JAN
BRANNAN TO TOUR
Defying
legions of critics both personal and professional, Jay Brannan has managed to
build a 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 controversial arthouse movie '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.
A New
Yorker by way of Texas and California, with several stops in between, and a (severely)
failed Southern Baptist, Jay moved to L.A. to pursue acting at the turn of the
century. He picked up his first guitar at age 20, just as he put down an alcohol
addiction. With this new, healthier dependency, he began writing songs with no
training but a collection of CDs by forlorn, female singers.
A
few failed attempts at romance later, Brannan found himself in New York auditioning
for John Cameron Mitchell's experimental film Shortbus. Landing the part, he fell
into a world of performers who made him feel comfortable as a creative professional
for the first time.
Jay's song 'Soda Shop' became the most
downloaded track from the movie's soundtrack, released through Shock in Australia.
He began performing his music at events surrounding the film. And then the Internet
kissed him.
A passionate insomniac, Jay found himself spending
countless hours on the Internet cultivating his online networks and answering
emails. 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 videos have accumulated millions of plays
and their response has given Brannan the confidence to take his musical ambitions
full time.
Jay's online following was also taking physical
form, as Jay began playing to sold-out crowds in his hometown of New York City.
Deciding to try his luck with farther audiences, his first performances sold out
in advance in cities as far flung as London, Paris, L.A., Toronto, Vancouver,
Cape Town and Tel Aviv. Each show is peppered with a healthy amount of commentary.
Within a year, Brannan jumped from playing small clubs and venues to sold-out
Manhattan theatres.
His bare-bones, self-released EP 'Unmastered'
has seen 30,000 downloads on iTunes. A 1000-piece CD companion sold out in a heartbeat,
with a one-of-a-kind polaroid of Jay affixed to the cover of each copy. Running
his own Great Depression label feels natural to Brannan.
Jay
Brannan will play a one-off Australian show at the Oxford Art Factory on Thursday
October 30, 2008
