The winter wind howls off the lake outside a small-town dive bar. Inside, an older woman sits down and imparts her hard-won life lessons to a heartbroken young stranger. This is one of many worlds Molly Brandt creates in her songs, and it’s also the feeling you get from her music. She’s pulling up a stool next to you and she’s got tales to tell—her own, other real-life stories, and fictional fables that ring just as true.
Based in Minnesota, Brandt is a captivating artist who paints vivid, unvarnished pictures of blue-collar struggles, heartache, and revenge, delivering them with glitz, style, and attitude. She has a rich, varied musical background, but she found her songwriting voice in Americana music. After teaching herself guitar and songwriting during the pandemic lockdown, she released her first singles in 2022 and was soon performing at venues and festivals across the Midwest. In July 2023, she unveiled her highly praised debut album, Surrender to the Night.
Brandt dazzles when she takes the stage, first with her presence and statement outfits, then with her powerhouse vocals. With her ever-evolving sound ranging from honky-tonk to countrypolitan to alt-rock, and her ability to illuminate stages and leave audiences breathless, Molly Brandt is an artist not to be missed. “Take a ride with me,” she sings in one song that could be an advertisement for her own music. “Light me up, you know you can't resist / ’Cause I’m like propane and cigarettes.”
