TheBuzz caught up with indie artist Jay Nash for our new weekly interview feature, TheBuzz-By. Learn more about indie artists with our short list of random questions.

Nash tells us he is currently taking a break from touring and finishing up some collaborative projects with artists such as Caitlin Crosby, Garrison Starr, and Mozella amongst others. Once these projects are complete and after SXSW 2010, he plans to start on a new record. Get to know Nash as he answers our questions…

KH: What song is stuck in your head right now?

JN: “Wish Your Heart Farewell” by Kenneth Pattengale.

KH: What is the best part of being on the road?

The independent albums that I chose have shown a new musical direction. The albums contain originality in arragements and sound, helping to redefine the current music landscape. The list includes unsigned and indie band’s albums/EP’s that are signed to labels.

The indie movement and community needs to keep regenerating. The music is out there, but we just need to keep building an indie music community to help expose these artists to the masses.

The list of indie artists’ albums are not in any particular order.

Jay Nash is currently on the West Coast leg of his tour, which includes independent musicians Shane Alexander and Joey Ryan.

Nash will be meeting up with Caitlin Crosby and Crosby Loggins on his Midwest and East Coast tour dates.

The unsigned artist is touring once again in support of his latest EP release, All the Stars in Copenhagen.

Years ago, when I decided that music was the way that I wanted to live and the way that I wanted to earn a living. I made the decision that I would rather do what I love, put everything that I possibly could into it and do it well. At that point, I had an truck that barely ran, I lived in a garage and rarely had a positive balance in my bank account. I wasn’t sure what music would bring me in terms of a living and I didn’t care. It was just that I wanted my life to be immersed in it and surrounded by it.

The multi-genre rock inspired artist, Jay Nash, has added tour dates to send off the summer season starting July 16 to September 26. The independent musician is touring in support of his latest release EP, All the Stars in Copenhagen.

“It was fun little recording to make…first in Copenhagen, then in Berlin and finished up in LA with David Immergluck and Seth Atkins Horan,” Nash posted on his Myspace blog.

Nash is coming off a benefit performance, which helped raise almost $11,000 for Save the River.

“Save the River protects the delicately balanced environmental and socioeconomic interests of the 1000 Islands region of the St. Lawrence River in upstate NY,” Nash also posted on the blog.

Los Angeles’s, Jay Nash’s, latest album, The Things You Think You Need , is a good representation of what you get when you juxtapose rock, folk, pop and a bit of country and then add a bit of poignant acoustic guitar in the mix. It is an effortless and easy album that is extremely likeable from the very first track.

The album succeeds in calling to a wide range of emotions, and the more cheerful tracks make for a good balance with the few somber songs, the former gaining an upper hand when determining the record’s overall mood.

The album displays Nash’s thoughtful lyrical ability which allows quiet moments of reflection and lamenting to coexist with more funky, playful offerings. With a vocal style reminiscent of both David Gray and Isaac Slade (The Fray), Nash’s soulful and seamless voice is the strongest when crooning his feelings of scorned melancholy. But he is also quite at home leading the more pop-oriented radio-friendly tracks, or even doing his best to channel Bruce Springsteen on track 6, “Hard Lesson.”

The one song that just doesn’t fit the mold of the album is on the last song, which is actually untitled. A more electronic feel combined with the haunting lyrics makes this a very short but ethereal track. 

The stark contrast in instrumentation makes this the most memorable and anomalous moment on this wonderful album. It leaves the listener with an unfinished, haunted feeling when Nash ends with “Open your eyes, you’re not alone.”