There are many wonderful entertainers who call Ocean Beach home, but only one has given much of his time in the neighborhood to help enrich the community as well as help hundreds of other musicians to get their music onto San Diego stages ranging from Winston’s to the Athenaeum: Jefferson Jay. He’s a hugely talented guitarist and songwriter, with a larger-than-life personality, always on the go, always looking for the next opportunity. He can be seen and heard each Wednesday from 6 to 9 p.m. as the host of Winston’s open mic night.
Jay, originally from New Jersey, considers Ocean Beach the ideal location from which to launch his many projects. “People are super-appreciative here; people couldn’t be more warm and embracing,” he said. “Musically, I think people are accepting and up for hearing what people have to offer in general. Being from the East Coast, I’m kind of used to people giving their opinion, whether you like it or not. It’s not like that in San Diego. People want to do their own thing and therefore respect others’ right to do their thing, and that makes for a pretty welcoming environment.” This is an ideal situation for any of the performers on his open mic night. “I’m actually considering renaming the open mic night ‘Winston’s Wednesday Welcome.’ It’s a bit of a mouthful, but that’s the idea we’re going for. New name, new poster.”
Jay notes that while most of his gigs and events involve original music, Bob Marley is the OB headliner when it comes to covers. “He’s the Beatles of the area,” he said. “Whoever is at all up to dancing will reveal themselves through a Bob Marley tune.”
Upcoming projects for Jay include the pending release of his seventh album, set to be a selection of works culled from his Operation 365 Project, which saw him post three videos on YouTube every day for a year. “It was 1,100 videos,” he said. Each day, Jay posted a cover song, an original and a video he shot of a local performer at a variety of venues such as defunct restaurant Portugalia. “The new album will be the 12 best songs I wrote for that,” he said.
Sports fans may have recently heard Jay on the Scott and BR radio program, airing on the Mighty 1090, where he’s been a guest almost a dozen times over the past years. “That’s probably the most unique thing I do,” he said. “I really enjoy that, singing funny songs about the Padres or the Chargers or whatever can be joked about in sports. I’ll be on again soon, as the Charger season is coming. I just wrote a preseason song for the show, fourth year in a row I’ve done for them.”
In addition to his own shows, Jay hopes to be able to stage another edition later this year of his 24 Hours of Music concert series, which features around-the-clock entertainment. “I’d love to get that going this year; I’m just waiting for the right confluence,” he said. “It’s been six years since the last one (2009), so I’d like to, but I don’t want to force it. It’s a lot of work.”
For his part, he’s pleased with his life in music. “I still dream of having a team to do a lot of the background work someday,” he said, “and I know I’ll get further when that happens. But in the meantime, I try to take the OB approach to life, to music, and enjoy the fun parts and not get too put off by the phone calls, the bookings and other details,” he mused.