Smilin' Jay McDowell: writer and former member of BR549
Like many musicians before him, Jay McDowell came to Nashville with a guitar and a dream. And then, as he was trying to help his friends find an upright bass player, with little luck they finally asked him: Why not you? And to his surprise, he said yes. The band was BR549, a group of throwback country rockers who played on Lower Broadway in an era when there were no celebrity bars and few tourists — or much of anyone after dark — and rose to fame on the back of their raucous live shows.
He's been known as "Smilin' Jay" since he was a little kid growing up in Indiana. He says he's just always…
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