Born and raised in Virginia Beach, Virginia, before relocating to the Appalachian hills of Pennsylvania, Bay Allen is an award-winning multi-instrumentalist and songwriter with more than 30 years experience covering multiple genres. He has been a regular on staff at the California Autoharp Gathering since 2021, where he has brought his unique approach to the autoharp to the community, teaching and performing. He primarily plays tandem autoharp configurations, specializing in Prizim and his own DiaTandem systems. In 2023, Bay won third place at the Mountain Laurel Autoharp Gathering Autoharp Competition; and in 2024 he returned to win in the competition.

His passion for introducing the autoharp to new listeners is second to none, and he does his best to bring the autoharp into blues, rock, and other genres not typically associated with the instrument.

Bay is also the host of the YouTube channel “Autoharp at the Altar” which offers free online autoharp lessons for more than 500 subscribers, and is the administrator for its accompanying Facebook group. He has also released two collections of music arranged for autoharp. He is also an original founder, contributor, and editor for the online magazine autoharpcompanion.com.

When not playing autoharp, Bay is a pastor, husband, and father of two… and lover of pizza.