

(2022) * piano on ''

American Heartbreak ''American Heartbreak'' is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Zach Bryan, released on May 20, 2022, through Belting Bronco and Warner Records. It is a triple album and Bryan's major-label debut. The album was preceded by six sin ...

'' by

Zach Bryan Zachary Lane Bryan (born April 2, 1996) is an American country singer-songwriter and rock musician from Oologah, Oklahoma. After two self-produced studio albums—''DeAnn'' (2019) and '' Elisabeth'' (2020)—he signed with Warner Records to ...

(2022) * piano & organ on ''

The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We ''The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We'' is the seventh studio album by American singer-songwriter Mitski, released on September 15, 2023, through Dead Oceans. Produced by Patrick Hyland, it was recorded at the Bomb Shelter studio in Nashville ...

'' by Mitski (2023)

References

External links

*
Brooke Waggoner Daytrotter Session
{{DEFAULTSORT:Waggoner, Brooke 1984 births Living people American women pop singers American women singer-songwriters 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American singer-songwriters