ABOUT
Jay is an east coast guitarist from Connecticut who has playing in and around New England for the past 25 years. His influences are vast mixing a concoction of styles and genres from classical to funk. Some would say that his guitar playing is groovy ear sauce that hits you in your soul!
Jay first completed the summer music institute at Berklee School of Music before studying at Central Connecticut State University under the guidance of Carl Knox, Tom Melito, Doug Maher, and Tom Shuttenhelm. He attained his B.A. with a Specialization in Jazz Studies in 2001 from CCSU. In 2016, Jason became a state of Connecticut certified music teacher. He is currently working towards his M.A. in Music Education at CCSU.
Jay has been performing all over New England for 25 years in many genres of music including, Jazz, Rock, Hip-Hop, Blues, Folk, Bluegrass, Reggae, Fusion, and Pop. During those years he has been given the opportunity to share the stage with members of Max Creek, Allman Brothers, and The Spin Doctors, as well as a handful of amazing local artists. In the more recent Jay has been performing solo, as well as intermittently with the Jay Bernard Trio, Matt Zeiner Band, and Jamie’s Junk Show. Besides performing as a guitarists and vocalists, Jason has been teaching acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass, mandolin, ukulele, music theory, improvisation, composition, arranging, and music technology for over 20 years. In his own words, “My goal for students is to have fun, learn the rudiments, develop good habits for routine practice, and learn/appreciate the many styles of music the world has to offer.”