Jay Hoad

Arena’s Deli and Bar in Rehoboth Beach filled to capacity with faithful fans as the Jay Hoad Band took the stage for its final performance Nov. 24, before Hoad left to perform in Australia and the Caribbean. The size of the crowd, including people turned away at the door for more than an hour, was very impressive for a band that made its first tour appearance at Dogfish Head Brewings and Eats in June.

“We will be back in March,” Hoad announced to overwhelming applause.

Appearing at the farewell performance at Arena’s were Mike McShane on djembe and conga drums, Dean Haemel on drums, Jim Miller on trumpet and Pete Boziak on guitar and synthesizer. Hoad played an electric bass, 12-string acoustic guitar, lap steel guitar, upright bass, didgeridoo and various percussion instruments.

The five members presented a unique combination of music reflecting Jamaican, rhythm and blues, rock, jazz, reggae and Australian tribal influences. The eclectic mix is not too surprising, coming from Hoad who earned his degree from the Conservatory of Music in South Australia and then mastered his craft on cruise line tours.

Similar to the short-lived 1960s group Cream, the music had a start and finish with the mid-section largely based on improvisation. People in the room swayed, danced and clapped in rhythm to alternating waves of percussion and horn.

“It’s high energy music. Our goal is to cover the full spectrum of world music,” Hoad said.

Three major influences have guided him on his current musical path as he writes an album and plans for the 2009 music festival circuit, Hoad said: the African music of Michael Franti and Spearhead, Xavier Rudd’s solo blues and folk, and the John Butler Trio headed by Butler – an Australian guitarist and vocalist.

The crowd was as eclectic as the music, including the glamorous, the exotic and boardwalk standards wearing T-shirts with sayings like “life is too short to drink sh****y beer.”

Among the exotic was Leah Greer-Pinzaru of Lewes who, having trained in the art of belly dancing for nine years, performed to a song Hoad created for her called “The Belly Dancer.”

In a matter of months his followers know not only the music but also the words to Hoad’s songs. The verses sound like free-form poetry reminiscent of the beat generation – words about the environment, war, love, spirit, politics, friendship and joy.

“Please remember what you used to make out of those clouds for me,” Hoad sang in a song called Silhouette about friends met during life’s journeys.


More information about Jay Hoad is available online at jayhoadband.com.

Contact Georgia Leonhart at g.l.leonhart@comcast.net. - News Journal

"Worldbeat performer Jay Hoad from Australia toured the shore this summer and began setting attendance records at local hot spots faster than you could say 'lower case blues'. His up-tempo mix of styles such as jazz, reggae, worldbeat and funk proved that local barflies have been starved for the chance to spend their beer money at venues where they don't have to endure "Don't Stop Believin'" or "Blister in the Sun" for the umpteenth time. Mr. Hoad bet the Beachcomber that he could fill a local nightclub to capacity for one particular show in the off season ... and he won"

Reach Roger Hillis by e-mail at rhillis@gannett.com
- DE/MD Beachcomber

DE Music Festival: Day #2

The crowd for the second night of the Delaware Music Festival was quite larger than the night before.... and the night belonged to... the Jay Hoad Band, led by Mr. Hoad, who is touring from Australia. Backed by a five-piece band that included a saxophone and trumpet player, Hoad brought a brand of world music to the festival that was unlike any other we saw over the two nights. Their band has a funky reggae vibe going on, which is augmented by some sounds from Hoad's native land thanks to his didgeridoo. To top it all off, he brought out a bellydancer for his closing number, causing quite a scene up front in the crowd.

Hoad just arrived from Australia and will be touring the Mid-Atlantic for the next six months and has a slew of shows already scheduled... - Wilmington News Journal

Jay Hoad has been working his craft nicely around the world and only rarely makes it to Adelaide on his tours. But I’m sure glad he and his band did! Their mix of super-tight funky grooves, jazzy interludes with plenty of trumpet and sax solos, brilliantly fat bass lines and excellent punchy drums and percussion won me over instantly. Add to that the occasional use of instrumentation like didgeridoo, lap-steel guitar, flute, and djembes, and you’re really on a winner. From rock to reggae, blues to funk and everything in between, this is raw talent at its best! --Luke Balzan - Rip It Up Magazine, Australia

Jay Hoad gets moving with music.

Hoad brings a new kind of sound to the Shore (Katie Wais, Staff Writer)

REHOBOTH BEACH --Combining strong business sense with a mission to have fun at all costs, Hoad has become the hot show to catch at nightclubs in Rehoboth Beach and surrounding areas -- and it's a reputation that has almost literally sprouted overnight.

Hoad, a native Australian by way of Fiji, has been visiting state-side for eight months and playing the beach music scene on his current tour for an even shorter amount of time. A July 21 Jay Hoad Band performance at Arena's Bar & Deli in downtown Rehoboth was enough to prove that the dreadlocked formally-trained bassist has officially landed. The locals joint was packed ("I mean it was packed, packed, man," as Hoad said) with a crop of fresh, young fans.

"Arena's told me it was the best crowd response they've ever had from a band -- ever," Hoad said. "They were just screaming and going crazy.

And Hoad is taking it as quite the compliment. He and his band had an almost identical experience last month at the nearby Dogfish Head Brewpub, which often thins out after 11 p.m. A crowd is sure to follow Hoad wherever he's playing -- whether solo or with his six-piece band -- and it's something that started with some of the most unassuming of beginnings.

For this tour Hoad has recruited a steady group of assorted local musicians, including Jim Miller on trumpet, Pete Bozick on guitar, Dean Haemel on drums, Michael Shockley on percussion and Zach Skudlark on saxophone.

Hoad's music lives in a place where jazz, jam, reggae, funk and Australian tribal music meet, creating an eclectic sound of global-proportions.

The large audiences are proof that local music fans are starved for something unique.

An all-music life is the way Hoad has always had it, first picking up the guitar at age four. He went on from there to enter the prestigious Brighton special school of music at 13 and three years later was offered a scholarship at the University of South Australia, eventually completing degrees in contemporary music on the electric bass and jazz on the acoustic bass. In between, he toured Europe as a vocalist, performing for Pope John Paul II in the Vatican among other stops.

It was while working three six-month contracts with the Australian Jazz Quartet on cruise ships that Hoad says he received most of his practical training, playing with the likes of Dionne Warwick, the Temptations, the Drifters and Blood, Sweat and Tears.

"It's definitely blown my mind," Hoad said of the response in Delaware to his current tour. "It's getting pretty big now. It's starting to snowball and I just try to put all my energy into it."

For the multi-instrumentalist Hoad -- who moves fluidly between bass, didjeridoo and percussion in his shows -- consistently high energy and a tight-knit band are the key to packed houses.

"No matter what the style, the groove has to be so groovy you can't help but shake your ass to it," he said. "No matter what you're playing there's always that possibility to get that groove."

To see what Hoad is all about, catch one of his upcoming performances. He'll be playing a show this weekend with the Jay Hoad Band at Zogg's nightclub in Rehoboth Beach on Friday. They'll also perform Saturday, Aug. 8 at the Rusty Rudder in Dewey Beach. - Cape Gazette