Jay McDowell (’87) has had an exciting career that centers around the music industry. In 1992 he moved to Nashville and joined a country band, BR5-49, as an upright bass player. The band started on a tiny stage in Nashville and from 1995-2002 they played on stages all over the world and produced 6 albums. When BR5-49 started to really take off, they were thrown into some pretty high-profile, high-pressure situations, including on stage at 30 Rock with Conan O’Brien, the David Letterman Late Night Show, the Grand Ole Opry, Austin City Limits, Good Morning America, and the Donnie and Marie Show.
When it came time to leave the band and settle down to family life, McDowell transitioned into the film and video world where his specialties include capturing, editing, motion graphics, compositing, encoding, DVD creation, and graphic design.
McDowell has won many awards, both as a musician and as a producer. With BR5-49, he won a CMA (Country Music Association) Award, a CMT (Country Music Television) Award, and was nominated for three Grammy Awards. As a video editor, he won a Communicator Award and was nominated for an Emmy Award. As a music journalist, he has had over 500 articles published in various publications. Since 2018, he has served on the Nashville PBS Community Advisory Board and since 2008 been the curator of the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum.
McDowell was born with an extreme deformity of the sternum which led to multiple surgeries and long stays at Riley Children’s Hospital in Indianapolis. Whereas most school-age children have memories of friends at school and “normal childhood activities”, McDowell’s memories are of his roommates in the hospital and visitors, some famous. (His parents spent untold nights at the Ronald McDonald House, which continues to be his favorite charity.)
One of McDowells’ favorite memories was when he was a senior and a few friends asked him to play “Johnny B. Goode” with them in the school talent show. They were the first act on the show. As soon as the curtain went up, his cue to start the song, he had an anxiety attack. Then, out of the darkness, the bass player, Mike, said, “My pants are around my ankles right now.” That little bit of levity was exactly what he needed at that very moment, and they won the talent show. Every time McDowell has had stage fright since that day, he plays back in his mind Mike’s “pants around my ankles” and everything goes fine. Other school memories with friends include time spent in Chauncey Village at Von’s, JL, and LMG.
McDowell admits he was not a great student, but he did have some favorite classes and teachers. He enjoyed Film Literature Class with James Kopka, English Literature with Beth Burch who inspired him to write every day, and Fusen Gulen, Patti Kurowski, and Tom Shafer’s art classes.
McDowell writes, “I certainly took my WL education for granted. I was very lucky to have such great teachers and a great community to grow up in.”