Michael Ray Prepares to Release ‘Amos,’ a Very Personal Album
Michael Ray says he is ready to speak his truth through his music on his most personal release to date. Amos is set for release on June 1 and is named after his beloved grandfather, who died of a heart attack just two months before Ray made his Grand Ole Opry debut back in 2015.
"The day I made my debut on the Opry stage, all I could think about was how he would be so proud," explains Ray, whose current single "Get to You" is making its way up the charts. "Looking back, that moment was a pivotal one — our family lost its patriarch."
Indeed, his grandfather’s influence on Ray's career can not go understated. At the tender age of nine years old, Ray began singing and performing in his grandfather’s band. And to this day, the Florida native continues to play his grandfather’s 1978 Les Paul guitar.
So when Ray began putting together the follow-up album to his wildly popular self titled debut album that included RIAA gold-certified No. 1 hits "Kiss You in the Morning" and "Think a Little Less," his grandfather, Amos, and the hopes he had for the musical future of his grandson was constantly on Ray's mind.
"When we started making this record, before I would record vocals on the song I would ask myself, ‘Is this a song I would have played proudly for him?" Ray says, recalling how he crated his 11-track new album. "It makes this album that much more special to think he would have said, ‘Ray, that’s a good one.'"
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