Darren Jay’s Band to Perform at KASU Bluesday Tuesday June 11
JONESBORO, Ark. — KASU, the broadcasting service of Arkansas State University at 91.9 FM, presents Darren Jay and the Delta Souls at the Bluesday Tuesday concert on June 11, from 7-9 p.m. at the Newport Country Club, 703 Walker Drive, Newport, Ark.
Darren Jay started playing music professionally in Miami, Fla., at the age of 15 before taking a short break from the music scene to join the U.S. Navy. After he left active duty in 2005 at the age of 28, he formed a hard working band based in Pensacola that toured the Florida panhandle averaging more than 150 shows a year.
In 2008, Jay competed in the 24th International Blues Challenge on Beale Street in Memphis as the representative of the Blues Society of Northwest Florida. By mid-2009, he had made recording contributions on Stacy Brooks’ studio album, “Love, Peace and the Blues,” produced by Kenny Neal and Stackhouse Recording artist Memphis Gold.
In 2010, Darren Jay moved to Memphis and met bass player Laura Cupit on Beale Street. Cupit, born and raised in Tallulah, Louisiana, had moved to Memphis and joined The Eric Hughes Band as bassist in 2001. After nine years and three CDs with the Eric Hughes Band, Laura joined forces with Darren Jay in a band called Darren J and Black Cat Bone.
Renamed Darren Jay and the Delta Souls, the band’s newest release was “Drink My Wine” in September 2012. “Drink My Wine” includes 10 original songs and two covers — re-imagined versions of Willie Dixon’s “Hoochie Coochie Man” and Robert Geddins’ “Tin Pan Alley.”
Featuring Darren Jay (guitar/vocals/songwriter), Laura Cupit (bass/tambourine/backup vocals), Hubert “H-bomb” Crawford (drums), and Tony Thomas (keyboards), the album includes notable special guest players: Grammy winner and Music Hall of Fame inductee Wayne Jackson (trumpet) of the Memphis Horns, Rodd Bland, son of legendary Bobby “Blue” Bland, (drums on the instrumental “Zilla”), Art Edmaiston (tenor/baritone saxophone), Marc Franklin (trumpet), and Chris Cloys (backup vocals).
Jay was President of the Memphis Blues Society from 2010-12 and is still an active board member. He has steadily earned the respect of his peers in the blues community throughout the U.S. and the world.
Admission to the June 11 Bluesday Tuesday is free to the public, thanks to the sponsorship of ASU-Newport, C&C Distributors and Harris Ford. The concert will be held at Newport Country Club that offers a buffet dinner for a fee. KASU presents live concerts every month in Jonesboro, Newport and Paragould.
