Album Notes

Raised in the Bluegrass state and schooled in the Durrty South - its no wonder why you cant exactly knock down the wall of sound that surrounds Nick Peay.

Well, the wall of sound may be an exaggeration but Peay, pronounced Pay certainly has put up a wall of influences around his music. Its so thick in fact that its almost impossible - save for one theme - as to what makes the music Peay produces similar to whats in his collection. Quality, well-written songs.

Sure its easy to grow up on the words of the Beatles and the chops of LZ. But its a steady diet of bands that mix words and chords to get the right ingredients to sing along, out loud and impress a crowd.

Lucky for him, Peay was exposed to songwriter central just by attending (and graduating from) Middle Tennessee State Universitys Recording Industry Management program. Its not so much earning a degree that helped. It was the competition among other singer-songwriters and bands, and having contact with the ones that were able to carve out a niche in the super small market known as Murfreesboro, Tennessee. With Nashville only 35 miles up the road the competition wasnt just between how many songwriters can one town hold, but are you unique enough to find some success?

Bands like Self, and The Katies put their names on the map with small local label Spongebath Records about the same time that Peay enrolled in school there. Add in noted Nashvegas rocker Will Hoge and other bands like The Features and you have the perfect petri dish for the truly catchy, melodic hooks to cultivate in. Throw in some regular tour stops by New Orleans stalwarts Better than Ezra and Atlanta front-man-producer-to-the-stars Butch Walker of Marvelous 3 fame, Ben Folds, etc. - and you start to get the picture of what Peays all about.

Since graduated and back to plying his trade in Louisville, Kentucky, Peay has been focusing on his songwriting which recently has swung in a more rootsy singer-songwriter rock sound.

Look for Nick Peay dates in the region around Louisville, including Nashville, and Lexington. Peays "Sobering" E.P. is due out at shows and independent retailers in mid-fall.