I went to see Jay Brannan sing a gig at Lambert's here in Austin last week and I am
so glad I took the time to go. I've loved his stuff ever since he had that hilarious-but-poignant song on the
Shortbus soundtrack and somebody took the time to sit me down and make me listen to his debut LP,
Goddamned. He does pretty much every part of the business of being a musician himself so he can actually make a living off his music and that's something that, as a composer, I can definitely connect to. The space he played in was completely sold out but incredibly intimate and, consequently, there wasn't a bad seat in the house. Before the show he was walking around chatting with people and drinking tea so I got a chance to thank him for his song, "Death Waltz," because what it's really about is my struggles with writing music...not whatever it is he thought he originally wrote it for.
Anyway, since it was such a small venue I got to see one of my favorite singer/songwriters from only about six feet away. Totally cool.
Thanks, Jay. Hurry along with a new album, will you?