Album Notes

The song Big Bad Girl says she was six feet one with three inch heels. That was Kay Kay, the big woman with the big voice who could bring the crowd to its feet cheering. The music of Kay Kay and the Rays was fusion of soul, funk and blues. The lyrics were often social and political commentary. The band was discovered by Johnny Rawls who produced their 2001 album Texas Justice which gained the band national attention and some notoriety because of the song Lone Star Justice. There were articles in the Houston and Corpus Christi papers about the number of calls to radio stations requesting the song and others complaining about its lyrics. For three years the group toured nationally playing top venues like Buddy Guy's Legends in Chicago, House of Blues in Boston, Humphrey's by the Bay in San Diego, Biscuits and Blues in San Francisco, Gruene Hall in Texas and four tours from Texas to Florida all the way to Schooner's Wharf in Key West. Their 2003 appearance at the W C Handy Festival was broadcast as an hour long program on PBS stations. The 2003 album Big Bad Girl produced by the legendary Jim Gaines made top ten blues radio. Easter Weekend 2004 they played two sets at the five day, 25,000 person sold-out East Coast Blues and Roots Festival in Australia. The Australian weekly publication Inpress wrote, "The best of the fest was a photo finish between Dr. John, Kay Kay and the Rays and Solomon Burke. Kay Kay can sing in the true tradition of black female vocalists and is a cross between Koko and Aretha. The Rays were wild and smokin' and included a dynamo sax player." Family tragedies caused the band to break up a few months later after tours to California and Florida. The music on this album reminds us that Kay Kay and the Rays really were a "seamless blend of soul and funk" as they were described by Blues Revues and that Kay Kay Greeenwade had "established herself as a leading light of contemporary blues" as noted by Living Blues.