Jay Gavin grew up the son of a lobster fisherman in a remote village on Prince Edward Island, CAN where the potato fields are lined by red dirt roads, there isn’t a stoplight for 100 miles and the kitchen parties go on for days. From his early life surrounded by a close-knit family and community of pickers & singers to his years touring North America as a bassist with punk & metal bands like Spawner Record’s Huskavarna, and TX Thrash legends Speedealer, Jay has come full circle and returned to his roots in Country Folk.
Jay Gavin writes and sings songs for fans of real county music - from classic country to country & western, outlaw and back porch folk. Jay is making a name for his natural authenticity, his catchy hooks, foot-stomping, autobiographical, everyman songs and his good timin’ live shows. Whether backed by a full band or stripped down with just his guitar, his shows feel more like parties. You'll laugh and sing and dance and go home feeling that you've made a new friend.
2019’s Boat On a Whale produced, by Canadian platinum certified Jeff Zipp at Light Machine Records / Hipposonic Studios. Jay followed that with a steady stream of original singles like 2020 honky-tonker “Lost in Austin” and 2021’s “Some Folks” a John Prine-inspired folky nuber. 2021’s cover of the Conway and Loretta classic “You’re the Reason our Kids are Ugly” a duet with his cousin Shyanne Mae Gaudet was a sleeper hit reaching over 230K spins. 2022’s Therapy EP, again with the help of Zipp is live off the floor banger packed with motorcycle and drinking themed bluegrass. Auto biographical “Got Myself a Harley” with hit video, Jay’s answer song to DAC’s “Harley Someday”, also covered on the EP, was the standout track on Canadian local / campus radio as well as Michael Park’s syndicated International Americana Show and some UK radio outlets
Following the recommendation of Billy Don Burns, Jay drove his van to Nashville in the fall of 2022 to meet with Grammy-nominated producer Denny Knight (Waylon Jennings, Conway Twitty, Mel Tillis) of the Nashville Music Group. Along with multi-instrumentalist Jeff Williams (June Carter Cash’s Living Circle Band) they cut the first two tracks of the album at The Den on that trip. The day before their session Jay had made a pit stop in Muhlenberg County, KY to spend the day exploring all the sites from John Prine’s classic “Paradise”. Jay was so inspired by the magic that day he wrote a tribute song on the spot which they recorded that first day in the studio, also fittingly Prine’s birthday. “Rhythms & Rhymes” (April 2023) is the first single from the project and features a self-filmed and edited video capturing the nostalgia of his experience.
Jay headed back to The Den in Hendersonville TN in April 2023 to cut eight more tracks for the upcoming release. The legendary outlaw songwriter, Billy Don Burns, himself, guests on one track. With Denny Knight producing, Bobby Bradley (JJ Cale, Ween’s country album) engineering and a smokin’ band of Nashville A-listers like Jeff Williams on guitar, Steve Hinson (George Jones, Vern Gosden, Alan Jackson, Randy Travis) on pedal steel and dobro and Deannie Richardson (Vince Gill, Bob Seger, Sister Sadie) on fiddle this is sure to be Jay Gavin’s breakout album.