Nashville Producer Finds Love After Being Left For Dead

CREDIT: MOLLY STEVENS/WEST AND WILD PHOTOGRAPHY

September 2015 was a difficult time for Grammy-nominated producer Dave Brainard. He, along with a friend were brutally attacked and then left for dead in Nashville. Dave sustained extreme injuries including a broken jaw, a bunch of shattered teeth, and many face lacerations.

Upcoming country music singer Jenny Tolman had a devastating phone call that morning. Both of their lives were suddenly changed forever.

"When you hear that sort of news about someone, it solidifies everything you feel for that person. It was a moment of epiphany for me. It was like, 'Oh my God, I am in love with this person, and someone has hurt him, and I need to be with him.' That's when I realized that he wasn't just a good friend. He was my person."

Four years later, on October 28th 2020,  Dave decided to spend the rest of his life with Jenny as he got down on one knee while on a hike through Jackson Hole in Wyoming.

"We came upon this opening right at the base of the Grand Tetons and the edge of Jenny Lake, and it was just so beautiful. The crazy part is that a professional photographer happened to be hiking and saw the proposal and started taking pictures of us. It was such a dream."

The happy couple have always been in a dream relationship right from the start. They first met at a writer’s round that was held at Nashville’s Dawg House Saloon in January 2015.  

"It's funny because I wasn't even old enough to be in there, but I just happened to be playing there that night.”

Jenny was only 19 years old and was just coming from an ‘extremely abusive and dangerous relationship.’

"Dave happened to be there, and I guess he liked what he heard because he came up to me afterwards and told me that he loved my voice and that we should get together to write sometime."

CREDIT: MOLLY STEVENS/WEST AND WILD PHOTOGRAPHY

"At first, I thought he was a creeper. I mean, there is a 20-year age gap between us."
And it was just the next week that the two met for coffee as Jenny’s parents kept an eye. The age difference didn’t matter because they were connecting right from the start. 

"In that conversation, it was obvious that everything lined up between the two of us, both spiritually and morally. I mean, we talked about all of these things you usually don't talk about in a professional relationship."

It wasn’t long before the two got together to write a song. Then spending weekends recording demos of songs that were written throughout that week. Not long after his attack, it became clear that Dave was also having feelings for Jenny.

"I wrote him two songs that I sent to him while he was in the hospital. I remember that he sent me a text message basically saying, 'This is so beautiful' and 'Gosh, you are so beautiful. That's a text I hung onto."

CREDIT: MOLLY STEVENS/WEST AND WILD PHOTOGRAPHY

Dave’s attack soon led the two to confess their feelings for each other in January 2016.

"It had just started snowing in Nashville that night, and we had gone to dinner, but I wasn't 21 years old yet, so we couldn't go to a bar. So, we were driving, and he was like, 'Please know that this was never my intention, and I don't know how this happened, but I think I am in love with you,' and I said, 'I'm in love with you' and we went back to his apartment and from that night on, I stayed with him and I never left. We have been together ever since."

Five years later, the two are overjoyed planning their wedding which should occur next March in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

"For the next year, we will be planning a wedding and making an album, and I couldn't imagine anything better. Gratitude is my big thing, and I am so thankful for Dave and the man he is. And while it's a terrible thing that happened to him, I'm grateful that it was that moment that taught me the lessons I needed to learn."

Dave is known for his music with country superstars such as Brandy Clark, Jamey Johnson and Jerrod Niemann. He is also still trying to repair all of the damage that fell onto him that terrible night.

Last year, Jenny released her first album called There Goes the Neighborhood and will be appearing in a forthcoming episode of Say Yes to the Dress.