Jay Daly

Jay Daly is a Connecticut-based acoustic and electric guitarist combining the sounds of jazz, rock and jam music with various acoustic styles and techniques to form his own unique musical blend.
Jay performs a mix of original and cover music and uses live looping to create an immersive experience for the audience throughout New England.
Jay uses live looping in ways that make the music sound more like 24 strings than the 6 strings he plays. Sometimes he uses the loops to make his guitar sound like a horn section to an R&B tune and other times it sounds like several guitarists are playing along with a mandolin, weaving different parts together to create expansive tapestries of sound.
“Jay’s playing is somewhere between Jerry Garcia and Grant Green”
Jay grew up in a family surrounded by music and musicians. He grew up spending hours with his father on Saturday afternoons listening to music ranging from 60’s folk and the rock of the San Francisco bay area scene to the Beatles to Miles Davis. All of those early influences from childhood come together with modern guitar playing to form his unique artistic voice.
Jay began playing guitar at age 13 after a friend demonstrated some power chords on a new guitar one day after school. That ignited a roller coaster musical journey. It was as if he was pulled by gravity to continue learning.
Jay studied guitar performance in college, studying with Garrison Fewell, Jon Wheatley and Tad Hitchcock. He spent time playing with jazz, rock, funk, free jazz groups, acoustic duos, even playing on cruise ships. A couple of years later Jay went into education as a career as a way of helping young people.
As priorities changed, music slowly took a backseat to the more important focus of raising a wonderful family. Life happens, as the saying goes…
Then the global pandemic happened…
While working from home with the entire family, Jay began playing guitar more often than he had in years. Music was beginning to exert its pull once again with the guitar seeming to call him from its stand.
Soon enough, his wife and children began encouraging him to record and release music, saying:
“We’re the only people who get to hear your music, you need to be playing for other people…”
“Dad, you could be doing so much more with your music…”
After a more than 10-year long break from music, playing guitar has become a joyous and fulfilling experience that Jay wants to share with the listener.
Sharing music with the world has been an amazing experience full of self discovery inspired by the most important people in his life. Jay’s guitar style expresses personal experience in the beautiful way only music can, and he wants to share that passion through his playing to inspire the listener on their own journey.
Jay performs a mix of original and cover music and uses live looping to create an immersive experience for the audience throughout New England.
Jay uses live looping in ways that make the music sound more like 24 strings than the 6 strings he plays. Sometimes he uses the loops to make his guitar sound like a horn section to an R&B tune and other times it sounds like several guitarists are playing along with a mandolin, weaving different parts together to create expansive tapestries of sound.
“Jay’s playing is somewhere between Jerry Garcia and Grant Green”
Jay grew up in a family surrounded by music and musicians. He grew up spending hours with his father on Saturday afternoons listening to music ranging from 60’s folk and the rock of the San Francisco bay area scene to the Beatles to Miles Davis. All of those early influences from childhood come together with modern guitar playing to form his unique artistic voice.
Jay began playing guitar at age 13 after a friend demonstrated some power chords on a new guitar one day after school. That ignited a roller coaster musical journey. It was as if he was pulled by gravity to continue learning.
Jay studied guitar performance in college, studying with Garrison Fewell, Jon Wheatley and Tad Hitchcock. He spent time playing with jazz, rock, funk, free jazz groups, acoustic duos, even playing on cruise ships. A couple of years later Jay went into education as a career as a way of helping young people.
As priorities changed, music slowly took a backseat to the more important focus of raising a wonderful family. Life happens, as the saying goes…
Then the global pandemic happened…
While working from home with the entire family, Jay began playing guitar more often than he had in years. Music was beginning to exert its pull once again with the guitar seeming to call him from its stand.
Soon enough, his wife and children began encouraging him to record and release music, saying:
“We’re the only people who get to hear your music, you need to be playing for other people…”
“Dad, you could be doing so much more with your music…”
After a more than 10-year long break from music, playing guitar has become a joyous and fulfilling experience that Jay wants to share with the listener.
Sharing music with the world has been an amazing experience full of self discovery inspired by the most important people in his life. Jay’s guitar style expresses personal experience in the beautiful way only music can, and he wants to share that passion through his playing to inspire the listener on their own journey.