Jay Brannan

Jay Brannan (born March 29, 1982) is an American singer-songwriter and actor. He was born in Texas and briefly studied in Ohio, but moved to California to become an actor. Brannan appeared in the 2006 movie Shortbus, which included one of his songs in its soundtrack, and began to build a fan base by performing on YouTube. He released an EP and acted in Holding Trevor in 2007. Since then, he has toured and released four albums.

Early life and career Brannan was born 1982 in Texas in a middle-class family and grew up as the son of a petroleum engineer and a teacher. He described his family as conservative Baptists and mentions their beliefs on homosexuality. Brannan went to college for one semester in Cincinnati, Ohio, and went to California, first to Palm Springs and later to Los Angeles, trying to become an actor. He contributed the song "Soda Shop" to the film's soundtrack, which he stated was his "first professionally recorded track". Brannan began to record sparse music videos for YouTube, accompanying himself on the guitar, and built an international fan base without corporate sponsorship, using MySpace and Blogspot. In 2007, he appeared in the movie Holding Trevor as the promiscuous best friend of the protagonist, and released a limited-edition EP with fours songs named disasterpiece or Unmastered, adding two additional songs for a 2008 re-release.

In July 2008, Brannan released the album Goddamned through his own label, Great Depression Records, and toured ten dates, a departure from his previous practice of short tours of about four concerts. The same year, Brannan left his proofreading job and sustained himself with earnings from concerts and merchandise. Brannan promoted the album in an interview on ABC News's Now in July 2009. Always, Then, & Now, his fourth studio album, was released on July 15, 2014, on his own independent label Great Depression Records.

Style

Brannan is a tenor. He has performed with Terra Naomi and both were compared in style and described as performing indie folk. In 2012, he was nominated for a Genie Award in the category "Best Achievement in Music – Original Song" for his song "My Love, My Love" from the soundtrack of 2011 film Cloudburst.

Singles YearSingleAlbum2007 "Body's a temple"Unmastered EP2008 "Housewife"Goddamned "Can't Have It All"2009 "Beautifully"In Living Cover (also included later in Rob Me Blind) "The Freshmen"In Living Cover 2012 "Greatest Hits" (Promotional single)Rob Me Blind "Beautifully" "Rob Me Blind" 2014 "Blue-Haired Lady"Always, Then, & Now "Square One"

Songs "Soda Shop" (track on the 2006 Shortbus soundtrack) "Lower My Gun" (track on the 2008 Holding Trevor soundtrack) "My Love, My Love" and "Takeoff" (two tracks on the 2011 Cloudburst soundtrack)

Videography "Body's a Temple" "Housewife" "Can't Have It All" "Greatest Hits" "Beautifully" "Rob Me Blind" "Blue-Haired Lady" "Square One"

Filmography

Film