FEATURE — Southern Utah’s live music scene is flourishing, and the Canyon Media crew is back to highlighting local musicians. So gather around for another session of “Paper Jams.”
Coming to you from Cloud 9 Studios at Canyon Media, this month’s edition features Eli Shay. A Southern Utah native, Shay has been captivating audiences throughout his hometown with his piano-driven blend of country, blues and rock.
Watch (and hear) Eli Shay perform live from Cloud 9 Studios at Canyon Media in the media player above.
Shay performed two original tracks, “Stupid Games” and “Whiskey and a Campfire.” The latter was featured on “Quarantine Comp 2020,” a collection of songs by Southern Utah-based artists that was released during the COVID-19 pandemic with all proceeds benefiting the Utah Food Bank.
“It’s about a girl, like most songs,” he said. “I just found a couple words in my head that sounded good together and just kind of built a story around that.”
Shay was born and raised in St. George. He started taking piano lessons at age 7 and later joined the student band at Fossil Ridge Intermediate School. As a pre-teen, he began playing drums and created a band alongside some friends. He has been playing gigs with multiple local groups ever since.
Music is a lifelong passion for Shay, who told Paper Jams host Brendon Gunn he was destined to chase his dream of becoming a professional musician.
“I’ve never really had, like, a plan B,” he said. “I just always loved being in music, around music, so that’s just always been what was going to happen.”
Along with playing solo shows, he performs with the backing band for country artist Chris Petersen and as part of Mr. OK and the Last Light, a local reggae/hip-hop/funk group offering “good vibes and heavy grooves.”
If you’re a musician interested in playing on a future episode of Paper Jams, you can contact St. George News in the Facebook comments for this article or email [email protected].
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