Jay Schraub

“Up next for the evening was a Singer/Songwriter named Jay Schraub, also from Chicago. He played a thirty minute set. What he brought to the stage was a level of intimacy not seen from other artists. He reminds this reviewer of a young and hungry Bob Dylan. Jay Schraub also brings a very powerful and profound voice to the songs he is singing, No matter the subject matter of the music you feel every word he sings and know there is true conviction in his words. Overall his performance I will rank it a solid 4 out of 5, I strongly suggest going and checking out this kid sometime in the Chicago area. His music would fit more in a coffee house setting where audiences can take in not just the music but the words. A very strong songwriter Jay is.” - Ryan B.

“Walking up to the front windows of the java plus came a singer/songwriter with acoustic guitar in hand. At first I was expecting some crappy sublime and country covers but I was very much surprised and very impressed when he played all originals. His songwriting is very very good, he reminds me of early Dylan and Harvest era Neil Young songwriting wise. Singing wise this kid is a whole different level, what he brings vocally is a very strong and impressive voice. His range is very big and he brings such emotion to everything he sings, I never got the impression he was mailing in any song. He interacted with the crowd a good deal, cracked jokes and the usual ballyhoo. It was a very very good evening of live music with Jay Schraub being the highlight for me. I spoke to him after his set and he is rather shy, a far cry from the on stage person. He is very very gracious and humble and just loves performing and writing songs, he feared his voice was on the weak side due to a cold, which honestly if that is him on a weak evening then I am excited to find out what he sounds like with full power behind his vocals! Hit his website at JaySchraub.com and see if he is playing near you, he will be worth the time!” - Jessika Sledgeh

“Middle of this afternoon experience was a songwriter by the name of Jay. He is from Chicago and was playing at a small coffee house Red Eyez. He performed all original music which was a nice change from other acoustic artists ive seen playing Wagon Wheel for the one millionth time! I can tell from his presence and vocals the songs he was performing mean alot to him, you can sense every words means something very personal to him and he is sharing with all of us. Vocal wise he is very strong and can hold a room with it, He can hit some very high notes as well as very low notes too, not only is he a fantastic songwriter but he is a great singer to boot! You often do not get both when you think of singer/songwriter types but with Jay you do. If you happen to spot him playing go and check him out, you wont be disappointed! Also I purchased his album 'Chasing Neverland' at the show and I can also tell you its a incredible album worth owning” - Heather Lynne Wulf

“To start the evening of songwriters was a young singer based out of Chicago by the name of Jay Schraub. I looked up his name online and found a reverbnation and myspace page which will be linked at the end of the story with every other artist reviewed this evening. This guy walks on stage, a flannel shirt, jeans, looks so unassuming, seems a bit on the shy side, he introduces himself, also in a shy manner, and starts to play. What happened next blew me away, This young gentleman has such a powerful strong voice! Almost of opera quality, He is a baritone that can hit notes of a tenor. If I were to compare him to another singer, which honestly would be unfair to him as a singer, but I would compare him to Michael Stipe from REM meets Peter Cetera from Chicago. The songs Jay performed were all very nice pieces, He only had 3 songs to hold the audience with and he did it, He started with a up tempo number "A Lifetime" almost punk in nature to start the show, then middle was a ballad called "May You Never Change" and then he ended the set with another fast number "Number On The Wire" You can tell he had planned out his set and where he wanted it to go to keep the audience all in. A very very strong start to this evening and I await to hear more from this very talented songwriter in the future!” - Ralph Weiland