He wrote his first love song in third grade. Now 25, he’s teaching others to love singing.

Vocal performer Jonathan “Jay” Smith wrote his first song, “Only Once,” when he was in the third grade. It was heavily influenced by singer-songwriter Ray J’s “One Wish.”

To improve his song writing, Smith took popular songs, removed the words and wrote his own lyrics to the melody.

“Even at that young age, I was so strategic,” said Smith, 25. “It (‘Only Once’) was a love song. I’d never been in love. I didn’t know what I was writing about then; I have a better idea of what I’m talking about now.”

In 2017, Smith graduated from Queens University of Charlotte with a Bachelor of Arts in music. He now gives private voice and piano lessons to children with Bold Music. He had been doing it in person, but now it’s virtual, on Zoom. He also writes and produces music and has performed at Camp North End, Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden, Knight Theater, and other Charlotte area venues.

Encouraging others to try

Earlier this year, the Arts and Science Council awarded Smith one of four $5,000 Emerging Creators Fellowships. Liz Fitzgerald, ASC’s program director for grants and services, said this is the inaugural year for the grant, which is designed to help artists early in their career.

In his application, Smith requested to use the grant to publish a book he’d just completed. In “How I Learned to Sing” Smith shares his journey about becoming a singer, hoping it may encourage others to try.

He admits he didn’t have a pleasant voice in the beginning; he had to learn how to sing. He’s enrolled in a course to teach him how to publish the book. The book will first be available on Amazon in mid-to-late August.

“I had to learn how the voice works,” he said. “Now I’m taking that knowledge and paying it forward. In the book, I talk about ambition and how it often beats out talent.”

Growing up with music

In his hometown of Eden, the church community was a large part of Smith’s life. From an early age, he listened to gospel music. His favorites were “Lean on Me” by Kirk Franklin and “Shout to the Lord” by Hillsong Worship.

It wasn’t unusual for Smith to become deeply moved by songs, often sobbing from the emotion. By the time he wrote that first song in the third grade, he’d decided he wanted to be a musician.

“I wanted to go from someone who listened to music to a participant of music,” he said. “I wanted to become someone who could create them (melodies) as well. When I took that leap, my musical world opened up. I realized, then and still now, there is so much beauty in being able to create something that has never been heard before.”

Although Smith doesn’t currently write or perform Christian or gospel music, the music he writes evokes emotion.

“I’ve always been interested in the workings of the heart,” Smith said. “I think my best songs are really sad. I want any music that I sing to feel the same way as those gospel songs felt. I want the person to feel something.”

The emotion in Smith’s songs may be fueled by his suffering. Since childhood, he’s experienced performance and social anxiety but has learned how to mask it: “I had to; it was a survival mechanism.”

As a person of color, it wasn’t something that was talked about in his community, he said. In high school he learned about psychology, where to get help, and how therapy can be a normal way to cope with life’s issues.

“This generation is doing a lot better about learning about mental health,” he said. “But maybe the generation before us, and especially the generation before them, did not have the privilege to learn about mental health and the way things affect them.”

‘Be the captain’

Since college, Smith has had the opportunity to work with Children’s Theatre of Charlotte, Learn Music and Playing for Others. He enjoys passing on knowledge to his students and meeting people from all over Charlotte.

“You don’t have these specific guidelines or rules you have to follow when you teach,” he said. “The way you teach and your teaching style and how you want to govern these lessons are really up to you. You also get to make it up as you go along if you realize one student may need something tailored in a different way or communicated in a different way. You get to be the captain.”

Smith said he teaches voice from the perspective of expression. He lets students guide him by the genre or type of music they’re interested in.

He spends time listening to what students want from the lessons. He always teaches them how to breathe correctly from the lower abdomen. He sees the biggest change in a student’s singing when they follow this advice.

Eight-year-old Charlee Grace Nale has been taking voice lessons once a week for more than a year from Smith through Bold Music. She’s learned how to write music: She and Smith wrote “Have a Bright Sunny Day,” and also “Tubby Taco,” a song about the family’s dog.

“He’s taught me a lot actually,” Nale said. “He’s taught me how to be brave in front of audiences and he’s taught me to show expression when I sing. He’s taught me to use my voice to go high when I sing. He makes it really fun when he does it.”

This story is part of an Observer underwriting project with the Thrive Campaign for the Arts, supporting arts journalism in Charlotte.

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This story was originally published July 15, 2020 at 3:36 PM.