Took a trip on the 93 and been recording!

Hey folks, I took a fun little trip up to Jasper this week and played at the good ol’ Whistle Stop Inn. GREAT gig and I’ve been frequenting that place since 2008, feels like home.

I got that new Neumann mic and its been working wonders for me. Super clear recording, makes it super easy to mix. LOVE IT.

Happy to be home again and actively booking so if you are in need of some live music in December or January hit me up! Would like to fill up my calendar.

Bluegrass picking is coming along, I’ve been playing lots to metronomes and doing drills for technique. I’m noticing significant increases in my speed. I see a light at the end of the tunnel for getting most of these traditional songs on stage. I’m looking forward to jamming these with some bluegrass musicians at some point. Still building up the nerve to hit a jam at some point.

My pal Doug gave me a sweet Baracuda Tele to try out that I’m loving the tone of! Come check it out live at the King Eddy on DECEMBER 9TH when I play with ROOKS!!!

https://www.facebook.com/512544264/videos/10155834053079265/ <— My multitrack version of AHEAD BY A CENTURY! Recorded in 2017! Fun little project.

New Direction and New Music

Jay Bowcott looking at the camera

Winter hit hard and fast this year. No matter how many of them we go through we never really expect it to surprise us the way it does when the weather cools off. I was just down in LA and met some really cool people and had some eye opening experiences. It changed my world perspective a bit and opened my mind to parts of the music industry that I really didn’t even know existed. Getting back into the swing of “real life” has been challenging, but I’m managing.

I bought a Neumann Microphone in preparation for a slew of acoustic recordings that I’ll be sending your way in the coming months. I’ve started recording a new version of my album Bellow which will go by the working title Bellow Revisited. It’s just me, and my guitar… A few layers.. That’s it. If it’s going to be cold out and I’m gonna be spending time hunkered down I might as well be productive.

A couple years of lockdown gave me a lot of time to play guitar. I have played tons of covers in my life and I’m feeling the itch to really really push my original music. I’ve been tired of bar gigs and the same old same old. The goal here is to get to a place where the studio is more of a factor in my day to day life and I want to deliver less gigs that are higher quality. This has required me to streamline my workload and “let a few people down” by quitting a project here or there or opting out of certain gigs.

I’ve come to realize that in this complicated industry, our most valuable commodity is how we spend our time. I spent a lot of time with my guitar but I’ve become aware that I wasn’t paying as close attention as I should have been to important things like web design and photo shoots and all the things relating to the business side of music. I’m trying to change that a bit and start taking this more seriously. These new releases coincide with that vision. I want you as listeners and fans to be more connected with me regularly. This blog will be updated as often as I can with any musings or interesting happenings that come my way.

I have released a version of my song Hometown Hero on SoundCloud. https://soundcloud.com/jaybowcott2/hometown-hero <—– GO CHECK IT OUT! It is the first of a number of songs that will be in the new collection of recordings. I’m looking forward to sharing them with you all!

On top of all my acoustic recordings, I have big plans for a full band album that I will release hopefully in the fall or late into next year. At this point that’s all prospective but some of the cards are falling into place to make that happen.

That being said. I love making acoustic recordings and that’s really where my heart is. It makes sense for me to lock myself in a room and pour my heart out on my HD28, it’s what I do at shows and that’s always worked for me, so why shouldn’t I make some recordings with the same treatment?

My life has been in a bit of a limbo for a long time. I’ve had amazing moments at shows and have had some brilliant times. Lived a LOT of life for a 35 year old man. Been through some serious lows as well, but we are the sum of ALL of our parts. I am using those lemons to make lemonade. Expect to hear a lot from me in the coming months. As a kid I always said 35 was my year. I don’t know exactly what I meant by that when I used to say it, but here we are, now is the time to take the bull by the horns. Let’s make some music!

Thanks for listening!

JayB

The Studio
The Mic- Neumann TLM103

Hello world!

Welcome to the new home! We have been hard at work getting things ready to go. After a few years it was time to do a bit of overhauling and bring you a fresh new website.

I want to make sure you can find what you need easily, and I can share updates with you. This way we can spend more time together with the music.

I’m looking forward to the new site making it easier to share, and stay connected to all of you.

Jay

Jay Bowcott sitting at a table looking to the right