Jay Williamson earned his hand percussion chops in the Jefferson City high school marching band. From there he went to college in Bolivar, Missouri where he studied acting and earned a degree in theater. He made his home in Springfield and proudly took on the role of starving artist, paying his bills as a sign maker. Jay's stint as a bartender in the saloon show at Branson's Silver Dollar City left him mostly uncorrupted, but did give him his first paying gig as a drummer for the can-can girls. His professional music career began in earnest as he took up the bongos with the displaced Midwest beach-party band The Smarties. He then moved to the drum kit with folk rockers Gypsy Scholar, with whom his musical collaboration with his cousin Mark began. When he had time, he took major roles in productions of Springfield's Little Theater, showing his devotion to his craft to the point of shaving male-pattern hair loss into his head for his role as Mr. Smee in Peter Pan (it grew back). Jay immediately took to the washboard when asked to join the prototype version of Big Smith, but since then his drumming has added punch and power to the band's sound. He introduced his songwriting for Big Smith's Big Rock CD, and his new songs continue to be added to the show. Jay earned a master's degree in education from Drury University, but after four years of battling bad grammar and ricocheting hormones as a High School English teacher, Jay joined with the rest of his band mates as a full-time musician. He is husband to Myki and father to Lucy and the twins, Charlie and Amelia.
Visit Jay's MySpace profile.
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