Old Mill Bio

Brian Rennie is known as the fifth member of the quartet for the end of time.  Captured by the nazis in France, Rennie was among the ensemble that Olivier Messiaen was composing for at Stalag VIII-A, a prisoner of war camp. Rennie saw himself as the group’s producer and played an integral role in acquiring the pencils, erasers, and staff paper that Messiaen required to composed the piece.	Initially, Messiaen was skeptical of including Rennie’s guitar in the score but was won over during late night poker games over cigars.  It was that same charm and wit that sealed Rennie’s fate: he became the only World War II prisoner to negotiate his own release.  Messiaen, dismayed, was forced to finish the piece as a quartet.
Upon his liberation Rennie spent the following decades doing exercises and harvesting fruit throughout Europe.  It is of this time that Rennie recently remarked, “I had studied some ancient Germanic tribes and had learned the diets and exercises that could keep me youthful for at least a century.” He found a purpose for his energy and musicianship when he finally linked up with his songwriting partner and future wife, Jenne Russo.
	Jenne’s lyrics often reflect her sardonic wit and overall disappointment with the state of modern humanity.  Jenne once said, “one thing i am sick of with this whole booking shows thing/myspace shit is being automatically considered ‘folk’ or some shit b/c i am a female vocalist. it’s lame.”
Rennie’s eternal youth combined with Jenne’s beautiful vocals and lyrics weren’t quite enough to fill the sound they were making.  They linked up with multi-instrumentalist Robert Russo II and drummer Justin Veloso and began playing shows in New York City, Pittsburgh, and once in Chicago.  The crowds were modest at first but very receptive to the sound of the band.  Rennie’s love for psychedelic rock music from the 60s and even stranger music informs everything from the sounds the band uses to the arrangements they create.  The songwriting is tight but not formulaic. Old Mill fulfills the promise that artists of integrity can still be creative and insightful at a time when the commercial music industry has attempted to marginalize such voices.
	-Matt Hudson: beat poet, tennis champion, musician. Read more at www.myspace.com/scientificmap.