Like many musicians, Jay started playing bass in high school - playing backyard parties and Junior High School dances.  He had some rather unique early influences including Mr.Greenjeans from the Captain Kangaroo TV show and Tommy Smothers of the Smothers Brothers, both of whom played upright bass.  Jay was especially impressed with Mr. Greenjeans style of playing an upright bass across his lap like a guitar!  Although he was very young at the time, these two upright bass players left a deep impression on Jay.  He became acutely aware of the deep sounding bass, and when ever he listened to music he could always hear the strong bass lines and the rhythm it created.  Later on, players like Geddy Lee, Jaco Pastorias, James Jamerson, John Paul Jones and Paul McCartney were big influences.

After turning 18, Jay started playing local small clubs, mostly playing original material. He played in quite a few original bands and loved the atmosphere and the attention he was getting.  The Rock and Roll bug had truly bitten Jay!  He was a quick learner and a versatile player and this allowed him the opportunity to play in many bands, sometimes belonging to several at a time.  He played out every chance he got playing in the bands Centerfold, Openfire, Colours, Treasures, X-Boyfriend, Rare Breed, Roadstarr, Jaxxon, Jax, and Armed & Dangerous. All of these were top notch bands playing in Southern California and opening up for bands like The Busboys and Pat Travers.

After a lot of time and effort - and no record deal, Jay decided to play top 40 & classic rock/disco locally while holding down day jobs.  Hey, a person has to eat!  Fortunately, many of these bands were very good and many of them had great players. Jay played in so many bands, he can’t remember all of them!  Some of those he can remember are Axe, Warpdrive, Paperdoll, Disguise, Rich & Famous, J.A.B.( just another band), Faultline, Blackmoon, Triple Threat, That Seventies Band, Groove Soup, Blackboard Jungle, Driven & Time Flyz.  It was in the band Disguise that Jay first played with fellow BAD INC. band mate Larry Lawrence.

A few years ago Jay parlayed his many years of experience into the tribute band arena, playing the role of Michael Anthony in the Van Halen tribute band Eruption.  This was yet another eye opener for him.  It seemed the whole specialized tribute band phenomena was really becoming popular as people wanted to hear the recaptured sound of the great original acts from years ago.  Recognizing this, Jay has now taken on the role of Boz Burrell of Bad Company in the tribute band, BAD INC.  The significance of the bass parts in Bad Co. songs is extremely vital to their signature sound.  With bass lines sometimes more complicated than the guitar parts, Jay steps up to the plate and delivers.

Working for over a decade at Fender guitars, and now at Suhr guitars, Jay actually builds guitars & basses for a living.  A perfect day job to compliment Jay’s driving passion for playing bass - live for an audience.  You can see and feel that passion as you watch Jay deliver the Boz Burrell sound for BAD INC.