Nashville indie rocker Brandy Zdan proving it's not a man's world anymore

30-something Brandy Zdan has a message for her generation’s crop of infamously ineffectual males. It’s that if you’re going to come around you’d better be more of a man than she is. The svelte honey blond singer/songwriter will be performing her song “More of a Man” and others from a new self-titled album at Opolis Sunday evening.

“What that song came from was that a couple of my girlfriends and I are all single gals and we made a list of all the things we can do that some of the men that we were dating couldn’t do,” Zdan said. “Just the manly things, even in terms of making decisions and being decisive. We just end up being manlier than the men we date.” Changing flat tires, carrying heavy amplifiers and fixing a broken bath tub made the list.

“Guys just don’t like to get their hands dirty nowadays,” she said. “I think it’s good for gals to be able to play that role, too, it’s important that we own our stuff. You can learn how to fix almost anything with a YouTube video.”

Zdan grew up on the frozen plains of Manitoba, Canada which undoubtedly contributed to her self-reliant spirit. She played her first show at a Winnipeg coffee house at age 15. Multi-instrumentalist Zdan was half of duo Twilight Hotel that had a Juno Award-nominated disc in 2011. She moved to Austin and played with Americana outfit The Trishas for a few years including their Summer Breeze gig in Norman in 2012. Zdan is now based in Nashville.

“Being from that cold, desolate landscape of the Canadian prairie has always informed my songs,” Zdan said. “There’s a lonely texture to my music that makes me feel connected to that back home.” Living in a different country in multiple cities has been about leaving comfort zones for her.

“That can bring up a lot of things you need to learn about yourself,” she said. “Your art can grow from that. Winnipeg to Austin was a big move, but Austin to Nashville, not so much. I’ve been enjoying the country for around ten years, so I’ve developed community in a lot of cities.” She already had a group of friends in Tennessee on relocating there.

“I really feel like I’ve found my tribe here,” she said. “I like being among working professionals in the business. When you come from a town that doesn’t have a lot of that, even though Winnipeg does have a great music scene, still people don’t understand what it is to go on tour or make a living in the music business. In Nashville I don’t have to explain myself all the time.” 

It’s likely those Nashville cats have schooled Zdan on working certain systems to her advantage. Nearly all of her music videos posted at brandyzdan.com involved cooperation with various music organizations.

“You have to make the best of your available resources,” she said. “Finding all the people to book shows, make records and post on social media involves being a multi-tasker and I’ve been given a gift of being able to do that. I have a creative mind for what I want to put forth to the world and you have to work with the right people, not just anybody.” In addition to an undeniably robust work ethic, Zdan has an attractive plan for becoming an even greater version of herself.

“I’m just trying to write better songs and become better at all the things that I do,” she said. “I show up every day in my own office in my own house and write, rehearse on guitar or whatever needs to be done developing the skills I already have.”

Norman is one of the places where Zdan has friends. She played the Deli last November on the night of the Campus Corner shooting but isn’t afraid to return. Zdan’s buddy Kierston White will open her Opolis show.

“It’s a really cute little town,” Zdan said. “I love it and can’t wait to come back.”

If You Go

What: Brandy Zdan in concert with Kierston White

Where: Opolis, 113 N. Crawford Ave. 

When: 9 p.m., Feb. 7

Cost: $5   

Nashville indie rocker Brandy Zdan proving it"s not a man"s world anymore