Songwriter and band leader Jay Bragg has been on stage performing music his entire life. Raised in New England and based out of Nashville since 2015, Jay is a 3rd generation singer and entertainer who played his first show at age 5 and throughout his life in music, has written hundreds of songs, recorded and produced a dozen albums and performed well over 3600 live shows all across America from sleazy dives hustling tips to sold out arenas opening for country music legend Alan Jackson.
The music of Jay Bragg - born Jason Basiner just outside of Boston, MA in 1980 - is a rich gumbo of American Roots music going back to the days of Vaudeville, where his grandparents both performed and met in the 1930s. Jay’s own father and perhaps his most important musical influence recorded his first studio record in 1960 and has been a professional musician and entertainer for 65 years and counting under the stage name Richie Bell.
With a century of popular American music and performance pulsing though his blood, ears and eyes literally from birth, Jay’s sound naturally fuses timeless elements of folk, traditional country, blues, jazz and rock ’n’ roll without being a purist of any of them.
It is performing live where Jay’s light shines brightest - singing songs, telling stories, leading a band of some of Nashville’s finest musicians all done with an easy charisma and sincerity that harkens back to a golden age of showmanship. It’s a skill that Jay developed the old fashion way - from paying his dues performing over 200 live shows a year for 2 decades.
As a music director, Jay has led thousands of live productions including his ever popular “A Songwriter’s Christmas” which tours the country showcasing new and original Christmas music that he and his friends have written while supporting a mission to bring music education to the poor and disadvantaged through his Gift Of Music Project.
Carrying on a long family history of sharing the gift of music to seniors, Jay volunteers weekly as a musical companion for hospice patents, keeping good on a promise he made to his father to use his music to help care for the elderly.