Mannieb
17 March 2005, 17:07
By Keith "MuzikMan" Hannaleck
If variety is the spice of life then Grayson Wray has built an empire, a temple to the rock gods that have long since passed on. He could have been successful in any decade of music with his homespun down to earth process. He offers a multitude of styles and sounds on the new album Tales of Mystery and Loneliness.
Wray goes from song to song trying to make each one unique, unable to repeat himself, even if he tries. He makes his best efforts to put songs that fit together for an album, believing that it is better for the listener to have variety. Listening to his music was like a trip back in time for me.
I heard many bands that I listened to on a regular basis in this music. I heard the Beatles (That's What I'm Talking About), the Beach Boys (Too Many People), Dylan (Gladiator), King Crimson with Adrian Belew on vocals ( Bad Girl and Sun God, amongst others), 10cc (I Will Never Die), then flat out rockers like "Hate About Love," which made my temperature escalate and my blood pump. The variety of sounds and influences are simply mind- boggling. It was almost as if this person knew what kind of music I grew up on, it was freaky but I loved it just the same.
Artist like Grayson Wray are rare these days. Take away the glitter and glitz, the overproduction and overt emphasis on computer-generated sounds (he does sample but with care and brevity) and you have simple rock 'n' roll with essence. This is what artisans like Wray are made of. He is solid in his approach, diversified in his tastes, and above all, sensitive to an audience that demands quality and originality. He has all bases covered, just as a hand weaved blanket or a patchwork quilt that keeps you warm on cold winter night.
His success is readily apparent with Tales of Mystery and Loneliness, which is finding its way into college airplay quite frequently. Wray attributes this quick rise in popularity to the melodic sophistication of the album and the warmth that may be lacking in our surrounding world, not just in a musical sense of the word.
http://www.graysonwray.com/
If variety is the spice of life then Grayson Wray has built an empire, a temple to the rock gods that have long since passed on. He could have been successful in any decade of music with his homespun down to earth process. He offers a multitude of styles and sounds on the new album Tales of Mystery and Loneliness.
Wray goes from song to song trying to make each one unique, unable to repeat himself, even if he tries. He makes his best efforts to put songs that fit together for an album, believing that it is better for the listener to have variety. Listening to his music was like a trip back in time for me.
I heard many bands that I listened to on a regular basis in this music. I heard the Beatles (That's What I'm Talking About), the Beach Boys (Too Many People), Dylan (Gladiator), King Crimson with Adrian Belew on vocals ( Bad Girl and Sun God, amongst others), 10cc (I Will Never Die), then flat out rockers like "Hate About Love," which made my temperature escalate and my blood pump. The variety of sounds and influences are simply mind- boggling. It was almost as if this person knew what kind of music I grew up on, it was freaky but I loved it just the same.
Artist like Grayson Wray are rare these days. Take away the glitter and glitz, the overproduction and overt emphasis on computer-generated sounds (he does sample but with care and brevity) and you have simple rock 'n' roll with essence. This is what artisans like Wray are made of. He is solid in his approach, diversified in his tastes, and above all, sensitive to an audience that demands quality and originality. He has all bases covered, just as a hand weaved blanket or a patchwork quilt that keeps you warm on cold winter night.
His success is readily apparent with Tales of Mystery and Loneliness, which is finding its way into college airplay quite frequently. Wray attributes this quick rise in popularity to the melodic sophistication of the album and the warmth that may be lacking in our surrounding world, not just in a musical sense of the word.
http://www.graysonwray.com/