UWG student Jay Pruitt releases “A Bit Insane” on Spotify and Apple Music

UWG undergraduate student and independent music artist Jay Pruitt recently released a new song “A Bit Insane” on Apple Music and Spotify. While Pruitt is a non-traditional student looking into anthropological studies, he recently began a fruitful music endeavor online, including his music being broadcasted on Wolf Radio.

“I wrote it to get out of a bit of frustration that I was having being locked in quarantine,” says Pruitt. “[From] being quarantined with somebody and the conflict that can arise from it. But I wanted to show more than tell instead of just saying it.”

Pruitt began as an online music artist in May covering Lewis Capaldi’s “Days Gone Quiet” which remains his most popular song, covering 62% of his streams on Spotify. His cover charted him as the number one indie artist in Australia and Russia.

In June, Pruitt posted his first original “The Truth” to Spotify and Apple, featuring the vocal talents of his mother Doris Tucker.

With his second single “Silent Man” released in August, Pruitt shifted from ballad style to upbeat, synth-pop. “Silent Man” surpassed his previous release in stream count and allowed Pruitt to feature as a trending indie artist for an extended amount of time.

Pruitt’s latest single “A Bit Insane” continues the fast paced stride of “Silent Man” but incorporates a more punk sound instead of synth-pop. The song has under a thousand streams on Spotify but soared on Apple Music with 23k streams.

Since the release of his first song, Pruitt’s music has exceeded over 100k streams on Apple Music and 37k streams on Spotify.

About a week after “A Bit Insane” debuted, Wolf Radio requested the audio to play on their program.

“[Wolf Radio] knew I made music because I messaged them a while ago,” says Pruitt.

Pruitt also decided to write and print copies of his first poetry book thanks to the support of his friends and the resources offered in UWG’s Print Services.

One important figure in his growth as an artist and writer includes Dr. Gregory Fraser from UWG’s English Department. Pruitt attended Fraser’s “Intro to Creative Writing” class this semester and credits Fraser for sharpening his poetry and songwriting.

“I did not know that I could write poetry before taking [Intro to Creative Writing] even though I knew I could write songs. [Poetry] is a newfound thing for me,” says Pruitt. “I recommend every single person to take Intro to Creative Writing at the very least. It’s helped me make friends, it’s helped with my writing and it gave me a safe place to voice my opinions.”

Despite anxieties, Pruitt still pushes himself to create music and put his work out into the world. Similarly, many students everywhere, including UWG, share their creations including music, art and other talents with the world but there are also some who hesitate to publish their own works for one reason or another.

UWG offers a platform for not just learning but provides a platform for students to share their talents, passions and projects. While today’s online landscape especially can be overwhelming, Pruitt and many other small creators still need to start somewhere.

“When it comes to writing music, an easy way to start is to take a song you already like and try rewriting the lyrics. Then try rewriting the melody and then from there, try making a new instrumental from it,” says Pruitt. “And don’t be afraid to ask people for help.”

For music artists not knowing where to start, Pruitt recommends playing around with different apps like Reaktor or the free program Audacity.

In the future, Pruitt hopes to perform his music in front of a live audience and will continue releasing unique songs in the meantime.