Singer/songwriter Jay Clifford released his debut solo album Driving Blind on Sept. 4, 2007 on 33 and 1/3 Records. Full of emotionally evocative vocals and intriguing lyrics, Driving Blind showcases the maturation of a truly gifted artist. Jay Clifford makes his nest in Charleston, but his hauntingly ethereal voice and pitch-perfect compositions have flown around the world — as he once sang, "in the cathedrals of New York and Rome" — since his band, Jump Little Children went on hiatus in 2006. Jay's former band, Jump Little Children, had a deal with Breaking/Atlantic Records. In 2000, they released a record with the single "Cathedrals," which was a Top 10 AAA single that year (Elton John personally contacted the band to express his admiration of the song).
In 2002, Jump toured with Howie Day, who had just signed his deal with Epic Records. Although Howie had never co-written a song before, he was encouraged to try- Howie's first choice of co-writers was Jay Clifford. In their first session together, Jay co-wrote what materialized into 5 songs that were recorded on Howie's debut album, Stop All the World Now. Jay also traveled to London for the entire recording session for Stop All the World Now to contribute guitar and vocals. He then toured with Howie, playing guitar, on two international tours.
Jay has also co-written songs with Sean Lennon (Capitol), Robert Randolph, Mandi Perkins (Sony/BMG), and Peter of Peter, Bjorn and John (independent- Almost Gold). Australian Recording Industry Award winner Missy Higgins co-wrote her single "Ten Days" with Jay, and it peaked at number 12 on the ARIA charts. "Ten Days" was on Missy's The Sound of White, which won 7 ARIA awards that year, including Album of the Year. Jay has also worked with Sadler Vaden of Leslie (independent), Joel Hamilton of Working Title (Universal), and Michael Flynn of Slow Runner (independent).
In February 2007, Clifford set out for Los Angeles to record Driving Blind at Swing House Studios with producer Warren Huart, whom he'd met while working on Howie Day's upcoming Epic Records release. The impressive crew of musicians on Driving Blind include drummer Travis McNabb (Better Than Ezra, Sugarland), bassist Dan Rothchild (Beck, Fiona Apple), and guitarists Dave Levita (Alanis Morissette, Daniel Powter) and Greg Suran (Sunny Day Real Estate, Jewel). After three weeks in Huart's studio, plus a few additions in Clifford's own home studio, the record was mixed by Mark Needham (The Killers, Chris Isaak).
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