Album Notes

When it comes to hard-hitting blues guitar, Kenny Blue Ray is the real deal. Every once in a while someone comes along who pleasantly reminds one that there is some uncharted talent ready to explode on the blues scene, and this is the moment for Ray! A Bay Area resident, Ray is considered one of the top guitarists around; certainly one of the most prolific performers on the West Coast, if not the country. He performed in London, England from 1969-'72. He has 14 solo albums released, all of which have received strong reviews - and there have been over 120 reviews of his CDs! Ray's releases,"Fired Up," "Cadillac Tone" "Strat Daddy" "Pull the Strings," "Git It," "Bless My Axe," "Blues Obsession,""Way down in Memphis" "Let the Blues Rule", "Soulful Blues," and his latest, "Got Blues," have all appeared on Tone King Records. The British publication, Blues & Rhythm, has consistently listed his releases among the top 10 selling albums in England. Ray is a guitar instrumentalist of the less is more school, who conveys a control and mastery of each note; a musician who knows no limit to tone. In Mick Rainsford's review of Ray's "Pull the Strings"album in Blues & Rhythm magazine, he wrote "...if you have any interest whatsoever in blues guitar playing of the highest quality, be it that big fat Texas tone of Albert Collins, the slashing chords and swing of T-Bone Walker, Hendrix-inspired distorted aggression, the deep blues tone and feel of all the Kings, or searing licks we associate with SRV, then you have no option other than to discover for yourself what Kenny Blue Ray is all about."

Ray was a long-time fixture in the Marcia Ball Band while living in Texas and teamed with Stevie Ray Vaughan on Ball's "Soulful Dress" album on Rounder. He has also performed with Albert Collins, Ronnie Earl, Earl King, Hollywood Fats, William Clarke, Big Joe Turner and Pee Wee Crayton, to name a few.