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Jay grew up in Winchester, Tennessee and began playing guitar during his high school years. Since leaving Winchester to attend college in 1992, he has been actively involved in songwriting and performing. During the summers of 1993 and 1994, Jay performed at Dollywood and various bluegrass festivals with Keith Garrett (currently with Blue Moon Rising) in a traditional bluegrass brother-style duet. Later, he helped form a traditional bluegrass band, The Stringbeans, with Joel Keebler, Clint Cagle, and Robinella and Cruz Contreras. The Stringbeans played frequently in the Knoxville area and were voted the Best Bluegrass Group in 1999 by the Readers Poll of Knoxvilles alternative weekly, the Metropulse.After completing a Masters degree in Wildlife Science at the University of Tennessee in 1999, Jay moved to Stillwater, Oklahoma to pursue a PhD in Wildlife Ecology at Oklahoma State University. While in Oklahoma, he continued songwriting and would occasionally return to Knoxville to perform with Robinella and the CC Stringband, a band formed by Robinella and Cruz following Jays departure for Oklahoma. Robinella and the CC Stringband eventually landed a major recording contract with Columbia (New York) and are currently signed with Dualtone Records in Nashville.After completing his PhD at Oklahoma State in 2003, Jay moved back to Knoxville and began performing his original material at shows backed by the CC Stringband. In May 2004, he released his debut album, Pen to Paper. Since the release of Pen to Paper, Jay has opened for artists such as Billy Joe Shaver, the John Cowan Band, Malcolm Holcomb, Sally Barris, Jeff Barbra and Sarah Pirkle, Blue Moon Rising, and Robinella. He also contributed to Robinellas Dualtone release, Solace for the Lonely (2006), by singing harmony on 2 songs and co-writing another.Jay recently moved to Hazel Green, Alabama, and released his sophomore recording, titled Progress, in February 2006. As with Pen to Paper, Progress was produced by Cruz Contreras and Jay, recorded with the CC Stringband, and features harmonies by Robinella (including a duet). He has started performing beyond the Knoxville area, frequently opening shows for Robinella, as well as touring on his own as a solo act.Progress and Pen to Paper are available at www.jayclarkmusic.com.
