Jay McNeil considers herself to be primarily a storyteller. She started reading and piano lessons at about the age of 5 and hasn’t stopped. She just added more activities to her repertoire like songwriting, short story writing, playwriting. True to her folk and calypso roots, her songs tell stories and make commentary on social and political situations. There was always a wide variety of music in her house inclusive of classical music, folk, pop, jazz, calypso, reggae, rock, Broadway musicals, opera. Trained classically with a BA in Music/Music Education, a specialty in piano, Jay has chosen to work more with folk, folk pop styles, enhancing her songs with a variety of musical influences. Besides her professional performances with rock, reggae and African reggae bands, and solo gigs in coffee houses, she has contributed original music for plays and independent films. She continues to write and record her songs, as well as creating a website that features an audio magazine, “Flick My Ear Again”, that features narrated stories and songs around a different central theme each month.
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