Hi, I’m Jay Adana. I write songs and stories that say the quiet parts out loud.

I didn’t grow up writing musicals. I wrote my first song in the bathroom of a half-condemned apartment during a devised puppet show. The moment needed words, so I gave it some. It wasn’t polished, but it was honest. The Woodsman came out of that: wordless until it wasn’t, quiet until it hit. That’s still the kind of work I make. Songs from the marrow. Stories that say what we’re all trying to feel.

Since then, I’ve chased that kind of truth across projects that keep getting deeper. I adapted “Beloved” by Toni Morrison into a short musical film at The Public Theater, directed by Carlos López Estrada and featured on PBS. I co-wrote “The Loophole”, a magical Black Civil War musical that won the Richard Rodgers Award and was developed at The Public, Playwrights Horizons, and headlined UWM’s Pass the Mic Festival. My latest piece, “The Jordan & Avery Show”, is a two-hander about grief, fame, and the friendship that keeps you from floating off the planet. It premiered at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center and heads to New York next.

My sound is layered and emotionally direct. I write a lot about self-healing and freedom. I care about context. I trust the feeling more than the form. And I’m always chasing the moment that makes the room go still.

You can find my music on Spotify or YouTube, or come hear it live when it lands next. I’m represented by Gersh, a proud member of Maestra, and always up for making something that means something.

I live in Southern California with my husband Sean, our daughter Freddie, and our dog Charles Barkley.
Thanks for stopping by.