For four decades, singer and entertainer Lannie Garrett has brought happiness to the Denver music scene.
At age 22, Garrett arrived in Colorado, her first stop on a purposely undefined emigration to the West. While waiting to establish residency for tuition purposes, she met Denver club singer Ron Henry and told him to call her if he ever needed a singer. He did, and she eventually proved herself to the eager young musicians in town, many of whom backed her over the years. Garrett was named Favorite Female Vocalist several years in a row by The Denver Post readers and garnered the same recognition with readers of 5280 Magazine and the gay community’s Outfront. The Colorado Symphony Orchestra accompanied her for a concert, and she appeared in nightclubs nationally and recorded a half dozen albums. Garrett operated Ruby, a club on 17th Avenue, and spent a decade as the house entertainer at the Denver Buffalo Company. In 2006, she opened Lannie’s Clocktower Cabaret beneath the D&F Tower downtown, hosting top local and national talent. Garrett took to the stage herself with a succession of themed shows, from fronting her “AnySwing Goes” big band as a sequined chanteuse to bringing her comedy chops to “The “Patsy DeCline Show,” a campy country music spoof. Garrett also created the Gershwin tribute “’S Wonderful,” “Screen Gems: Songs from the Movies” and many other presentations.
