New York, NY (Top40 Charts) It all came together rather unexpectedly back when he was ten years old. He was at a friend's house and a guitar that was sitting in another room caught his eye. He asked if he could pick it up and something about holding that guitar seemed to fit rather well. There was a mirror in the room and he looked into it while holding that guitar. Somehow it just felt like it was meant to be and that was the beginning. Next Ray would take in the blues from some real down home bluesmen and that was the icing on the cake - the young man was hooked. Years later while looking back at those formative years Ray never would have imagined that armed with just the blues in his veins that he would go on to share his love of the guitar and the blues with people all over the U.S. and Europe. From Spain to Belgium to Italy and on to the Netherlands Ray had been sharing what's inside him naturally with folks across the big pond. Then he returned to the states and set up camp in Austin and then on to Nashville where the folks at BMI signed him up so he could license his music to the Discovery Channel. Austin had been great but the lady he was in love with said Nashville was calling her and the thought of moving to Nashville Tennessee was more than a little intriguing to this Texas bluesman. Once he arrived in Nashville he was glad to be there. However, as time moved forward the notion of returning to Southeast Texas grew deeper in his heart. It was as if something was pulling him to return to the lifestyle he grew up with, the desire to return was just too much to resist. Now he's back in Montgomery Texas and even though performing on the stages in New York City, Los Angeles, Seattle, Austin at SXSW, as well as a number of other cities which was a tremendous experience the man has now settled back in where it all began. He's turned out six albums over the years and once he arrived back home there was one more working its way to the surface. The muse he needed he found right in his own backyard. This time around the album will be a blues rock release which Ray will title as "Houston Electric". It's scheduled to be released in the June time period after producer engineer Gary Belin buttons up the production side of things. Ray describes his upcoming album this way, "Best one I've ever done, most rounded one and even more rocking." Which is not too surprising when you learn that his top musical influences over time include The Rolling Stones, Howlin' Wolf, and the great songwriter Townes Van Zandt.
Ray Cashman is an interesting musical gumbo of a person as the man fits into the Americana roots scene as well as in both the blues and rock genres. Quite interesting actually. His sound is solid and his lyrics hit home. Two things you can tell about the man right out of the gate is that his heart is in his music and he's passionate about sharing the blues with all sorts of folks. After all that's how he found it and how his love affair with roots music began so many years ago. It hasn't stopped since, his upcoming release is probably his best.....
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