Happy Birthday Jay Brannan

On March 29, 1982, a baby boy was born in Texas. That child grew up wanting to be an actor, but also played the guitar. His first movie was Shortbus, which also included him singing the song 'Soda Shop,' the point of interest for many of his early his fans. Brannan utilized MySpace and YouTube to keep his fanbase strong and growing, releasing self-shot videos that captured his clean vocals and guitar. His own videos are often informal mini-concerts, just a boy, his guitar, and a webcam. I have seen Jay twice in concert, in Philly and in Annapolis. Like many of the artists I cover here, he is just phenomenal live - the Philly concert with him and Aiden James was outta this world. To celebrate his birthday, I thought I would pick out some of my favorite YouTube clips, and put them here. For today, I will eschew the 'official' videos and just lay it down, Jay-style. Just a word of warning, these videos are uncensored, and Jay has no problem dropping the f-bomb.

Goddamned


Both Hands (Ani Difranco cover)


String-A-Long Song


Body's A Temple


Visit Jay at his official website here. Perhaps the best birthday present would be buying his music. Well, I have already purchased all that he has put out, so I will have to settle for a hearty 'Happy Birthday, Jay!'