We first saw Brandy Zdan at Americanafest 2018 where she helped blow the roof off Nashville's Basement East while backing the great Ruby Boots. About one month later, Ruby played a much quieter set at Kelly House Concerts in St. Louis. Backing Ruby again, and opening for her that night: Brandy Zdan. This wasn't blow-the-roof-off time. This was demonstrate-great-singing-and-songwriting time. And, once again, Brandy blew us away. 

Whether she's rocking out with a full band or strumming a guitar as a solo act, Brandy Zdan owns the stage.

She has been performing since she was 15 and spent nearly a decade making gothic-folk music as one half of the Juno Award-nominated Twilight Hotel in her native Canada. When she moved to the States, landing in Austin, she joined the all-girl Americana outfit, The Trishas, where she acted as lead guitarist and utility player (lap steel, accordion), before moving on to a solo career.

Brandy released her latest album, SECRETEAR, in May. It's a rocking, tour-de-force. As Lily Hiatt put it, "Listen to this turned up with the windows down. GO!"

But strip away the drums and...well...the rock, and you have a beautiful collection of songs, delivered by a great singer. (Check out the videos on this page. Two versions of "More of a Man" from SECRETEAR -- one the official video (recording from the album), the other a stripped-down, live version.)

For Secretear, the songs took Brandy on a journey of self-discovery as she navigated the worlds of past relationships (“Get To You,” “The Ones”) and her relationship with Haynes (“I Want Your Trouble,” “Be The One”), while simultaneously strengthening the love she has for herself (“Secret Tears,” “I Will”), creating a collection of unconventional love songs…that rock.

“I feel like I’m coming to terms with a lot of things on this record, because there were so many things I was coming to terms with in my own life while I was writing it,” she reflects. “There were a lot of things I was discovering about myself that I didn’t want to accept, in terms of relationships and making the same kind of mistake over and over again.”

But she came out the other side stronger both personally and as a musician. “I don’t choose what kind of songs I’m gonna write,” she explains. “The only thing that was on purpose when I started to write for my solo project was cut out the fat, punch you in the face kind of songs.