Working hard and God given talent is what has brought Jay to be such a success in music. It was apparent from the time Jay was young that he was meant to be a singer. He has always had the ability to pick out harmony by ear and to play music just by hearing it. Born in Alabama and raised throughout the south, Jay’s parents were avid fans of good ole’ southern country music, especially by country super group Alabama. Jay listened to the music as his parents wore out their cassette tape on many a drive!  He was hooked and his love for southern rock has been unwavering from that point forward.

At 11 years old, Jay began playing drums with bass and guitar soon to follow. By age 12, Jay had his own band and spent his days and nights working on his musical skills. By 22 Jay and his band were busy working clubs throughout the state of Florida.

The dream to one day make his living in the music business was deep seated in Jay Darby. So strong was this vision and desire that at 23 years old he packed up his equipment, said his goodbyes to family and friends and he and his band moved to music city. Since then Jay has held a fulltime job while playing downtown 4 to 5 nights a week to make this dream a reality.

Jay’s band played several clubs in and around Nashville. Always wanting to check out the competition, he decided to attend a showcase one evening for a guy named Don Gatlin. Jay and Don met that night and Don mentioned needing a fill-in guitar player for an upcoming show. Jay was up for the task and played the next show with Gatlin. Don was so impressed with Darby he decided they had to figure out a way to work together. They talked of loving three part harmony and looked for a special talent to round out a trio. A few weeks later Don was hosting a writer’s night and a talented young writer just happened to be performing. The twosome approached Mike Ulvila about a collaboration. When the three played together for the first time their blended harmonies were indisputable. The inspiration for Savannah Jack was created that very night.