Jay DeMarcus

Jay DeMarcus

DeMarcus at a ceremony to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2012
Background information
Birth name Stanley Wayne DeMarcus, Jr.
Born (1971-04-26) April 26, 1971
Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
Origin Nashville, Tennessee
Genres Country, contemporary Christian
Occupation(s) Musician, songwriter, producer
Instruments Bass guitar, keyboards, guitar, drums, vocals
Years active 1992–present
Labels Lyric Street, Big Machine
Associated acts East to West, Rascal Flatts
Website www.rascalflatts.com

Jay DeMarcus (born Stanley Wayne DeMarcus, Jr.; April 26, 1971) is an American bassist, vocalist, pianist, record producer and songwriter.[1] He is a member of the country group Rascal Flatts.

Early life

DeMarcus was born in Columbus, Ohio. He graduated from the Tree of Life Christian School in Columbus while living with his mother and sister. He also has a half-sister from his father's side of the family. DeMarcus attended Lee College in Cleveland, Tennessee, from 1990 to 1992. At the time, he traveled and performed as a keyboard player in the Christian music group New Harvest, led by Danny Murray.

Career

DeMarcus co-founded the contemporary Christian music group East to West and moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 1993. In 1997, after East to West disbanded, he called his second cousin, Gary LeVox,[2] with whom he played with when they were younger, and convinced him to come to Nashville and provide some harmonies on Michael English's album Gospel, for which he was producing. They engineered the album together, and became English's back-up band.[3] The album was nominated for the Dove Award for Inspirational Song of the Year.

In addition to producing for English, he has also produced albums for James Otto, Jo Dee Messina, Austins Bridge and others. He produced the 2006 release for the band Chicago titled, Chicago XXX. He soon became bandleader for Chely Wright. Eventually, he met Joe Don who is now the group's other member. DeMarcus called Joe Don to fill in for a guitarist who had left the band one night.

On March 4, 2010, DeMarcus and his band mates were guest stars on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, appearing as themselves. In the episode titled "Unshockable" (10.14), he is electro-shocked by his bass guitar during a performance at a Vegas club, leaving him with total amnesia. DeMarcus has continued to explore his acting career, appearing in the film A Country Christmas, as well as episodes of ABC's Nashville and Lifetime's Drop Dead Diva.

Personal life

On May 15, 2004, DeMarcus married Allison Alderson a former beauty queen who has held the titles Miss Tennessee 1999 and Miss Tennessee USA 2002. DeMarcus met her on the set while filming the video for the Rascal Flatts song, "These Days". Their first child, Madeline Leigh, was born in December 2010. In July 2012, he and Allison welcomed son Dylan Jay.

Non-Rascal Flatts album credits

Year Album Artist Credit
1998 Gospel Michael English Producer, engineer, bass, acoustic guitar
2003 Some Things Never Change Mark Lowry Keyboards
2006 She Was Country When Country Wasn't Cool: Tribute to Barbara Mandrell Various artists Bass
2006 Ten Brian McKnight Bass, piano
2006 Whatever We Wanna LeAnn Rimes Bass
2006 Chicago XXX Chicago Producer, arranger, engineer, guitar, keyboards, vocals
2008 Sunset Man James Otto Producer, bass
2008 The Prodigal Comes Home Michael English Arranger, vocal producer
2010 Unmistakable: Love Jo Dee Messina Producer
2010 Times Like These Austins Bridge Producer
2011 New Day The Martins Producer, vocal arrangement, guitar, keyboards
2012 New to This Town Kix Brooks Producer
2012 Tuskegee Lionel Richie Bass
2012 iCarly: iSoundtrack II [Original TV Soundtrack] Various artists Producer
2012 Brighter One Marshall Hall Producer, electric guitar
2013 Alabama & Friends Alabama Producer, bass
2013 Love Is Stronger Jason Crabb Producer, bass
2013 Some People Change Michael English Producer, engineer, bass
2013 Surrender Adam Crabb Bass
2014 Nashville Outlaws: A Tribute to Mötley Crüe Various artists Producer, bass, piano

Filmography

Film and television appearances
Year Title Role Notes
2006 Yes, Dear Himself Episode: "The Limo"
2009 Hannah Montana: The Movie Rascal Flatts
2010 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Hmself Episode: "Unshockable"
2013 A Country Christmas Chim Ritchels
2014 Drop Dead Diva Trevor Episode: "First Date"
2015 Nashville Himself Episode: "Forever and for Always"
2016 Sharknado: The 4th Awakens Zimmerman, Shark World Hotel manager TV movie

Awards and nominations for producing

See also: Awards received by Rascal Flatts
Year Association Category Work Result
1999 GMA Dove Awards Inspirational Album of the Year GospelMichael English Nominated
2011 Grammy Awards Best Southern, Country, or Bluegrass Gospel Album Times Like TheseAustins Bridge Nominated
2013 GMA Dove Awards Southern Gospel Album of the Year Love Is StrongerJason Crabb Won
2014 Southern Gospel Performance of the Year "Love Is Stronger" – Jason Crabb Nominated
2014 Inspirational Album of the Year Four:Twelve – No Other Name Nominated

References

  1. Live Daily Jay DeMarcus interview
  2. "James Otto: Putting the Pieces Together". Country Weekly.com. 2008-03-24. Retrieved 2008-04-09.
  3. Mueller, Walt. "Rascal Flatts: Taking kids to the country". Center for Parent/Youth Understanding. Retrieved 30 May 2012.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/12/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.