“In the R&B and Soul the very talented Jaye Drew purveys, you need something real, a grit and substance that allows you to rise above sentimental pap and make people actually give a (bleep) about you. She finds—and shows—just that on A Moving Train, her debut full length.” --Sam Pheifle, The Portland Phoenix, August 12, 2009.
The seeds for 'A Moving Train' were planted in the Summer of 2004 when Jaye was invited by a young music producer to perform at a benefit concert in New Hampshire. The two became fast friends, collaborating on two songs, 'Fallow Ground' and 'Song and Dance'. The result was a singular style that mixed R&B and hip-hop with jazz-inspired arrangements and Jaye's haunting vocals.
The then 23 year old solo acoustic singer/songwriter had been performing since high school, opening for a local rock band in Portland Venues and sharing the bill at motorcycle rallies. In 2002 she was introduced to the world of international touring through a friend and was afforded the opportunity to get her music heard by internationally renowned musicians. Jack Johnson told her that she had “an amazing voice” when she met him backstage before a show in New Jersey. Ben Harper's words of praise and encouragement were also a milestone for the 22 year old singer/songwriter.
After abandoning performing for over two years, the bad end of a raucous romance brought Jaye back to her music with a wealth of new material in 2006. She assembled a five-piece band with the help of jazzman keyboardist, Matt Fogg, and began performing and working on tracks for an album.
By that time the young music producer she befriended years earlier had been stacking up major label credits and making a name for himself in New York and Nashville. Mark Zuppe had been urging Drew to do something with her music for years. Now with a group of pro players, they teamed up to make a record.
The group had settled on a name without much ado, 'Jaye Drew and A Moving Train', but before the release of the album, the line-up underwent a transformation. Though incomparable in both his playing style and firey personality, Matt Fogg, who provides keys and backing vocals on the album, was disbanded from the project before completion of the album. Fogg garnered some press for the unreleased record when he was featured in Jazz Times and Keyboard Magazine in 2007 and again when Yamaha endorsed him in 2008. Johnny Venom (bass), who studied Music at The College of Santa Fe in New Mexico, left the project just prior to Fogg's disengagement.
Scott Morgan (guitar) and Shawn Boissonneault (drums) are the two original members currently playing with Jaye Drew. Morgan studied Music at The University of Southern Maine and teaches guitar privately. Shawn graduated from Berklee College of Music in 2003 and teaches at The Drum Shop in Portland.
Jaye Drew released the album titled 'A Moving Train' in August of 2009 with a new line-up of players some of whom will be featured on the follow up release scheduled for the Fall of 2010. The group will embark on a Northeast tour in support of 'A Moving Train' in the Spring of 2010.