Meet Heather Yenawine
Heather was born in Louisville, raised on the East Coast, and returned to her native Kentucky to build a life. Raised on old Hollywood musicals, her love for music and theatrics started early, taking up theatre at age 6 and trombone at 8. When she reached college, she had to decide between the 2 passions, and became part of the acting troupe First Year Players at Syracuse University. While at college, Heather’s studies also took her to Harare, Zimbabwe and Kathmandu, Nepal for a year – where her love for diverse styles of music and dancing were further fostered.
After graduating from SU with a BA in Public Policy & Black Studies, Heather initially worked as a freelance writer for the LEO and various local magazines, interned with WFPK & WFPL, and served as the Advertising Director for final 2 issues of Bejeezus Magazine. Eventually, Heather was drawn back to music & performance and founded HAY DJ in 2005 with the help of Randell Bolton of ear X-tacy. They started performing weddings in 2006 and have since performed over 500 weddings and countless other events.
In 2013, after observing inequities in the wedding industry for LGBTQ clients & friends, Heather founded the 501 (c) (6) non-profit business alliance, the Fair Event Vendors Alliance (FEVA), which aims to connect the LGBTQ community with Kentucky and S. Indiana wedding and event vendors who stand for fairness and believe in equality, and to promote the growth of an inclusive wedding industry. Check out the FEVA vendor directory to learn more.
On the personal tip, Heather lives in Crescent Hill with her husband Sam, an aviation mechanic and her biggest supporter. She enjoys walking for fitness, seeing live music, being an ally & advocate in the LGBTQ community, mixing music for friends, social justice activism, producing events, all things pop culture, and frequent trips to visit her brother and sister-in-law in New Orleans to fall back in love with music over and over!
Meet Randell Bolton
Randell Bolton was born and raised in Louisville, and his love affair with music began at an early age. The major turning point was while attending an Ozzy Osbourne concert when he was 15. That concert was his “a-ha moment”, and he knew that some kind of career built around music was his future. Over the years Randell has worked in four different record stores, including a seventeen year tenure at the nationally recognized ear X-tacy Records here in Louisville. He has also been employed by the Louisville Palace for over ten years.
Sometime around 2003 Randell met Heather at a music event, which led to the founding of HAY DJ in the Fall of 2005. Born of a mutual love of different types of music, HAY DJ found it’s footing and soon was doing weddings as well as themed parties and events. Randell’s love affair with music continues on. He has attended well over 1,000 live concerts and still feels passionate about weddings. His favorite part of a wedding is typically the Father/Daughter dance. It’s a magical moment! As of 2020 HAY DJ has been in business for 15 years. It’s been a lot of fun so far.