Bob Hay born Robert Donald Hay, Jr. on January 28, 1950, is an American songwriter and the multi-instrumentalist and vocalist for

Athens, Georgia Athens is a consolidated city-county in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. Downtown Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta. The University of Georgia, the state's flagship public university and an Research I university, ...

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 tu ...

Biography

Hay was born on January 28, 1950, in

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is the largest city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, United States. With a population of 198,917 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 200,117 in 2024, Grand Rapids is the List of municipalities ...

to a postal worker and housewife. He attended Aquinas College (Grand Rapids) and worked as a school teacher and as a statistician prior to moving to

Kennebunkport, Maine Kennebunkport is a resort town in York County, Maine, United States. The population was 3,629 people at the 2020 census. It is part of the Portland-South Portland-Biddeford metropolitan area. The town center, the area in and around Dock Squa ...

As musician

Hay was convinced by Ken Starratt to move to

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

, 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 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''. Squalls (band) 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. 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, the manager for

R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American alternative rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the fir ...

Squalls made several trips up and down the East coast of the U.S. and a trip through the mid-West before disbanding. They performed at the

40 Watt Club The 40 Watt Club is a music venue in Athens, Georgia. Along with CBGB, the Whisky a Go Go, and selected others, it was instrumental in launching American punk rock and new wave music. The 40 Watt Club was the primary performance space for numero ...

an astounding 64 times in their heyday. 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, 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 Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the List of national poets, national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the be ...

, the 18th century Scottish bard, after a random comment which was made during a jam session. He found songs by

at the

University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...

library and began to learn and arrange them. Other former members of the Squalls 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

Sprocket A sprocket, sprocket-wheel or chainwheel is a profiled wheel A wheel is a rotating component (typically circular in shape) that is intended to turn on an axle Bearing (mechanical), bearing. The wheel is one of the key components of the whe ...

s competition. 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

. They self released an e.p. "Special 5" in December 2007 and released a full length work called ''Waves'' on Cloud Recordings in October 2009.

Discography

Squalls * ''Squalls'' EP (Mbrella, 1984) * ''Crickets b/w Bride of Frankenstein'' single (Mbrella, 1985) * ''Athens, Georgia Inside/Out LP (compilation, 2 songs, IRS, 1986) * ''Crazy Hazy Kisses

Flat Duo Jets Flat Duo Jets was an American rock band from Carrboro, North Carolina, and Athens, Georgia. This rockabilly, punk blues, and psychobilly band was a major influence on several bands of the 1990s and 2000s, including The White Stripes. The band ...

b/w Na Nanana Squalls'' single (IRS-53409 1987) * ''Rebel Shoes'' LP (Dog Gone It 1987) * ''No Time'' LP (Dog Gone It 1988) * ''Squalls Live From The 40 Watt'' LP, CD (compilation of 24 live recordings from 4 shows at the 40 Watt Club) Strolling Bones Records (SB 4, 2022) * ''Squalls'' LP, CD(1984 EP, plus 1985 single, plus unreleased demos) Propeller Sound Recordings (PSR-006, 2022) 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) A. Che Why * ''Various tracks''

Digital Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits. Businesses *Digital bank, a form of financial institution *Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) or Digital, a computer company *Digital Research (DR or DRI), a software ...

(self-released 2006-2008

* ''Special 5 e.p.'' CD (self-released 2007) * ''Waves'' CD Cloud Recordings (CLD-012 2009) * ''I Got The Answer b/w Sunflower Clock'' Single Cloud Recordings (CLD-013 2009) * ''Paris Effect b/w Neat In The Street'' Single Cloud Recordings (CLD-014 2011) * ''Things We Used To Drink b/w Memory Of The Future'' Single Studio Mouse Productions (SMP-004 2012)https://www.discogs.com/release/4522963-Supercluster-Things-We-Used-To-Drink

References

External links

Squalls entry on AllMusicBob Hay & the Jolly Beggars websiteNoogeezA.Che Why on myspaceSupercluster on Facebook
{{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)