While his goals of moving to a big city like New York or Los Angeles aren’t out of the picture, local musician John Brannan has been focusing his music in Baton Rouge for the past few years, entertaining students and playing a few shows.David Abbott, theater senior and member of the band ConCoCtion, said Brannan is a good musician and plays his covers in an unfamiliar, pleasant way.”Collectively, we thought he was a good guy and enjoyed playing with him,” Abbott said.With a beard almost as long as his hair, Brannan braves the stage each week hoping his talent is discovered while treating some fans.Brannan said music has been a major part of his life for a long time.  As a child, Brannan used to bang on things, which prompted his mom to get him a drum set.”I played drums for about 10 years,” Brannan said. “I was never serious about music; I just did it as a hobby. It wasn’t until high school when I started playing guitar and playing in some bands I took it more seriously.”Brannan held a few odd jobs throughout college but felt he would rather focus on music than working unfulfilling jobs.”I always thought being a musician was a much better job than sitting in an office,” Brannan said. “I used to have to sit in a cubicle like on the movie ‘Office Space,’ but I quit that job and moved back to Baton Rouge where I could pursue music.”Brannan began focusing on songwriting and singing, trying his luck with the local music scene here in Baton Rouge. He has played at North Gate Tavern, Red Star and Click’s Billiards.”When I first started playing here, I was horrible,” Brannan said. “It’s much different out there playing because it’s only you up there with no band. I went through a stage of self-conscious doubt for about a year.”Brannan also said Baton Rouge is a city based on entertainment, and people generally like to hear covers of their favorite songs.”Down here people like to drink and listen to songs they know,” Brannan said. “I got more comfortable because people were listening to the songs and not actually me. With your own songs, you can mess up and no one will know or you can play the best you’ve ever played before in your life and no one will care.”Brannan said he used to play covers of songs that were popular on the radio at the time when he first started playing the local scene.”I still do play cover songs, but I like to play songs that I can identify with now,” Brannan said.Brannan has plenty of musical influences that inspire him in different ways.”I like Bob Dylan and Elvis,” Brannan said. “Elvis has such a distinct voice, you know it’s him when you hear one of his songs. But one of my favorites has to be Jimi Hendrix. Everyone thinks of him as such a great guitarist, but he was also an excellent composer.”Brannan faced some tough times recently.  He has been thrown out of the University’s grad school three times and is being sued by the University for refusing to pay his student loans, a consequence he feels is unfair.With his educational career on hold at the moment, Brannan said he is using this time to venture out more with his original music and just play.”The music I play now is mostly songs I wrote about my situation with the grad school,” Brannan said. “They’re mostly about how a major system can stomp on a person’s rights and throw you into a trash can. I just want to let the other students know some type of reform is needed, and that if it can happen to me and it can happen to them.”Brannan said he doesn’t know where the future will take him, but he is hoping to move to a bigger city soon to pursue his musical career.”In the short term, I want to help LSU students and play around here,” Brannan said. “After that I’d like to move out of Louisiana, because the opportunities for musicians are better elsewhere.”- – – -Contact Josh Chenier at [email protected]