It was about seven years ago when Michael Ray was told to hold off on his plans of moving to Nashville by Broadcast Music, Inc.’s David Preston. Ray vividly remembers him saying, “Go back to Florida and become the biggest thing you can possibly be there. Then I want you to move.” The Eustis, Florida native turned around and did exactly that. With the idea to form a band with his friend and songwriter Jeff Hurst, the two started calling anyone they knew who played something on their drive away from Nashville. It was a matter of asking, “Can you keep a beat? Yes? Okay you’re in.” Hurst, who is credited with really getting Ray on the Nashville scene for business and not leisure first, helped piece together the band that they needed. “[Preston] telling me that stuff was like looking at a crystal ball. The way the music industry was going, it was changing,” explained Ray. “He saw into the future and I took his advice.”
Back in Florida, Michael and his band started playing anywhere they could get invited to and sell some tickets. They were being played on the radio in Lakeland and started to successfully climb the ranks of country music in The Sunshine State. “In between my meeting with David and returning to Florida, I had been going back and forth to show him what we were doing,” said Michael. Two years later, the band decided it was their time to move to Nashville. “I always joked when you start coming to Nashville, there’s no Go-To Guideline book.” The learn-as-you-go city was finally giving Michael Ray his shot.
It wasn’t always flashy lights and big stages for the 26-year-old. Coming from a musically talented family set him on the right track at an early age. His family had a band, comprised of his grandfather, dad, uncle and a few cousins, from before Michael was born. Known as the Country Cousins, the group toured around Florida and took the young boy around for the ride. Always with a toy guitar in his hand, he was the cute kid, but no one could have predicted the stardom he would reach. “I grew up influenced by old country,” Ray told NECM, who lists Porter Wagoner, Earl Thomas Conley, and Merle Haggard as some of his biggest influences. “When I was about nine is when I wanted to start learning. I was on vacation with my family in North Carolina when my dad and uncle started showing me the chords. They taught me on the epiphone that my dad learned on when he was 16.” Wanting to see if he was willing and had the patience enough to learn on the old instrument, his family saw their first glimpse of the determination Michael had to make it in the music industry.
For Ray, the guy that pinned it all together for me was Gary Allan. “That’s a singer, that’s a song,” Michael raved over his idol. “It’s like he took the lyrics I grew up listening to and loving and put them into a melody that I got. This is what I was raised on, but this is today. ‘It Would Be You’ was on the radio when I was riding in the truck with my dad and that was a big turning point for me.” The singer/songwriter prides himself on taking pieces of all the music that he likes and putting them together with his own spin. “The ones I don’t write, I want to make sure that I can relate to them. Where I can sing it and bring the message to the fans so that they can connect to it. I’ve got a big family that has done a lot of living, so I stole some song ideas from them talking.” One of Michael’s most personal songs is also his favorite. After suddenly losing his grandfather – his best friend – last month to a heart attack, this song means a lot more to him now. The song, ‘Scars,’ pays tribute to his grandfather- a middle class guy, a telephone man and firefighter. “He was with my grandmother for 53 years. I wrote that song at the time as a thank you to him and never realized that years later it would come full circle.”
Little pieces along the way paved the road for Michael Ray. For him, The Next, was “a blessing out of nowhere.” A TV show on the CW network, singers of all genres play mentor to artists who are hungry to make a name for themselves. “My manager called and said there is a show, not sure how they found you but they found you and want you on it.” The mentors consist of John Rich, Nelly, Gloria Estefan and Joe Jonas, with Rich pairing up alongside Ray. “I was mentored by John and brought him to Eustis,” explained the country star on the rise. “He stayed at the house for a few days, took him bow fishing. I was able to win the show which led to today. It led me to my record deal with Warner Brothers.” The two most recently worked together on co-writing Big and Rich’s latest single ‘Run Away With You,’ off of their album, ‘Gravity.’
Currently, Ray’s most recent single, ‘Kiss You in the Morning,’ can be heard on radios across the country as it climbs the charts. “You put it out there and you believe in it, but there is nervousness because you’ve worked so long for this moment,” the country-rocker explained about releasing his hit. “The embrace that I’ve gotten from country radio has gotten rid of my overthinking. It makes me excited, makes me want to create more songs.” The overwhelming reaction from fans has poured in through all outlets of social media, specifically Twitter, where Michael prides himself in responding to as many enthusiasts as possible. For someone who grew up “old school” without computers or the opportunity to have social media, there was no hesitation to answer why he pays so much attention to his fans on the internet. “For awhile, I was like no one cares that I just woke up or that I just made eggs,” Michael joked with NECM. “I was following Blake Shelton and reading his tweets and then I started realizing there is a chance that if I write to someone like Gary Allan, he will see it.” Sharing the news that Merle Haggard just followed his account, Ray understood what his fans felt like. “Bottom line is at the end of the day, you can make the best music, you can be the best singer with the best record, but if you don’t have the fans, you’re just playing to an empty room.”
2015 will be a big year for Michael Ray to hit the road running. The sky is the limit for the country singer and we can’t wait to see what is next in store.
Michael will be playing on the side stage at the Country 102.5 Music Festival on June 27th at the Xfinity Center in Mansfield. You can get your tickets to the show here.
This was written by Lauren Rose, contributing writer for New England Country Music. You can follow me on Twitter here.