Bob Hay born Robert Donald Hay, Jr. on January 28, 1950, is an American songwriter and the multi-instrumentalist and vocalist for
Athens, Georgia projects the
Squalls,
Bob Hay & the Jolly Beggars,
Noogeez,
A. Che Why and
Supercluster
A supercluster is a large group of smaller galaxy clusters or galaxy groups; they are among the largest known structures in the universe. The Milky Way is part of the Local Group galaxy group (which contains more than 54 galaxies), which in turn ...
.
Biography
Hay was born on January 28, 1950, in
Grand Rapids, Michigan to a postal worker and housewife. He attended
Aquinas College :''See also List of institutions named after Thomas Aquinas''
Aquinas College may refer to any one of several educational institutions:
In Australia
*Aquinas College, Perth, Roman Catholic boys' R–12 school
*Aquinas College, Adelaide, residenti ...
(Grand Rapids) and worked as a school teacher and as a statistician prior to divorcing his first wife and moving to
Kennebunkport, Maine.
As musician
Hay was convinced by
Ken Starratt to move to
Athens, Georgia, from Maine after making a trip to Athens in the late 1970s and surveying the blossoming music scene. Bob met other local musicians including roommate "Big" Al Walsh,
Mig Little and
Diana Torell and formed the band the Squalls. They were well known for switching instruments and singing duties during their shows. In 1986, they were featured in the movie ''
Athens, GA: Inside Out''. The Squalls underwent various lineup changes after Mig Little left the band. They were joined by
Mark Cooper Smith, Juan Molina, Paul Hammond and others at various times during their career. The Squalls made a self-released e.p. and single, as well as two albums for
Dog Gone It Records-a label owned by
Jefferson Holt
Jefferson Holt is the founder of Daniel 13 Press and manager of rock band R.E.M. from 1981 to 1996.
Under the name Vibrating Egg, Holt recorded a five-song EP on his label Dog Gone Records that included R.E.M.'s Mike Mills on bass.
In 1996, Holt ...
, the manager for
REM
Rem or REM may refer to:
Music
* R.E.M., an American rock band
* ''R.E.M.'' (EP), by Green
* "R.E.M." (song), by Ariana Grande
Organizations
* La République En Marche!, a French centrist political party
* Reichserziehungsministerium, in Nazi G ...
. The Squalls made several trips up and down the East coast of the U.S. and a trip through the mid-West before disbanding.
Hay never stopped jamming with his friends and briefly performed with a project called the Yams who learned covers of songs in hopes of playing bars and fraternity parties. This is where he began his association with multi-instrumentalist
Bill David
Bill(s) may refer to:
Common meanings
* Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States)
* Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature
* Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer
* Bill, a bird or animal's beak
...
, a local musician with deep roots in the community.
Bob Hay & the Jolly Beggars began as a solo project. Hay became fascinated with the works of
Robert Burns, the 18th century Scottish bard, after a random comment which was made during a jam session. He found songs by Robert Burns at the
University of Georgia library and began to learn and arrange them. Other former members of the Squalls, including Ken Starratt's youngest son Gabriel Fricks-Starratt, became interested and joined. They have released 3 CDs and perform sporadically in and around Athens, Georgia.
Noogeez was dreamed up by Ken Starratt as a way to use Bob's older Squalls material in a kid-friendly format. 2 videos have been made so far using this material. Members of this band include Ken and
Jorma Starratt, Ken's son. Their first video, "Kathy", won the audience choice award during the 2007
Athfest
AthFest is a free annual music and arts festival in Athens, Georgia, first held in 1997. The festival spans three days in the downtown area during the summer, and planning for the event begins in November. Jared Bailey founded the festival to pr ...
Sprockets competition.
A. Che Why' is Hay's latest project. He records his ideas and songs using just a sequencer and a guitar. Sometimes he "records in the morning" and has his work on
My Space "by the evening."
Hay married
Vanessa Briscoe, the lead singer for
Pylon in 1986 and they have two daughters. She recruited him to play acoustic guitar in her recording project
Supercluster
A supercluster is a large group of smaller galaxy clusters or galaxy groups; they are among the largest known structures in the universe. The Milky Way is part of the Local Group galaxy group (which contains more than 54 galaxies), which in turn ...
. They released an e.p. "Special 5" in December 2007. Supercluster plan to record additional material in July 2008 and release the whole as a full length work called ''Waves'' by the end of 2009.
Discography
Squalls
* ''Squalls''
EP (Mbrella, 1984)
* ''Crickets !!''
single (Mbrella, 1985)
* ''Athens, Georgia Inside/Out
LP (compilation, 2 songs, IRS, 1986)
* ''Rebel Shoes''
LP (Dog Gone It 1987)
* ''No Time''
LP (Dog Gone It 1988)
Bob Hay & the Jolly Beggars
* ''Toils Obscure''
CD (self-released 2004)
* ''Tam Lin''
CD (self-released 2006)
* ''Athfest 2005''
CD (compilation of various Athens,GA artists, Ghostmeat, 2005)
* ''Bawdy Noise''
CD (self-released 2009)
Supercluster
A supercluster is a large group of smaller galaxy clusters or galaxy groups; they are among the largest known structures in the universe. The Milky Way is part of the Local Group galaxy group (which contains more than 54 galaxies), which in turn ...
* ''Special 5 e.p.''
CD (self-released 2007)
References
External links
Squalls entry on AllMusicBob Hay & the Jolly Beggars website Noogeez on myspace A.Che Why on myspaceSupercluster on myspaceSupercluster, The New Sound of Numbers and A.Che Why featured in the Athens Banner-Herald*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hay, Bob
1950 births
American multi-instrumentalists
Aquinas College (Michigan) alumni
Musicians from Grand Rapids, Michigan
Musicians from Athens, Georgia
Living people
American male songwriters
Songwriters from Michigan
Songwriters from Georgia (U.S. state)