JAY GAVIN

   Jay Gavin grew up the son of a lobster fisherman in a remote village on the western tip or Prince Edward Island, Canada where the potato fields are lined by red dirt roads, there isn’t a stop light 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, fiddlers & 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 Gavin has come full circle and returned to his roots in country, folk & bluegrass. Over the years to support his dream, Jay’s worked as a fisherman, a logger, a bricklayer, a carpenter and a cameraman, gaffer and editor in the film industry.

   Jay Gavin writes and sings songs for fans of real county music - from classic country to twangy Americana, country & western, outlaw and backporch folk. Jay is making a name for his natural authenticity, his catchy hooks, his foot-stomping, autobiographical, everyman songs and his good timin’ live shows. Whether backed by a full band or stripped down with just his guitar, Jay's live show feels more like a party. You'll laugh and sing and dance and go home feeling that you've made a new friend. Like all the country greats before him he wears his influences on his sleeve and peppers his original sets with fresh takes on covers by the likes of everyone from Merle Haggard to Hoyt Axton, Delbert McClinton, Fred Eaglesmith, Roger Allen Wade and Colter Wall.

   With a string of self-written singles, two EPs and an album under his belt, Jay is no stranger to the studio. His first full-length folk country album was 2019’s Boat On a Whale co-produced, engineered and mixed by Canadian platinum certified Jeff Zipp at Light Machine Records and 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 number. 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 Jeff Zipp was a super charged live off the floor banger packed with motorcycle and drinking themed bluegrassy country-folk. Auto-biographical “Got Myself a Harley” with hit video, Jay’s answer to DAC’s “Harley Someday”, also covered on the EP, was the standout track.

   Following the recommendation of Billy Don Burns, Jay drove his live-in-van down 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.

   After a string of winter 2022/23 songwriter tours in Western Canada and WA state Jay head back to The Den in Hendersonville TN in March/Arpil to cut eight more tracks for the upcoming release. 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. The legendary outlaw songwriter, Billy Don Burns, himself, guests on one track.

   It’s no secret that Jay Gavin likes to have a good time and puts on a hell of a live show. Jay has been hitting the road hard and heavy with dates all over BC, AB and WA state and runs to TN with dates in MT and WY, offering true country & folk entertainment to hard-working and sometimes remote communities. Summer 2023 you’ll be able to see Jay Gavin on the road in new markets, building a bigger circuit. July will see Jay touring back home in PEI and Atlantic Canada playing shows in 3 provinces. The infamous Sturgis Motorcycle Rally runs in August and Jay is looking forward to attending for the first time with his ‘71 Shovelhead and hitting the stage at Burnout Wednesday in Sundance WY along with a string of shows through SD, UT and MT. September after performing at Moonshinin’ Music Fest in BC Jay is heading back south for shows in TN and TX.

   If you’re lucky enough to catch Jay Gavin in transit, you may very well wind up immortalized in one of his songs yourself. You might find him playing a festival stage or a roadhouse, a coffeehouse or a kitchen table - by the light of an Atlantic sunrise, under a burning desert sun or flickering neon in the shadows of a dark city street. It doesn’t matter, as long as he has his guitar and you’re ready for a rockin’ good time!