Spirit of the Solitary Man coming to Truro
Jay White is bringing the best of Neil Diamond to the local stage
Jay White was performing with a musical theatre group in Detroit during the 1980s, singing top-40 hits with an acapella group.
As he performed more and more, people began comparing him to a certain American musician, quite famous at the time.
“People would come up to me after the show and say, ‘You know, you sound a lot like Neil Diamond when you sing,’” said White.
“From there, the more I heard that, I began to wonder what would happen if I began styling my hair and dressing like him. I soon realized there was some physical resemblance between us, too, and decided to join a tribute act in Detroit as Neil Diamond. Six months later, I was able to quit my day job.”
Since then, White has gone on to multiple Las Vegas residencies over the years and is taking his show on the road for a two-week tour throughout Canada which will include a performance at the Marigold Cultural Centre on Sunday, May 27.
“Basically, we will be playing Neil Diamond’s greatest hits, that’s what the show amounts to,” said White.
“I have a four-piece band touring with me, helping me put the audience through a range of emotions, like Diamond’s music does. I want people walking away feeling like they’ve received the Neil Diamond experience, and if I do my job well enough, hopefully it’ll be like they saw Diamond himself.”
Over the last 30 years, White has portrayed Diamond through countless shows, and even had the chance to act as Diamond in the Ron Howard film Frost/nixon, but his link to Diamond started before he ever began performing.
“My girlfriend was getting tickets to a Neil Diamond concert back in 1978, and I figured I was familiar with his music so I went along,” said White.
“I’d heard Sweet Caroline on the radio, and a few others, so when he came out on the stage and did the first three or four songs, I thought, ‘Wow, he’s not bad.’ As the show went on though, I kept thinking how I loved every minute of it. From then on, I started buying all his albums, listening to all his stuff and really found a connection to his music.”
While that connection helped influence his career choice, White believes Diamond’s music remains so popular due to how easy it is to relate to.
“He writes from his own personal life experiences,” said White.
“The things he sings about, the emotions that come through the songs are ones we as humans have probably felt at some point in our lives. Some of his songs are just plain fun, too. They are fun to sing along with and have a great feeling to them. I think those things really help connect not only me, but others to his music.”
After the Marigold show, White is planning a special project in honour of Neil Diamond, who announced his retirement from touring in January of this year due to health issues.
“One of the additional things we are working on is a few benefit shows for Parkinson’s research,” said White.
“As Neil’s retirement was due to Parkinson’s disease, I’m working with a gentleman who is trying to coordinate a few shows where all the proceeds will go toward the Parkinson’s Research Foundation.”
As for White’s future as Diamond, the question is not if he will stop performing, so much as when.
“It’s kind of been one of those things where each year I tell myself, ‘I’ll do it one more year,’” he said.
“As long as people want to continue to see and hear his music though, I’ll continue to do it.”