Jay Stott

Welcome to Episode 5 of the story behind the song!

This week I'm looking at 'Mostly What We Ain't' which was released as a single about a year and a half ago. I wrote this song as a part of my songwriting group (shout out group!) several years ago. The prompt that day was 'selfless loving saints.'

Yeah. I saw that and thought ‘nope.’ We aint' that. And the song was off from there. It's fun to lean into a very misanthropic point of view sometime, though I'm mostly a pretty positive guy. But sometimes people…

Story Behind the Song: Ep 4

Ah, trains, and blues, And trains. What a great combo. 

Sometimes you just get messing around with a riff on the guitar and come up with a song to go with it. That's pretty much what happened here. Blues as a form is deeply embedded in my thinking as a player and a writer. I'm not saying I'm great, but blues and blues influenced rock have always been something I really loved. 

The speaker of this little narrative, is, of course, a classic unreliable narrator. It isn't the train that…

Story Behind The Song: Episode 3

Sometimes you start at the end and work to the beginning. There was this phrase rolling around in my head about leaving too soon or too late. And I got to wondering who would say this and what would lead them to say it? What circumstances would have to happen? Also, I really like stories where that bad thing is coming no matter what you do (I'm a big fan of Cormac McCarthy's novels). And, I do love a classic western. 

So I ended up with a song about a guy who falls in love…

Well here's episode 2 of the story behind the song. 

This song isn't released- you can only hear the studio version when the record comes out, so pre-order now and you'll get it first! 

I wrote last episode about the online songwriting group I participate in. The challenge weeks start on Sunday- the first prompt goes up Saturday night. The goal is to write a song every day for a week. Some weeks that gets hard. Maybe I'm not feeling it, maybe I'm busy, maybe I'm just lazy. Who knows. 

In 2024 I was doing a…

I though I'd do a little writing about the songs on the upcoming album, so here's episode 1! This isn't the first song on the record, but it's the title song, so that's what I'm starting with. 

I'm a member of a songwriting group that gets together online every other month or so. We do a challenge week in which we write a song a day for a week. There really aren't any rules, it's just a mechanism to get the work in motion. The trick is to write the song and post it to the group, and not worry too much…

Finally, something is happening. 

Yup, a new record is finally coming- July 18 One Angel Wing will be out in the world! It will include the singles released over the past few years as well as new songs.

When you're a completely indy, one-man shop like me, projects like this can really feel like an endless grind sometimes. So it's really fun to get to the point where we can celebrate a bit. Starting today you can pre-order physical copies of the record on CD and vinyl (yes vinyl!) and you can get tickets to…

This is the Seinfeld of blog posts. Its about nothing.

I mean, not nothing. But I hate trying to come up with some sort of ‘headline’ that makes it sound more exciting than it is. You know all those bands posting ‘big things’ or ‘new announcement’ or ‘buy our branded socks’ (do you want socks? I could make socks…note for later).

This is Olive to your left, doing nothing, except wondering when lunch will be served.

Of course things are happening. It's spring, trees are getting a little green. I'm thinking…

On March 12 it will be the 10 year anniversary of releasing my first solo record. 

I have no idea how time went by so quick. Making that record was a huge learning experience for me- Brian Schey and Brian McRae really helped me understand the process and both of them helped make it the best thing I was capable of at the time. Of course, other folks helped, but those two Brians have their fingerprints of every second of that record. 

Making recorded music in this time is a funny thing. The idea that we can…

I know it's a bad coffee joke, but that's kinda on brand don't ya think?

After a little ‘end of the month/beginning of the month’ getaway it's back to work here in Colorado. This Saturday we're at The Lion's Lair in Denver with our friends White Rose Motor Oil and All Through the Night. It will be an alt-country lalapalooza! If you haven't hear of either of these bands, click the links- they're both awesome. 

I don't know about you, but if it weren't for music I would be totally nuts right now. The world is…

…That piss me off. Remember that awesome song by Robert Earl Keen? I love that song. How can you not?

In other news, we just added some new merch to the store- if you're looking to show ‘em how you like your music (SAD, GRITTY AND LOUD!), then these are for you. Hopefully, they don’t piss you off (really, I love that song). 

3" round patches- perfect for adding to a jean jacket or vest! 

2" round classic metal buttons- for adding a discrete touch of attitude to whatever you are wearing.