| JT Daly | |
| Birth Name: | Justin Thomas Daly |
| Birth Date: | 2 January 1981 |
| Origin: | Wellington, Ohio U.S. |
| Genre: | Alternative rock, indie rock |
| Years Active: | 2001–present |
| Occupation: | Musician, producer, songwriter, visual artist, director |
| Associated Acts: | Paper Route |
Justin Thomas "JT" Daly (born January 2, 1981) is a Grammy-nominated[1] [2] American musician, producer, songwriter, visual artist, and former frontman of Nashville-based rock band Paper Route. His production and co-writing work include Benson Boone's Gold-certified single "Ghost Town",[3] and Bully's album "Lucky For You".[4]
Daly's film and television credits include composing the original score for the 30 for 30 documentaries "Chuck & Tito"[5] which premiered on ESPN,[6] and the original score for the Amazon Prime Video series "Coach Prime". He also co-wrote and produced "The Big Game" musical for The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz.[7]
Daly's career in music began in 2000 when he joined indie rock band, For All the Drifters,[8] while double majoring in Music Composition and Art at Greenville College. The band relocated to Nashville in 2001 and released three EPs: For All the Drifters (2001), We Can Make Mistakes EP (2003), and Drifter EP (2004). The group disbanded in 2004.
Daly began his career as a visual artist in 2004. He was employed at Teleprompt Records from 2004–2006 where he designed artwork for the company's roster, including Mutemath. Daly works as a visual artist for musicians including Wilco, Paramore, Sufjan Stevens[9] and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.[10]
In 2006, Daly began work on a multimedia project called SS Mechanics (sight and sound) alongside Daniel James, best known for indie/electronic/folktronica band Canon Blue. SS Mechanics built an installation for poet/radical, Bradley Hathaway, and released a print-only version of the SS Handbook. The book contains paintings and poetry by Daly and James. Later that year, Daly worked as a creator, director, and producer of the short film/music video for Edison Glass's "This House".[11] The clip was showcased at various film festivals including The Chicago International Film Festival, The Nashville Film Festival, and The Imagination Film Festival,[12] and went on to be nominated for a Dove Award (Short Form Music Video of the Year) in 2007.[13]
Other visual works include Bed Time Stories (2013), MonstersINairports (2012) (12), KIDZ (2010), The Body Is a Kingdom, The Kingdom Is Beautiful, and Architechnopoly.[14] He also designed a line of phone cases for Griffin Technology[15] and tour merchandise for the band Paramore in 2010. Paramore's logo still features Daly's handwriting.[16]
In 2006, former member of For All the Drifters, Chad Howat, asked Daly to contribute vocals to several tracks that he had produced. They recruited another former bandmate, Andy Smith, to form Paper Route. In August 2006, the band released a self-titled EP, followed by the A Thrill of Hope EP in December of the same year.
Paper Route toured through 2007, garnering interest from a number of major labels. They signed with Universal Motown in December 2008[17] following the release of All We Are, the band's third EP.[18] Paper Route's full-length debut, Absence, was released in April 2009[19] [20] and reached No. 13 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart. The band independently released their second full-length record, The Peace of Wild Things, on September 11, 2012[21] [22] after Universal Motown went under. The album reached No. 8 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart.[23] Paper Route released their third full-length album, Real Emotion, on September 23, 2016,[24] which charted on the Billboard Heatseekers chart, reaching No. 12.[25] Daly served as Paper Route's art designer and shared recording, writing, and mixing duties with his bandmates.
In January 2019, Paper Route announced[26] their indefinite hiatus via Twitter. Daly began focusing on songwriting and production and signed a publishing deal with Prescription Music in January 2022.[27] [28]
The indie psych-rock group Mad Wave (initially The Voodoo Children), consisting of Daly and Nikki Barber was established in 2018. Their first single release is "Tangerines & Daffodils", the video for which is notable for its use of over 1,100 hand-drawn images.[29] [30]
Daly and his Paper Route bandmate Chad Howat contributed an instrumental track "The Music" to 2009's motion picture 500 Days of Summer.[31] Daly released his debut solo album in 2012, Memory.[32]
In 2012, Daly recorded the Christmas anthem, "Silver Bells" with Brandi Cyrus. Cyrus says the duo hit it off right away, "Well I started out as a huge Paper Route fan and got linked up with J.T. in the hopes of working on music together. Our mutual friend Taylor York from Paramore connected us, and we became fast friends!"[33] Daly was also featured on the Camp America track, "Leader of the Pack."https://www.campamericamusic.com/about/
Daly produced and co-wrote tracks on K.Flay's Crush Me EP[34] including the alt rock hit, "Blood in the Cut".[35] Daly co-wrote and produced the tracks "Blood in the Cut", "Champagne", "Hollywood Forever", "You Felt Right" and "Slow March"[36] from K.Flay's 2017 album, Every Where Is Some Where. His contribution Every Where Is Some Where earned him two Grammy nominations for Best Rock Song ("Blood in the Cut") and Best Engineered Album.[37] Daly continued to write and produce tracks with K.Flay for her Solutions (2019), Inside Voices / Outside Voices (2022), and Mono (2023) albums.
Daly co-wrote and produced Pvris's album "Evergreen"[38] and single "Hallucinations" which was named Billboard's No. 1 alternative and rock song of 2019.[39] He also co-wrote and produced K.Flay's album Every Where Is Some Where with the single "Blood in the Cut", for which Daly received Grammy nominations for Best Rock Song and Best Engineered Album,[40] and singles for Demi Lovato, Isaac Dunbar,[41] and Quinn XCII.[42]
Daly co-wrote and produced several tracks on Sarah Macintosh's 2011 album, Current.[43] In February 2014, Daly released The Blackest Bird under the moniker JT Daly & The Blood Orchestra.[44]
In 2019, Daly produced Hallucinations, the third EP from American alternative rock band Pvris.[45]
| Year | Artist | Nominee/work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | "Blood in the Cut" | Best Rock Song | ||
| K.Flay | Every Where Is Some Where | Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical |