Jay Corder

Former member Jay Corder was born in Wise County, Virginia. He picked up the saxophone at an early age. While still in high school in the early 1960’s, Jay played in rock and roll bands in the coal mining towns southwestern Virginia and eastern Kentucky.

After graduating from high school, Jay moved to Washington, DC where he played in the local clubs for about two years before entering the service. Jay entered the U.S. Air Force in 1964. Following basic training, he was stationed in Germany where he performed with both German civilian rock bands and in service clubs with military personnel.

In 1968 Jay was discharged from the Air Force and entered East Tennessee State University where he played in several local bands. During his college years he was on two tours with soul singer Arthur Conley.

1970 was the year Jay moved back into the DC area and became a high school art and photograpy teacher by day and a soulful musician by night. Since the early 70’s, Jay has played in 27 bands in the area playing all types of music including rock, blues, country, disco, and top 40.

When Jay first saw Bad Influence, he like the sound as well as the fun the guys had while playing the blues. His first words were “If you ever need a sax player....”. The rest is history. The have been together ever since that first night in 1989.