Videos by American Songwriter
ARTIST: The Contenders (Jay Nash & Josh Day)
BIRTHDATE: the song was born in December of 2013
HOMETOWN: JN born and raised in upstate NY, JD in Wilkesboro, NC
CURRENT LOCATION: JN in Vermont, JD in Nashville
AMBITIONS: Generally speaking, we aspire to fight the good fight, have a damn good time playing honest music, and try to make the world a better place.
TURN-OFFS: Greediness, Auto tune, mass-produced food and ecological carelessness.
TURN-ONS: vinyl, old guitars, vintage drums, harmony, soul, big waves and deep snow
DREAM GIG: Red rocks, Radio City Music Hall, Royal Albert Hall
FAVORITE LYRIC: I stand by what I said last time:
Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don’t stand in the doorway
Don’t block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There’s a battle outside and it is ragin’
It’ll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin’
CRAZIEST PERSON I KNOW: Pretty much everyone in Vermont is a little crazy. You need to be to make it through the winters. JD – I would agree that there are crazy people everywhere, and they just help keep things interesting 🙂
SONG I WISH I WROTE: “The Weight” by The Band, “Desolation Row” by Bob Dylan, “American Girl” by Tom Petty
5 PEOPLE I’D MOST LIKE TO HAVE DINNER WITH: Levon Helm, Carl Sagan, Trey Anastasio, Rick Hall & Willie Nelson
MY FAVORITE CONCERT EXPERIENCE: Saw “The Boss” Bruce Springsteen when I was a child. Immediately felt inspired to play music (- Josh Day) Funny…I had the same experience…and I had no idea that I was going to be so moved by it. It was on the Human Touch tour, which as a record, didn’t move me at the time. But man, that concert destroyed me. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the first time that I saw Martin Sexton perform live. He just elevated my expectation of what could be accomplished in a solo performance. I saw the Jerry Garcia Band in 1993 and it completely transported me. (-jn)
I WROTE THIS SONG: This song is inspired by so many of our friends and heroes that are in it for life. They make music every day and forever because it is a necessity, whether it brings them fame and fortune or a humble existence.
