Check Out Bobby Ray ’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Bobby Ray. 

Hi Bobby Ray, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
The first time I heard Johnny Cash’s Folsom prison blues, I knew from that point on that music would be my life. I would stand in front of a mirror at 5 years old with my little guitar and emulate my hero. I remember every chance I got I sang that song, my parents would even take me to the bars and sing for dimes, singing my country music tunes that I grew up on. Most kids my age wanted to play sports, I wanted to play that guitar. My father and I took lessons together until his job in the steel mill interfered. The truth of the matter is I don’t think he got it. He still plays the same song that he learned almost 40 years ago. It wasn’t until I sang in front of my first audience at my elementary school that I really got the bug, the fever. My best friend whom I met at church around Jr. High showed me how to play chords. (Barre Chords) He introduced me to different artists that I never would have experienced. Names like Simon and Garfunkel, James Taylor, Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, Peter Paul and Mary, John Denver, the Eagles. They all had a major influence on my music and the way I would write songs. I grew up in Youngstown, Ohio an only child. At a very young age, I wrote my first song (With my dad) and became very involved in church. I played in church every chance I got. 

Even playing in front of a congregation gave me the thrills of playing in front of a live audience… After high school, I went to Bible college where I played in a Christian quartet that ministered to youth. I experienced my first gig, in a bar with a country band in Springfield Missouri. When I came home I joined a rock band that my best friend put together. I also put together Penitent Heart; a Christian rock band & had some success. During this time, I was married twice and I had three children. After my last marriage ended, I tried my music at an open mic in Youngstown & I haven’t stopped yet. Most of my music career was spent playing in church, but that open mic changed my perspective. 

I never thought that I was good, yet people all my life have said that I belonged in Nashville. My uncle, when I was little told my parents “That boy should be in Nashville.” It wasn’t until I was working for a memorial, headstone company that I was invited to play at the western Pennsylvania funeral directors convention. They’ve had me back every year since. 

It was the first time that I ever made money playing music. I didn’t know you could make money just being a nobody. From that moment on I knew that this is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I got remarried to my wife Adrienne in May of this year, and she has supported me every step of the way. She sold her house, which was mortgage-free & almost all our belongings so we could make the move to Nashville, Tennessee. For almost a year or two I played bars, wineries, restaurants, eagles clubs, as many open mics as I could now. 

Here we are now almost a month as residents of Hendersonville, and I’ve made a couple of connections, played at some songwriters rounds & just chasing that neon rainbow at 53 years old, as Alan Jackson so famously wrote. 

Even if I don’t become a household name, or nobody even hears my songs, I can lay on my deathbed and say that I tried, and I had a blast doing it. I lived my dream. I wrote a song recently called “Till everyone knows my name” 

I kind of compare the story of Joshua in the Bible, and how he needed the walls of Jericho to come down. He didn’t know how he was going to do it but he just kept making his rounds and then one day with God’s help those walls fell, that’s how I feel. I’m just going to make the rounds until those walls fall down. Nashville is full of pickers singers and dreamers, I’m proud to say that I’m one. 

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Surprisingly yes it seemed like everything lined up so we could be here in Nashville. God made it abundantly clear and laid the path for our move. My wife calls those signs “Godwinks.” Despite family drama, ex-wife drama, the real challenge is that it’s just so overwhelming. 

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Well, I consider myself a pretty good songwriter, average guitar player. But I think I bring to the table a different sound and style of music that hasn’t been done in a long time. I think that music has strayed away from real life, telling a story. Music needs to connect to real issues, real life. I like party songs don’t get me wrong, but there’s a lot of people that are hurting. The world’s crazy right now, and our country’s divided, and we need to get back to who we are as a country and what this country was built on. God, Dreams, hard work, & unity. 

Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
I would love to get to know and work with other artists and songwriters. I value and welcome all input that would make me a better writer and entertainer. Anybody can find me on social media… I just recently released my CD called Wilcox Street on Amazon and all streaming services. You can check it out. 

Contact Info:

• Website: bobbyraymusic162@gmail.com
• Instagram: @bobby_raymusic
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BobbyRayMusic/
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCNs8mVLEfdGDkvaB-0E5ZCg
• SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-385471922/tracks