Jay Semko

Jay Semko
Jay Semko performing live in Saskatchewan. August 19, 2016
Background information
Birth name	John Peter Semko
Occupation(s)	Singer, songwriter, bassist
Instruments	Bass
Years active	1982–present
Associated acts	The Northern Pikes
Website	www.jaysemko.com
Notable instruments
Bass, Guitar (Acoustic & Electric), Harmonica

John Peter "Jay" Semko is a singer/songwriter and bassist with Canadian band, The Northern Pikes. He is also a music composer for numerous film and television productions, most notably the successful Canadian television series Due South. Semko has been nominated for a Juno Award eight times as a member of the Northern Pikes, and also been nominated twice for a Gemini Award, and once for a Canadian Screen Award, and received two awards from the Canadian Music Publishers Association for his songwriting. His hometown is Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

Semko's first solo album, Mouse was released in 1995 following the (at-that-time) end of The Northern Pikes in late 1993. During this time, Semko was music composer for the Due South (Pilot movie and 66 episodes 1994–1998, with co-composers Jack Lenz and John McCarthy) by (Academy Award winner) Paul Haggis (for which Jay received two nominations for Canada's Gemini Awards - Best Music Score in a Dramatic Series) and has won the MMPIA Blizzard and SMPIA awards for Best Music Score as music composer for the movie, "Paris Or Somewhere" (1994).

Semko has composed music for many other dramas and documentary series on Discovery Channel, CBC, Global, APTN, Showcase, History Television, and others, and has had many of his songs and compositions featured in film and television (Trailer Park Boys - the Movie (2006), "Men With Brooms" (2002), "Being Erica" (2009), and "Cedar Cove"(2015) are some examples). In 2013 Semko was nominated for the Canadian Screen Awards for his work as composer on the reality TV series "Dust Up" in the category of 'Best Original Music for a Non-Fiction Program or Series'.

As a songwriter, Semko has co-written in Nashville and Canada with such writers as Willie Mack, Tim Chaisson, Gilles Godard, Andrew Fromm, Roger Springer, Larry Haack, Jack Lenz, Tim Taylor, Steve Fox, Daryl Burgess, Sean Hogan, Paul Gross, and David Keeley. He has recorded with other artists including Garth Hudson (of The Band), the late Stan Celeste (of Jackson Browne & Crosby, Stills and Nash), John Sebastian (of The Lovin' Spoonful), Crystal Taliefero (of Bruce Springsteen & John Mellencamp), Margo Timmins (of Cowboy Junkies), Bob Egan (of Wilco & Blue Rodeo), Ken Greer, Patricia Conroy, Greg Godovitz, Matt Andersen, Ashley MacIsaac, Leslie Stanwyck, and Serena Ryder. He has toured with such artists as Bruce Hornsby, Robert Palmer, Tom Cochrane and Peter Frampton, to name only a few.