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Jay Baumgardner is an American singer-songwriter hailing from “Snow-belt” Erie County Pennsylvania.
His music, a blend of Americana consisting of equal parts Rock, Folk and Alternative Country, displays a frankness and vulnerability that only the most earnest of troubadours would dare to share with the world at large.
After feeling jaded from over a decade of fronting Erie metal scenes darlings Dedloft and Crowfeather, he walked away from scream vocals and mosh pits to pursue a more rootsy approach to songwriting and arranging. His need to make audiences understand him as a multidimensional artist who loved life and not just your average angry vocalist screaming into a microphone helped push him to create introspective croons that fans of acoustic music could easily relate to.
In 2012 an attempt to try his hand at self production on a multi-instrumentalist level begat “Last Summer on Old Lake…” a five song EP which he then shared with friends and family through YouTube. This in turn helped bolster his gigging habits and led to the inception of his backing band, The Vigils which consists of seasoned Erie County players Davy Kephart on bass and Donny Kirsch on drums. Since then the sound has changed a bit, but not the intent: create heartfelt songs that speak to fans of Americana music. Jay B. & The Vigils have been demoing new songs for a while now and are slated to track their full length offering this summer on Lakehouse Records. The album's release should be out sometime in early autumn 2017. Until then you can catch Jay performing solo or with The Vigils in and around the Erie area.