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Exclusive Interview with Boo Ray

Boo Ray

About Boo Ray

  • Interview date: August 2, 2017

  • Country: USA

Why country music?
~ Good question. One thing is, country music is kinda the last standing market for guitar pickers and singer/songwriters. And then it’s just my natural center of gravity too.

If everything would be possible (waking the dead included) , which two people should sing the ultimate country duet?
~ How about a young Johnny Paycheck singing “Seven Spanish Angels” with Sammi Smith.

What song you ever recorded means the most to you and why?
~ That’s a tough question because my songs each kind of have their own job to do. “One More Round” is real big and romantic and the favorite song of a girl I like, and then Redneck Rock & Roll might make a fella wanna do doughnuts in his truck in the damned barn yard like Dallas Davidson did the 1st time he heard that song. But maybe “Sea Of Lights” is the most encompasing song I’ve written and recorded.

Who would you like to write a song for you?
~ I assume the same rules apply here(waking the dead and all). I’d like to play & sing the song Lowell George mighta written for me, I’d like to sing the song James Taylor wrote for me too, and I’d like to sing a song Eric Church wrote for me.

What is the one thing that readers/fans would be surprised to know about you?
~ I’m a sucker for a great pop/R&B hit.

Give us one country song you never want to hear on radio anymore and tell us why.
~ I won’t damned do it… We all saw what the effect was when that act had to follow Stapleton & Justin Timberlake at the CMAs. And it’s not about how good they were either. It’s that fact that they’re making real music and the act that had to follow, so clearly ain’t making anything even resembling real music. A decent jug band could have followed Stapleton and Timberlake just fine and gotten a plenty warm reception. That’s what I’m saying.

What is the question interviewers never seem to ask you and…you wish they would? (Please provide your answer as well.)
~ Are there any big country singers that I can help you get songs to? Well yes please, thanks for asking. So, Eric Church needs to hear “Redneck Rock & Roll” ASAP, let’s get “I Seen Me Do It” to Justin Moore, Maren Morris & Brett Young will have a bit hit with my “Partners In Crime” duet, “One More Round” is a smash hit for Ashley McBryde, “Southern Harmony” is perfect for Dierks Bentley, Kenny Chesney will have a #1 with “Let The Cards Fall”…

Describe the ultimate recording studio (not the technique but the facilities)
~ Nothing fancy, an API board, an Ampex tape machine, some vintage Neumann microphones and a good stack of vintage outboard analog gear. It’d not so much the facilities for me as it is the relationship of the producer to the equipment. And not saying that it has to be the producer’s studio. But it is about the relationship that producer has with a Neumann U87.

Johnny or June ?
~ I believe you misspoke. It’s Johnny and June.

Are you still nervous before going on stage and if so, do you use any “rituals” to calm you nerves.
~ I like to have 20 minutes to pick and warm up before I hit. I definitely get kinda up just prior to hitting a big stage, but I’m still spending some time finishing a sandwich at the end of the bar in a little honky tonk at this point in my career and that’s a little bit different approach.

What was the most memorable day in your musical career and tell us why.
~ I’ve had a few. It’s always memorable working with Steve Ferrone. And I’ll never forget singing on the Opry with my dear friend Marshall Chapman the day after her great friend Cowboy Jack Clement died. Marshall walked up to me and Matraca Berg, handed us lyrics to Cowboy Jack’s “Let’s All Help The Cowboy Sing The Blues” and said sing the choruses with me and we walked out on stage right behind Marshall and sung the choruses.

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