Jay's Bio

Jay D Henley was born in a small farming community in Mt Airy, Maryland, where he spent most of his time milking cows when he was old enough to work. After graduating from high school, he attended herdsmen school in Kansas and cattle farrier school in Canada.

He was always a music lover and knew he wanted to be a singer the first time he took the stage in a local talent contest and won. He entered every contest he could and soon got involved with a band. It was then he started getting the itch to write his own songs. He decide to record some of these songs and make his own CD to sell. After recording the CD, he formed what is known now as the Stone Broke Band, to promote his CD as well as his strong vocal talent. The band has opened for several national recording artists including Lonestar, Keith Urban, Trace Adkins (twice), John Rich (Big and Rich), Gretchen Wilson, Andy Griggs, and John Michael Carroll to name a few. Jay and his band were the first runner up in Kenny Chesney's "Next Big Star" contest, as well.

Along with performing and songwriting, Jay also started his own business of Hoof Trimming, traveling to farms in Virginia and the Eastern Shore, through Northwestern Maryland. Keeping with his roots of the hard working farmer and traditional way of life, Jay’s vocal style leans towards the traditional style, however, he is comfortable composing and performing Modern as well as Traditional Country Music.

Jay joined the Nashville song writer's association and through them got turned onto a song writers' seminar held every year in Nashville, TN. He took his songs to Nashville, performed and was heard by a reputable music publisher. This publisher invited Jay back to town and introduced him to one of his staff writers, Thom Shepherd. Jay started writing with Thom and through this connection, met other writers like Jeff Batson and Lance Miller, and before he knew it he was in the loop.

One of the writers he met was Charlie Craig who wrote hits for Alan Jackson, Aron Tippin, and Lorrie Morgan to name a few. Charlie was getting into the production business and decided to produce a project of Jay's and is currently trying to get him a recording contract. Craig says of Jay, ''I never worked with an artist since Alan Jackson that had as pure a country voice like Jay's. If you like traditional yet contemporary country music you'll love this record." So keep your fingers crossed for this great singer songwriter. Just pick up a copy of his latest record ''Perfectly Normal'' and you'll hear just what we're talking about.

jayhenley@comcast.net

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