The Contenders are the Americana folk roots duo featuring Jay Nash (9 albums, 10 EPs, 900 shows, 400,000 miles) and Josh Day (Sara Bareilles, John Oates, Brandi Clark, and Jennifer Nettles drummer).

They have toured the US, opened for The Milk Carton Kids half a dozen times, played Americana Fest with Patti Griffin, played MerleFest where Jens Kruger of the Kruger Brothers joined them onstage, toured across Europe with shows in Holland, Germany, and France.

They have released an EP ‘Meet The Contenders’ and their debut album Laughing with the Reckless to critical acclaim.

On The Contender’s latest album, Laughing with the Reckless, and the duo’s approach to music, Joey Ryan of The Milk Carton Kids shares:

…So Laughing with the Reckless, with all its infectious rhythms and sublime two-part harmonies, grew out of those moments that are only possible when people “come together,” a phrase which, crucially, is not used on this album as a platitude. It’s meant literally. When Jay Nash and Josh Day sing, “if we all come together, we can see the light,” they mean actually, physically come together, as they have done with so many people for so long. They mean sit, eat, drink, talk, laugh, brag, embellish, confess, ramble, share, and reveal parts of ourselves we never meant to. The parts we might not even reveal to those who think they know us best, choosing instead to entrust our best secrets to the safekeeping of a stranger. When we do that, we find that our religion, our politics, our grievances almost never come to the forefront of the conversation, no matter how much of each other’s whiskey we drink. Our families, our work, our adolescent missteps, our friends, our sick parents, our hobbies, our songs, our favorite bands, our dreams—these are what are shared, because these, apparently, happily, are what actually define a person.

Not many people know what it feels like, I fear, to be in so many strangers’ homes sharing music and stories, food and drink. But the troubadour knows. We do it all the time. And The Contenders mean to let you know it’s real, it gives them hope, and, lately, it breaks their hearts.

7,000+ monthly listeners on Spotify

Twangville 2017 Reader’s Poll ‘Album of the year’

No Depression 2017 Reader’s Poll ‘Top 50 Album of the Year’

“You could say that The Contenders are a band greater than the sum of its parts, but that wouldn’t quite be fair to the parts: it’s the duo of Jay Nash and Josh Day, both distinguished musicians and songwriters with their own unique voices and perspectives.”
- Paste Magazine

“The duo’s sound paints a picture of open stretches of road as well as lazy days at home – sonic comfort food constructed on a bed of groove and storytelling.”
- Country Weekly