Biography

Jason Sinay is a singer/songwriter and guitarist who hails from Los Angeles. Across the decades, Sinay has performed and/or recorded with Keith Richards, Neil Young, Bob Weir, Jerry Lee Lewis, Jackson Browne, Lucinda Williams, Jeff Lynne, Joe Bonamassa, Ivan Neville, and many more.

However, Sinay is best known for his long tenure in the Dirty Knobs — the rock band led by the Heartbreakers’ Mike Campbell. Now, Sinay has embraced his solo career with a sterling new double album, The Mountain, produced by and often co-written with Martin Pradler. 

The first disc features a full band with a variable lineup: Sinay on vocals and guitar; Bruce Watson on guitar; Phil Parlapiano on keys, mandolin and squeezebox; Doug Livingston on pedal steel; Lance Morrison or Mike Mennell on bass; and Matt Laug or Herman Matthews on drums. Separately, these players have been behind the curtain with rock’s best and brightest, from John Prine to Jimmy Buffett to Elton John and beyond. The second reprises the entire program in a stripped down, acoustic format

A statement of resilience after the destabilizing experience of leaving his beloved Knobs, it was so critical to get this right, Sinay explains, that he “finished the entire thing, and then redid basically 90 percent of it.” Some songs, like “It Was You” and “History,” date back decades. Others, like “Every Day Every Night,” deal with the here and now — namely, Sinay’s marriage, family and quest to overcome his insecurities and self-doubts.

Sinay has been playing guitar and singing since he was nine years old. His parents took him to see Led Zeppelin; from that moment on, he says, he knew he wanted to grow up to be just like Jimmy Page.

As the youngest of five, Sinay got handed down classics by everyone from Queen to Supertramp to Neil Young. He began by trying to play Led Zeppelin licks on a suboptimal acoustic guitar; his guitar teacher, jazz cat Buddy Matlock, helped him over the hump and to find his voice on the instrument. At 12, he got his first electric guitar — a ‘71 Telecaster.

Throughout his college years and beyond, Sinay gigged and recorded solo and as a sideman. One pivotal early project was Five Easy Pieces, with whom he secured his first and only major label deal, with MCA Records. (It was a million-dollar deal — which was massive for a baby band.) Throughout the 1990s, Sinay toured incessantly with that band, cutting his teeth on the road.

“That's what really propelled me to a different level,” Sinay says. “Getting to play with people like Benmont Tench and Ivan Neville — and then eventually, Mike Campbell, the big part of my story.” The Dirty Knobs formed over time; as Sinay continued steeping himself in the rock scene, he performed with leading lights from Waddy Wachtel to Jim Keltner to Neils Diamond and Young.

As a gigantic Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers fan, to play in the Dirty Knobs was beyond Sinay’s wildest dreams. He ended up playing in the outfit for 15 years, and cutting three albums. His decision to leave after 2022’s External Combustion — and right before an opening slot for the Who — was one of the hardest he ever made.

“I was ultimately left feeling like I had more to say, not only as a guitarist, but as a singer and a songwriter,” Sinay admits. “I hit a breaking point on the road.” The period immediately following his Dirty Knobs membership was an extraordinarily difficult one. But it led him to buckle down, and revisit material that had been dormant for years, or decades. This led to the majestic The Mountain — by far the most important solo record he’s made in a long career.

Currently, Sinay is mulling over how to give the proceeds from The Mountain to charity, and how to get back on the road — something he’s absolutely aching to do.

“I’ve been very blessed in my life. I've been so fortunate. And there's so much need in the world right now. Like, more than ever. It's just beyond belief,” Sinay says. “I just want people to enjoy the music, and I really, really want to get out there and play this. play this music for people. Because ultimately playing live is where I shine. That's my favorite medium.”

In the meantime, crank up both sides of The Mountain (Release Date: October 24, 2025). By the strength of the album, odds are you’ll be beholding this Dirty Knob alum — and solo extraordinaire — on a stage near you.

Discography