Jay Brannan
American singer-songwriter and actor
title: "Jay Brannan" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1982-births", "living-people", "male-actors-from-texas", "american-male-singer-songwriters", "american-folk-pop-singers", "american-male-film-actors", "american-tenors", "singers-from-new-york-city", "lgbtq-people-from-texas", "american-lgbtq-singers", "21st-century-american-male-singers", "21st-century-american-singer-songwriters", "singer-songwriters-from-new-york-(state)", "gay-singers"] description: "American singer-songwriter and actor" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay_Brannan" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary American singer-songwriter and actor ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox musical artist "]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Jay Brannan |
| image | Jay Brannan, Edinburgh 2008 cropped.jpg |
| caption | Brannan performs in Edinburgh, Scotland, in August 2008 |
| background | solo_singer |
| birth_date | |
| instrument | |
| occupation | |
| years_active | 2006–present |
| label | |
| website | |
| :: |
| name = Jay Brannan | image = Jay Brannan, Edinburgh 2008 cropped.jpg | alt = | caption = Brannan performs in Edinburgh, Scotland, in August 2008 | image_size = | background = solo_singer | birth_name = | alias = | birth_date = | death_place = | death_date = | origin = | instrument = | genre = | occupation = | years_active = 2006–present | label = | associated_acts = | website =
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. In 2002, he was shown a casting notice and, after the end of a relationship, moved to New York City and submitted an audition tape. He also worked as a proofreader of legal documents for a translation company.
Brannan was cast in 2003 for the movie Shortbus and worked as a proofreader and in other jobs to support himself. 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
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0c/JayBrannan-Hamburg,_Knust.jpg" caption="Jay Brannan in Hamburg, Germany, in 2009"] ::
Brannan is a tenor. He has performed with Terra Naomi and both were compared in style and described as performing indie folk. The New York Times stated in 2006 that Brannan was sometimes compared to singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright and that Brannan saw himself as echoing the angry and sad sound of female singers like Tracy Chapman and Joni Mitchell.
Awards and nominations
- In 2006, he was nominated at the Gotham Awards for Best Ensemble Cast for role in 2006 film Shortbus (joint nomination with Sook-Yin Lee, Paul Dawson, Lindsay Beamish, PJ DeBoy, Raphael Barker, Peter Stickles and Justin Vivian Bond).
- 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.
Discography
Studio albums
- 2008: Goddamned
- 2009: In Living Cover
- 2012: Rob Me Blind
- 2014: Always, Then, & Now
Extended plays
- 2007: Unmastered (re-released in 2008 with additional songs)
- 2013: Around the World in 80 Jays
- 2016: New York, New York
Singles
::data[format=table]
| Year | Single | Album |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | "Body's a temple" | Unmastered EP |
| 2008 | "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
::data[format=table]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Shortbus | Ceth | |
| 2007 | Holding Trevor | Jake | |
| 2012 | Kiss of the Damned | Hans | |
| :: |
References
References
- Brannan, Jay. (March 29, 2010). "welp. it's the 29th here i ...". Twitter.
- "Label {{!}} Current Roster". Nettwerk.
- Bernstein, Fred A.. (October 8, 2006). "Living Small, Thinking Large". [[The New York Times]].
- Leggett, Steve. "Jay Brannan – Biography".
- Hoad, Phil. (December 2006). "Film: Jay Brannan".
- Bruni, Frank. (September 24, 2006). "'Shortbus' Cast Didn't Study for This in Acting Class". The New York Times.
- Dumenco, Simon. (April 2007). "Half Boyfriend". Zoo Magazine.
- Hartl, John. (October 2, 2006). "Willing to go along for a long, circuitous ride". [[The Seattle Times]].
- Visakowitz, Susan. (May 5, 2005). "Billboard Bits: Trey Anastasio, Foxy Brown, Jay Brannan, Brendan Canning".
- Reed, James. (July 1, 2008). "Brannan charms with naive vulnerability". [[The Boston Globe]].
- Eldredge, Richard L.. (July 1, 2008). "PEACH BUZZ: Fans buy into singer's way with words". [[The Atlanta Journal-Constitution]].
- Holden, Stephen. (July 4, 2008). "Desperately Seeking Sex and Identity, With Snark". The New York Times.
- (August 1, 2008). "Feature – Jay Brannan".
- "In Living Cover – Chart Listing For The Week Of Jul 25 2009".
- (July 29, 2009). "ITunes Chart Climber Jay Brannan". [[ABC News (United States).
- Peitzman, Louis. (July 2, 2009). "Jay Brannan and Terra Naomi: Getting close". [[San Francisco Chronicle]].
- [https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2080761/awards IMDb.com Jay Brannan Awards page]
- Jay Brannan. (July 18, 2016). "NEW EP! Today on CD Baby, Bandcamp, iTunes, GooglePlay, & Amazon MP3. #JayBrannan #NewYorkNewYork".
- (January 16, 2012). "Jay Brannan – Beautifully". YouTube.
- (June 27, 2012). "Jay Brannan – Rob Me Blind". YouTube.
- [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1466054/soundtrack IMDb.com: ''Cloudburst'' Soundtrack page]
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