FunkyBatz presents

Jay Stiles Trio

Jay Stiles moved to Austin from Canada two years ago and has been lending his tasty keyboard skills to a number of bands in town and on the road, including A Town Get Down, The Matt Cline Band, Garrett Lebeau, Dr. Zog, The Big Gun Show, Buggaboo, Milligan Vaughan Project, Roxy Roca, Papa Mali and more.  In Canada, Jay lead two of his own funky projects and released an album with each of them – The Down Right – Weapons of Funk Construction (2014) and Extra Terrestrial Rhinoceros – Outersphere (2015).  Jay is continuously writing, and aside from a deep vault of demos, has two records nearing completion.  Bliss To Bust To Nothing is a joint effort with producer/musician Craig Smith.  It is a concept record that follows the highs and lows of a brief and intense romantic relationship.  “Relationship songs are the easiest for me to write.  Inspiration strikes quick from the greatness and the sadness.  Setting these emotions and good/bad times is my way to preserve the memories.  Hopefully, someone resonates with some of the sentiments and can use part of a song as a mantra in their own life.”  Bliss To Bust To Nothing is set to release in November.

Songwriting :  “I listen to, and am inspired by so much diverse music.  I love the funkiness of course, but am also very drawn to songcraft and harmonies as well.  My favourite bands/artists these days for songwriting are ALO and Zach Gill, Allen Stone, The Wood Brothers, Vulfpeck, Brett Dennen, Dan Auerbach, Jamie Lidell and Bronze Radio Return (to name a few), and of course all the new funky stuff like The New Mastersounds, Turkuaz, The Motet, Vulpeck, etc.  So, ultimately I infuse inspiration from all those bands in my own music in some way shape or form.

For the trio show, Jay is pairing up with David Pulkingham (Patty Griffin) on guitar and Alan Eckert (The Deer) on drums.  “These are two of the baddest cats I know and I feel honoured that they will be joining me to present these songs.  I love performing in the trio setting while playing left-hand bass because there is so much freedom.  The other amazing thing about both David and Alan is their great singing voices.  Expect some rich harmonies.”

The show will feature some special guests and a surprise birthday jam after the clock strikes midnight to ring in the joint birthdays of Jay and Dustin and Evan Bozarth, all born on the exact same day and same year… many moons ago.

This show is gonna be a throwdown not to be missed!