JD West is the force behind THE ALAN GREY PROJECT, which led to the creation of COSMIC COWBOY the MUSICAL. This groundbreaking musical screenplay represents the first true, full-production musical play audiobook adaptation ever – with dozens of actors and musicians involved in production. A versatile singer/songwriter, JD is a 2013/14 International Song Competition Finalist and Semi-Finalist in Pop/Country/Folk and Singer-Songwriter categories. His songs have been on hold for some of the biggest stars in Country Music, including Carrie Underwood, Wynonna Judd, LeAnn Rimes, Jake Owen, and Lee Brice.

 

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As a young teen in the 1960s, California-born JD West fell in love with folk and bluegrass music, and studied five-string banjo with the legendary John McEuen of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. In 1996, he moved to Nashville, Tennessee, to immerse himself in the country music scene and the local songwriter community, joining published songwriters in the hallowed writers' rooms of RCA records. There, as he says, "plaques of legendary songwriters like Willie Nelson and Hank Williams Jr. hung on the walls of the 10x10-foot enclosures, to remind us what we were trying to accomplish that day with only our guitars, our imagination, a pencil and a yellow legal pad at our disposal." 

After 9 frustrating years, with no success, JD West left Nashville and returned to Santa Cruz, California. He put down his instruments and imagination for eight years, while taking care of his aging mother. Then one day, songs started pouring into his consciousness again in 2012. But they were from the female perspective! From his years in Nashville, JD had the knowledge to hire a Music Row studio and Nashville's #1 demo singer to bring his songs to fruition. Five love songs came out of those recording sessions. After pitching his songs to the publishing industry with lots of interest but no deals, West wrote one UFO song and had it recorded in San Jose, California. A friend familiar with his work told him he had the makings of a musical love story movie script! Two screenplay writers, a Hollywood script consultant, eleven song recordings and six years later, JD hired Pro Audio Voices' Becky Parker Geist, of San Rafael, California, to produce the very first true musical audiobook ever: COSMIC COWBOY the MUSICAL. William Shatner – yes, Captain Kirk himself – even read the play and considered being the narrator. All the actors are highly professional and fabulous! West returned to Nashville in 2021 to spread the joy, humor and wonderful music encapsulated in this 2hr musical play, with hopes to one day turn it into a CGI live action or 3d animated film.