Actor, performer and composer, Jay Brannan returns to Italy to present 'Around the World in 80 Jays', his new EP due out on 3 September. The show will also feature his best-loved original songs, and a preview of the new unreleased album due out in 2014.
Opening will be the young composer Marco Guazzone with his new project Marco Guazzone & Stag, between classical, pop and film music.
Inspired by the numerous international tours that have taken him to different countries and continents in the space of a few years, "Around the World in 80 Jays" is a collection of 9 covers interpreted in 6 different languages, in the acoustic, intimist and melancholic style that is the artist's trademark.
Jay Brannan came to public attention in 2006 through his appearance in the film by John Cameron Mitchell's 'Shortbus', and its song 'Soda Shop' (released on Bright Eyes' Team Love Records) became the best-selling track from the soundtrack.
From this moment on, Jay began to build a fanbase by uploading videos of his 'home' performances to YouTube.
In 2008, the Texas-born, but New York-based singer-songwriter released his debut album 'Goddamned', which debuted at No. 25 on Itunes.
Jay's tenor voice, coupled with lyrics in which the artist does not hesitate to painfully lay himself bare, confronting taboo subjects such as his own homosexuality head-on, caught the attention of influential publications such as Rolling Stone, The Washington Post and The New York Times, and earned him comparisons with the likes of Nick Drake, Joni Mitchell and Rufus Wainwright.
2009 saw the release of 'In Living Cover', a collection containing 9 covers and 2 original tracks recorded by Brannan in a friend's room in Brooklyn: the album reached No. 10 on Billboard's Top Heatseekers Chart.
For the second unreleased album 'Rob Me Blind' in 2012, Jay turned to Grammy-winning producer David Kahne, producer of, among others, Regina Spektor, Paul McCartney, The Bangles and Lana Del Rey.
Recorded over nine months, 'Rob Me Blind' displays Kahne's production skills and care, while retaining the peculiarities of Brannan's songwriting: collected atmospheres, brutal honesty, cutting irony, brilliant melodies. The lyrics speak of loneliness, anger, rejection, longing, but also offer, in some cases, a glow of hope and self-acceptance.
Link to the video of the latest single 'Rob Me Blind': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaMixtNVO8M
JAY BRANNAN
opening act: MARCO GUAZZONE & STAG
Thursday 3 October 2013 - Salumeria della Musica, via Pasinetti 4, Milan
Doors open at 8 p.m. - Concert starts at 9 p.m.
Entrance 15 euro + d.p.
Advance sales available on the Ticketone circuit (at www.ticketone.it) and in authorised points of sale
