5:30pm • Happy Hour
Jason (Jay) Byrd has been a professional guitarist, singer, and songwriter since his late teens. In his early twenties, he co-founded the blues-rock trio The Groov with Kerry Brooks, and in 1996 joined the then-Grateful Dead cover band Wavy Train. Byrd's original songs and guitar work helped Wavy Train to forge a sound that combined pop-oriented melodies with extended improvisation. After moving to the Washington, DC area in 2001, Jason began crafting songs with a decidedly Americana bent. An award-winning songwriter (NewSong, Mid-Atlantic Songwriting Contest, Bernard-Ebb Finalist), Jason continues to write and perform original roots-influenced music. Jay’s new album, At Home Again, is set for release in 2022. His previous band, South Rail, has released three EPs, a self-titled debut in 2012, "Stars" (2014), produced by Don Was, and most recently, “Take The Wheel” (2018).
Throughout the years with Wavy Train, South Rail and as a solo artist, Jay has opened for Little Feat, Chely Wright, Cary Morin, Don Dixon & Marti Jones, Kevin Gordon, Caroline Rose, Yarn, etc. and has shared stages with String Cheese Incident, Tom Constanten, Col. Bruce Hampton, Ratdog and Steve Winwood, among many others.