18-year-old South Londoner Jay Johnson isn’t your average check-shirted folk singer, more of what you might call an urban poet. Born in Nigeria, Jay grew up in the cultural hub of South East London. He picked up his first guitar at age 13 and never looked back.
A diverse triumvirate of Bob Dylan, Paolo Nutini, and Ben Harper head up the all-important influences league, but it was the music of Ben Howard that finally convinced Jay to pursue his dream. “Discovering his Every Kingdom album was definitely a milestone in my journey through music.”
With a recent slot at Brighton’s Great Escape Festival, and an unscheduled performance at Secret Sessions Live last month (read the amazing story here), we’re proud to introduce ‘The Dark Matters’ EP – important music from a millennial musician giving the lie to his generation’s reputation as lazy, entitled snowflakes.
Following his debut video ‘Midnight Men’, a new track & video ‘Island’ is streaming now. “It’s a song about a realisation I had,” comments Jay. “The lyrics are fairly self-explanatory; it’s amazing to think what one can achieve without the help of others. That being said everyone needs a bit of help from time to time.”
Watch Jay performing ‘Island’ here:
https://youtu.be/faDZlrx3hkI
Catch Jay live:
July 7th – The Fighting Cocks, Kingston Upon Thames
www.jayjohnson.co.uk
www.facebook.com/jayjohnsonukm
www.twitter.com/jayjohnsonuk
