Jerry Hay
The Ledger Independent is publishing a 50/50 series featuring 50 things over 50 weeks. During this series, our readers can expect to see different “Local Talents/Artisans” each week.
Some of the “Local Talents/Artisans” that may be featured will include, artists, authors, songwriters and more. The general definition of “artisan” refers to a worker in a skilled trade, according to the Oxford Dictionary.
Please enjoy Day 12 of the series.
Bracken County resident Jerry Hay has been writing music, singing and playing the bass and guitar for over 55 years.
“I started playing trombone in grade school but when I saw the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show I knew I wanted to play bass guitar,” Hay stated.
He further noted that he has played in several rock and country bands and his first one was a rock band in 1968-69 called The Combined Forces.
In the early seventies he played with Sweetwater and later on with Ebony Axx.
“In 1980 when the band Alabama came along I fell in love with their music and switched from playing rock to country music and started another band called Harvest. The Harvest band became very popular through the 80s and early 90s,” Hay said.
The band opened up for Bill Monroe and The Oak Ridge Boys at the Kentucky State Fair.
“Harvest packed the Dance Barn every Saturday night and it was amazing how many of those fans followed us to most every venue we played at. It’s hard to express how good it feels to remember those days,” Hay recalled.
He said that currently he is playing in two bands; The Cornerboys Band which is classic rock and country and The Hayboys an acoustic band.
The Hayboys consist of Jerry himself along with David and Shawn Hay.
The Cornerboys consists’ of Eddie Groves, Greg Whitman, Shawn Hay and also Jerry himself.
Both The Hayboys and The Cornerboys can be found on Facebook and they play at venues in both Bracken and Mason Counties.
“I have been blessed to have played with so many great musicians over the years. Playing music has been a dream come true that I hope it will continue for many more years,” Hay expressed.
