Biography

Jay Brown is a roots music one-man-band from Black Mountain, North Carolina, who has been playing guitar since the age of 7 and writing songs since high school. A prolific songwriter, Jay's performance repertoire contains a couple hundred original songs, as well as countless covers from a wide spectrum of genres. Jay has spent years traveling and playing around the U.S., absorbing our rich musical heritage and performing with artists such as Doc Watson, Old Crow Medicine Show, and Etta Baker. Jay has also taken multiple trips to Ghana, West Africa, where he studied and performed traditional African music with the Ghanaians.

His eclectic musical tastes found expression in 1998, when he became a founding member of Lazybirds, a band that blends a wide variety of musical styles, including jazz and blues, country and rock ‘n roll, to create a fresh and soul stirring sound. Lazybirds have been a mainstay of the North Carolina roots music scene for over 20 years.

Jay also formed the Indian folk fusion band Shantavaani with his wife Aditi, which put out 3 classic albums during its 2 year period. Jay continues to perform with Aditi, blending Aditi’s Indian folk and classical influences with his own folk and original music. More recently Aditi and Jay can be found playing in the acoustic band The Appalucians, along with Angie Heiman and Cas Sochacki, of The Blushin' Roulettes. The Appalucians debut album Bright Hills was a long running top 10 folk album on college radio in 2018.

As a trained music therapist Jay worked for 8 years in Hospice. This enriching work has been a deepening influence in Jay's music over the years.

A versatile musician, Jay is fully in his element swingin' the blues and boogie with his buddies in the Lazybirds, intertwining Indian and American roots with Aditi, or playing a songwriter showcase, but you can usually catch him blending his styles and inspirations in the pubs and listening rooms around the Appalachian mountains of North Carolina.