After more than a decade teaching jazz at the university level, and more than twenty years making music with my wife Ashley, I have some news I’ve been waiting a long time to share. My debut album is called Sway, and it arrives everywhere on August 14, 2026.
About the Album
Sway is ten classics from the American songbook and the jazz tradition, recorded in Dallas with three of the finest musicians I know. Ashley Pierce sings on seven of the ten tracks. You’ll hear Moon River, All Blues, L-O-V-E, In a Sentimental Mood, and more, played with warmth, swing, and a healthy dose of New Orleans second-line joy.
The band is a University of North Texas family affair. Sean Michael Giddings on piano, Young Heo on bass, and Grammy-nominated drummer Matt Young, all One O’Clock Lab Band alumni, alongside my own years on Lab 2012. These are the players I trust most, and it shows in every track.
“An impressive musical statement. Wonderful, thoroughly enjoyable with great musicianship throughout.” That’s from Rich DeRosa, Grammy-nominated composer and Director of Jazz Composition and Arranging at UNT, and I’ll be honest, that note meant the world.
The First Single Arrives Friday
The title track, with Ashley’s vocal over a relaxed Latin groove, releases as the first single this Friday, July 24. It’s the sound of the whole record in four minutes.
How to Get the Album
The biggest way to support an independent record is to own it. Choose your format on the next page:
Pre-order on Bandcamp
The CD is $20 and includes the digital album. The vinyl is a first pressing of 100 copies, and when they’re gone, they’re gone. Digital on its own is there too. And either way, add it on Spotify or Apple Music. Pre-saving takes ten seconds, it’s free, and it tells the streaming platforms this record matters, which helps Sway find listeners far beyond the people we know. It’ll be in your library the morning it releases:
Pre-save Sway
Every album sold goes directly toward the national radio campaign now underway and toward making more music. No label behind this one. Just us, and the people who’ve been in the room with us for twenty years.
Hear It Live
Sway was made by the same musicians who perform with Justin Pierce Music at weddings, galas, and private events across Dallas–Fort Worth and beyond. If you’d like this sound in your own room, that conversation starts here.
Thank you for listening. More soon.Justin
