The Lee County Visitor & Convention Bureau, iHeartMedia and Cat Country 107.1 welcome Jay Allen to the next Songs from the Sofa virtual concert series June 11 at 8 p.m.
The Instagram live event, hosted by DJ Mike Tyler from Cat County 107.1, will feature Allen’s music, interviews and stories behind the songs. Jay Allen, BMI singer-songwriter and rising star, gained recent success from his hit, “Blank Stares,” a song he wrote for his mother who passed away from early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. The country music breakout artist caught the attention from fans right away with his first hit single, “Sounds Good to Me,” listed as a “Highway Find” on Sirius XM’s The Highway channel.
The virtual concert series was created to celebrate music with one of the songwriters who will perform at the seventh annual Island Hopper Songwriter Fest Sept. 18 – 27 on Captiva Island, downtown Fort Myers and Fort Myers Beach. The festival is still scheduled and will include best practices in compliance with CDC guidelines.
For now, Songs from the Sofa should provide an exciting way to experience a quality performance in your own home.
Small town Iowa native, Jay Allen, made his move to Nashville in 2013 and very quickly gained attention from the country music industry. He signed his first publishing deal in 2014, and then teamed with Sony/ATV in 2016.
In 2017, Jay was honored as “The Highway Find” on Sirius XM with his song “Sounds Good To Me.”
In 2018, Jay went viral after releasing a song he wrote for his mother who passed away at age 54 from early-onset Alzheimer’s titled, “Blank Stares”. With over 200 million views on Facebook and 230K combined followers on social media, his story has been featured worldwide across media platforms such as People, Forbes, and ABC World News Tonight, among others. Him and his band “The Stallions” are now touring the country, and alongside The National Alzheimer’s Association, have helped raise over $35 million for the charity.
With the hype around his emotional story, Jay has gained recognition around the world, creating opportunities to open for well known acts such as Jake Owen, Granger Smith, Josh Turner, Rodney Adkins, Chris Lane, LoCash, Jerrod Neimann, Eric Paslay, Maddie & Tae, William Michael Morgan, and Dylan Schneider, among others.
In December of 2018, Jay signed a management deal with industry veteran and long time friend, Mickey Jack Cones (COR Entertainment). Mickey, known for his success as a producer (Dustin Lynch, Joe Nichols, Trace Adkins, Randy Houser, Craig Campbell, Mitchell Tenpenny, etc.), engineering on Jason Aldean’s records, and acquiring ten #1’s as a producer, songwriter and publisher, has wrapped his arms around Jay.
In December of 2019, Mickey Jack partnered with Emmanuel Zunz(ONErpm) to form Verge Records and sign Jay as their flagship artist.
“Jay is a powerhouse – unique voice, heart of gold, incredible story, and a work ethic like I’ve never seen. I look forward to showing the world what this artist is made of, and I can confidently say that Jay is the future of country music,” says Mickey Jack.
While Jay’s immediate focus is serving as an advocate for the fight against Alzheimer’s and will continue to be his passion, there’s much more to him as an artist. After seven years of writing, new music is set to be released over the coming months. Be prepared – Jay Allen is about to be a name you won’t forget.
Songs from the Sofa debuted in May with music sensation Sam James. His performance is archived on the Island Hopper Songwriter Fest Instagram page.
For more information, visit https://www.island-hopper.fortmyers-sanibel.com/
1 Comment
Love your song partial “you can’t take it eith you when you go” should make a nmbr 1 spot on country. Is it available?