Jay DeMarcus

Jay DeMarcus (born Stanley Wayne DeMarcus, Jr.; April 26, 1971) is an American musician, harmony vocalist, pianist, record producer and songwriter, who is a member of the country group Rascal Flatts.

Early life

DeMarcus was born in Columbus, Ohio. He graduated from the Tree of Life Christian School 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 group East to West and moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 1993. In 1997, after East to West disbanded, he called his second cousin, Gary LeVox, with whom he played with when they were younger, and convinced him to come to Nashville and provide some harmonies on Michael English's album Gospel, for which he was producing. They engineered the album together, and became English's back-up band. The album was nominated for the Dove Award for Inspirational Song of the Year.