Jay began to take an interest in music at an early age when his older brother was taking piano lessons. "My brother took the time to show me some basics about reading piano music and how to do the exercises and progress through the books. Eventually I branched off from the standard lessons and started looking into chord building and what turned out to be basic music theory."
He soon picked up his first fiddle given to him by his Grandpa Red. "I toyed around with it for a long time, but without a teacher I wasn't able to really see the possibilities. I didn't realize all of the little things that I was missing to complete the bigger picture. I think it did help me develop an ear for music because that's all I had to work with."
Jay eventually began to give more attention to piano. When Jay found a connection between stringed instruments he started exploring music with both guitar and piano. He would play along with chord charts and sing with family and friends. "I am daily humbled by the talented people around me and I have always looked forward to jamming out with friends."
It wasn't until later that Jay would take violin lessons from his friend and teacher, George Mason, a professional musician. "It was like George kicked the door open for me! Not only was his music knowledge and talent vastly superior to anyone that I had worked with before, but he had a way of taking things that I was naturally talented at and putting them to good practice. George knows that I like to practice and that was all the excuse he needed to just pour on as much music as I could handle."
Over the next couple of years Jay was inspired to teach music lessons and even dabble in the complex world of audio recording. "I probably have too many hobbies, but rarely do I do something half way. If I have a natural talent, it's that I'm stubborn. I have an ability to focus, listen, and learn. But, I learned that the hard way."
When Jay is not making music, you'll probably find him hanging out with people of all ages, backgrounds and talents.
"God has richly blessed my life. I have an amazing wife and we both are gifted with the best friends we could hope for. Hopefully, the more we hang out with these guys, some of their awesomeness will rub off on us! "
Photography courtesy of HillTree Marketing.