Country artist Michael Ray talks roots, ever-changing music industry

Country artist Michael Ray has navigated the ever-changing music industry for over a decade.

Of course, there have been ups and downs, perhaps most notably during the COVID-19 pandemic when Ray found himself unable to tour or when he first broke onto the scene and struggled with the idea of his own authenticity in Nashville.

But the highs have been higher than he ever expected with multiple No. 1 singles to his name, as well as a handful of platinum and gold certifications to his discography of three albums and four EPs.

To this day, Ray struggles to understand how people “all the way in Spokane” could want to see “a guy from central Florida,” as his loyal fans will on Sunday, April 28, when he takes the stage at Northern Quest Resort and Casino.

It all began during his childhood growing up in Eustis, Florida.

Many of Ray’s family and family friends were the musical type and either played an instrument or, at the very least, played country music. His grandfather was able to put together a family band (also consisting of his father, uncle and cousins) that would play weekend gigs, and a much smaller Ray joined the band of kin as soon as he could.

“As soon as I could stand and hold a little toy guitar, I was up on stage with them,” Ray recalled.

His love for music and performing was instantaneous.

By age 8, Ray was learning to play a guitar (a real one this time around) and he was playing shows in bars by high school. And of course he had to be performing country, it was all Ray had known growing up and unless he was listening to hip-hop before a night out or rock while in the gym, it was almost strictly traditional and ’90s country in his ears.

After a few years of playing shows, “somehow piecing together how to get from Eustis to Nashville,” calling the Tennessee music-mecca home at 21 and signing with Warner Bros. Nashville, he released a self-titled album in 2015. His second album, “Amos,” would be released in 2018 and Ray found himself with a slew of successful singles throughout the late 2010s.

Yet, Ray was still figuring out who he was as a person during this time of massive growth at a relatively young age.

In retrospect, he can look back and realize just how much he had let the Nashville scene affect him as a person, writer, and artist – especially at a time when country music had shifted from what he grew up knowing.

“I didn’t have that confidence in the beginning, just being up front about it,” Ray said. “I was holding up this curtain to make it seem like I knew what I was doing.”

Now, with experience and age, he finds himself not only more capable but willing to be more honest with not only himself, but within his music as well.

“As an artist with that platform, when you can allow yourself to be vulnerable you realize how powerful music really is,” Ray said. “What’s really been inspiring to me is writing real lyrics … whether it’s life lessons or what I’m going through or finding positives among all this chaos today.”

Over the course of the last year, he has also been very intentional about who he writes with and finding people who can help get honesty across while also adding to and elevating the overall theme and message themselves.

This team has been writing song after song the past few months; songs that Ray loves and found himself wanting to release as soon as possible.

Social media post-COVID has changed the music landscape from the way it was when Ray was growing up and “always buying CDs” or even from when he first found himself in the industry.

The need for a hit radio single or an immediate and large album has abated, and the constant want for more (arguably most induced by TikTok) has led to artists like Ray choosing to release singles and focus on quality . This was the case with his most recent singles “Nothin’ Else” and “Hold.”

“I want to let people know that we’re doing something and keep people excited about the music,” Ray said. “And since this works, we said, ‘We might as well just keep releasing songs every four to six weeks’ and have the fans sort of be a part of the record -making process.”

He also believes it puts a song’s potential success “more in the hands of the fans” and offers more immediate feedback to him as an artist.

To put it simply, if a single does well, they keep doing what works, expand on it, and it goes to radio. If a song doesn’t perform as well, he says it’s a lesson.

“When social media wasn’t as big as it is now, I was playing shows and bars and that’s how I learned,” Ray said. “With the crowd, it was always trial and error. We’d practice for hours just to end up changing a song after the first set based on their reaction.”

The industry may have changed, but he still believes playing in front of a crowd is important, with social media in tandem. Playing shows and touring are also Ray’s favorite part of this life.

How he navigates the changes within the industry and himself is something that, once again, goes back to his childhood.

“My parents got divorced when I was a kid and with that comes chaos and confusion, but up on stage with my grandfather it felt like none of that was going on and I was escaping for a bit,” Ray said.

“And now, for that show it’s nothing but me and the fans … on both sides of the stage, for that brief moment in time, be there with the people you love, sing your heart out, and celebrate while shutting everything else out for a minute.”