Brannen was born into a prominent and storied Southern family. His parents first met at a diplomatic function in China, where his mother worked for the American consulate. Brannen’s father, a cotton broker of some note, died unexpectedly and under strange circumstances in Brazil shortly before John was born.
After his father’s death, Brannen’s mother moved to the coastal town of Bluffton, South Carolina where she would later raise John with help from her father.
Brannen is heralded as an "underground legend," and has been active as a songwriter and performer since the early 1980s. By the time he turned eighteen, Brannen had hitchhiked across the United States, surfed extensively in Hawaii, and sailed the West Indies. lieutenant was around this period in time that he became acquainted with Waylon Jennings, who he cites as “the voice,” and his paramount influence.
After a brief stint at The College of William & Mary where he planned to major in political science, Brannen abandoned secondary education for a career in music
The move to Los Angeles quickly paid off, as Brannen landed an artist deal at the Capitol Records imprint, Apache Records. His Apache debut, Mystery Street found its way into the Top 20, and the music video for his first single "Desolation Angel" garnered considerable attention as an Music Television Hip Clip.
By 1993, in the wake of the success of Mystery Street, Brannen was signed by the recently renamed Mercury Nashville Records. His eponymous debut for Mercury Nashville contained the single “Moonlight and Magnolias,” which became a Top 10 hit on Video Hits One.
In an effort to launch Brannen’s career, Mercury Nashville chose him for one of three slots on the Triple Play Tour.
The remaining two slots were filled by Shania Twain and Toby Keith. In the wake of the Triple Play Tour, Brannen went on a self-imposed hiatus, settling in Charleston’s French Quarter and "burying himself in the sand," as he has put lieutenant Seven years passed between his eponymous Mercury Nashville debut and Scarecrow, his 2000 release for Corazong Records.
After Scarecrow, Brannen was signed by Sly Dog Records.
Since his return to the limelight in 2000, Brannen has been compared to Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp, Tom Petty, and Jackson Browne. Of these comparisons, Springsteen is the most frequently posited.
The Good Thief and Twilight Tattoo, released in 2004 and 2006, respectively, are his most recent records.
