Jay DeMarcus (born Stanley Wayne DeMarcus Jr.; on April 26, 1971) is an American bassist, vocalist, pianist, record producer and songwriter. From 1999 to 2021, he was a member of the

country pop Country pop (also known as pop country or urban cowboy) is a fusion genre of country music and pop music that was developed by members of the country genre out of a desire to reach a larger, mainstream audience. Country pop music blends genres ...

group

Rascal Flatts Rascal Flatts is an American country music band founded in 1999. The band members were Gary LeVox (lead vocals), Jay DeMarcus (bass guitar, background vocals), and Joe Don Rooney (lead guitar, background vocals). DeMarcus is LeVox's second co ...

Early life

DeMarcus was born in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, an ...

. He graduated from the

Tree of Life Christian Schools Tree of Life Christian Schools is a private, college preparatory Christian school located in Columbus, Ohio. It serves preschool, primary, and secondary students. History In the spring of 1978, members from the Linden Church of Christ, Beechwold C ...

and Fort Hayes Metropolitan Education Center in Columbus while living with his mother and sister. He also has a half-sister from his father's side of the family. DeMarcus attended Lee College in Cleveland, Tennessee, from 1990 to 1992. At the time, he traveled and performed as a keyboard player in the Christian music group New Harvest, led by Danny Murray.

Career

DeMarcus co-founded the

contemporary Christian music Contemporary Christian music, also known as CCM, Christian pop, and occasionally inspirational music is a genre of modern popular music, and an aspect of Christian media, which is lyrically focused on matters related to the Christian faith and ...

group

East to West East to West was a Contemporary Christian music duo from Cleveland, Tennessee, formed in 1993. Background Neal Coomer and Jay DeMarcus met in Cleveland, Tennessee, at Lee College (now Lee University) and decided to form a Christian pop group alo ...

and moved to

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and t ...

, in 1993. In 1997, after East to West disbanded, he called his second cousin,

Gary LeVox Gary LeVox (born Gary Wayne Vernon Jr., July 10, 1970) is an American singer and songwriter. He is known for being the lead vocalist of the contemporary country music band Rascal Flatts, and his stage name was taken from the studio-console label ...

, with whom he played when they were younger, and convinced him to come to Nashville and provide some harmonies on Michael English's album ''Gospel'', which he was producing. They engineered the album together, and became English's back-up band and road manager. The album was nominated for the

Dove Award A Dove Award is an accolade by the Gospel Music Association (GMA) of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the Christian music industry. The awards are presented annually. Formerly held in Nashville, Tennessee, the Dove Award ...

for Inspirational Song of the Year. He soon became bandleader for Chely Wright. Eventually, he met Joe Don who is now the group's other member. DeMarcus called Joe Don to fill in for a guitarist who had left the band one night. In addition to producing for English, he has also produced albums for

James Otto James Allen Otto (born July 29, 1973) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Otto began his career on Mercury Nashville Records in 2002, charting three minor singles on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs charts and recording his de ...

Jo Dee Messina Jo Dee Marie Messina (born August 25, 1970) is an American country music artist. She has charted six number-one singles on the ''Billboard'' country music charts. She has been honored by the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country ...

Austins Bridge Austins Bridge is an American Christian country band originally formed in Austin, Texas. The band consists of Justin Rivers and Jason Baird. Band history The band was formed around 2007 by Rivers and Baird, along with Mike Kofahl. After signing ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

and others. On March 4, 2010, DeMarcus and his band mates were guest stars on '' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'', appearing as themselves. In the episode titled "Unshockable" (10.14), he is electro-shocked by his bass guitar during a performance at a Vegas club, leaving him with total amnesia which he recovers from at the end of the episode. DeMarcus has continued to explore his acting career, appearing in the film ''A Country Christmas'', as well as episodes of ABC's ''

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and t ...

'' and Lifetime's ''

Drop Dead Diva ''Drop Dead Diva'' is an American legal comedy-drama/fantasy television series that aired on Lifetime from July 12, 2009, to June 22, 2014. The series was created by Josh Berman and produced by Sony Pictures Television. It stars Brooke Elliot ...

''. In October 2018, DeMarcus founded the label Red Street Records, an independent Christian music label.

Personal life

On May 15, 2004, DeMarcus married Allison Alderson a former beauty queen who has held the titles

Miss Tennessee The Miss Tennessee competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Tennessee in the Miss America Scholarship Competition. Lauren Dickson of Parsons was crowned Miss Tennessee 2022 on June 25, 2022 at the Cannon Center ...

1999 and Miss Tennessee USA 2002. DeMarcus met her on the set while filming the video for the Rascal Flatts song, " These Days". Their first child, Madeline Leigh, was born in December 2010. In July 2012, he and Allison welcomed son Dylan Jay. He also has another daughter from a previous relationship, who he placed for adoption because he and his then-girlfriend were not ready to parent the baby.

Discography

*''

'' (2000) *''

Melt Melt may refer to: Science and technology * Melting, in physics, the process of heating a solid substance to a liquid * Melt (manufacturing), the semi-liquid material used in steelmaking and glassblowing * Melt (geology), magma ** Melt inclusions, ...

'' (2002) *'' Feels Like Today'' (2004) *''

Me and My Gang ''Me and My Gang'' is the fourth studio album by the American country music group Rascal Flatts, released on April 4, 2006 by Lyric Street Records. The album became the highest US debut of 2006, with 721,747 units and went double platinum in the ...

'' (2006) *''

Still Feels Good ''Still Feels Good'' is the fifth studio album by American country music group Rascal Flatts. It was released September 25, 2007, via Lyric Street Records. The album sold 2,192,000 copies in the United States up to May 2009 and was certified 2× P ...

'' (2007) *'' Unstoppable'' (2009) *'' Nothing Like This'' (2010) *''

Changed Change or Changing may refer to: Alteration * Impermanence, a difference in a state of affairs at different points in time * Menopause, also referred to as "the change", the permanent cessation of the menstrual period * Metamorphosis, or change, ...

'' (2012) *''

Rewind Rewind may refer to: General uses * Rewind, the process of winding magnetic tape inside a cassette or a microfilm reel backwards to a previous point on the reel ** Rewind symbol, a media control symbol indicating tape rewind or analogous operatio ...

'' (2014) *'' The Greatest Gift of All'' (2016) *'' Back to Us'' (2017)

Non-Rascal Flatts album credits

Filmography

Awards and nominations for producing

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Demarcus, Jay 1971 births American country bass guitarists American country record producers Living people Musicians from Columbus, Ohio Songwriters from Ohio Rascal Flatts members Guitarists from Ohio American male bass guitarists Country musicians from Ohio 21st-century American bass guitarists 21st-century American male musicians American male songwriters