Jay Brannan
is an openly gay musician, singer, songwriter with a voice and has a musical ability that matches his exceptional good looks and natural ability. You may have seen him in Short Bus or Holding Trevor.

While he is gay, he does not like being labeled as such, "I hate having my sexual orientation used as a title or a genre. It pisses me off. I just want to be a regular musician like anyone else.

When Lisa Loeb sings, she’s singing about her life, her relationships, her experiences. No one ever says she’s singing “straight songs” or that she’s singing about “straight issues”. No one ever says that Whitney Houston’s or Seal’s songs are about “what it’s like being a black person”. At the end of the day, we’re all the same and we all go through the same shit. The rest is just details."


"I disagree that any of my songs “describe gay relationships”. I don’t think that the singer’s gender and the gender of the other character(s) in the song really affect what the song is about, and I hope we are closing in on the day that people can see that."

His first full length album was Goddamned   in 2008, followed by   In Living Cover in 2009.  Jay says he is influenced by Lisa Loeb, Tori Amos, Fiona Apple, Bjork, Sinead O'connor, Joni Mitchell  and  Jack Daniels! "In terms of my music, I feel like it's pretty representative of me. It's pretty cynical, it's pretty dark, it's pretty honest. That's who I am. But for some reason, people can accept it in music. ''Oh, I relate to it so much. Thanks for saying all the things I've been thinking. I thought I was the only one.'' Etcetera. And then they turn right back around and they're like, ''Why are you so sad all the time? Can't you smile more?'' I want to be like, ''You can have one or the other.'' If I was that person everyone seems to want me to be, the music would be very different. And probably no one would care."

"Pretty much everything I write comes from my own reality. Anger and pain and frustration are my main motivating factors for writing, and I try to be as honest and accurate in my lyrics as I can. That’s not to say every song is a complete literal account of a real life event, though some are. Sometimes I combine a couple different relationships or experiences into one song, but make it all one story for the sake of the song. Or sometimes you take an emotion or sentiment and magnify it a little to make it more interesting. You only have three or four minutes, so sometimes you make adjustments so that each song is coherent in such a small amount of words, but it definitely is a patchwork of reality. That’s my goal, anyway."


Everything about Jay Brannan’s young career is improbable. Defying legions of critics both personal and professional, he has managed to build a shockingly dedicated following in a very non-traditional way.

Though kicked out of acting school for alleged lack of ability, he entered the film arena with a standout performance in 2005’s Shortbus , and achieved rising cult star status upon the film’s worldwide release. Urged to “play it straight” during his Southern upbringing, he has become a lightning rod for castaways by simply being himself: a neurotic and inspiring mess. In 2007, Logo aired his first video .



A self-described loner and a passionate insomniac, Jay found himself spending countless hours on the Internet cultivating his online networks and answering emails from around the globe. His burgeoning online following tipped when he posted a 3:00 a.m. laptop performance of “Soda Shop” on YouTube, which found itself featured on the website’s homepage and has since been viewed 1.5 million times. “I was a random guy at home fucking around with his computer, thinking no one would ever watch the video if I posted it. I guess I was wrong.”

He has gone on to post every new song as it’s been written. These online videos have accumulated millions of plays and their response has given Brannan the confidence to take his musical ambitions full time.

"I'm just a little bit honored that people relate to my music at all and feel the impulse to even write me to tell me that. The feedback is partly what keeps me doing it. When I write songs and play them, it's never really for other people, or what other people think. It's really my way of expressing myself, or giving voice to thoughts that have been racing around in my head for years and years. At the same time, the feedback and some of the validation has kept me pursuing it as a career, because that part is really, really tough."



JAY BRANNAN  IN CHICAGO  Friday, December 10th!
@  SUBTERRANEAN    2011 W. NORTH AVE.    773-278-6600
DOORS @ 9:00 PM         SHOW @ 9:30 PM | 17 & OVER
TICKETS: $15.00    BUY TICKETS  ONLINE!   Last years  show  SOLD OUT!

Jay Brannon.com 
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Jay Brannan on YouTube




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