Jay Brown

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 more than 100 original songs, as well as hundreds of 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 20 years. 

Jay also formed the Indian folk fusion band Shantavaani with his wife Aditi, which put out 2 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 folk band The Appalucians, along with Angie Heiman and Cas Sochacki. 

Empathy and Comedy is Jay Brown’s 7th solo album. With 12 original songs that call back the classic sounds of American folk and rock, this album holds an old fashioned magnifying glass up to the spectacle of modern times.

“The Timeless Voice of the poet” – No Depression, 1996

“One of the year’s best, easily” – No Depression, 2013

“Jay Brown might just be bringing real Americana to the masses” – The Cutprice Jukebox, 2015

“His sensual storytelling is imbued with the heart of American Roots Music, delivered in a way that doesn’t feel old or dated” – Guitar World, 2015

“There are few more talented or charming additions to the music scene here than Jay Brown” * -Asheville Citizen Times, 2016*