10 Questions with ... Michael Ray

BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:

Raised in Eustis, FL, Ray grew up hunting alligators and fishing for tarpon at the end of white sand dirt roads. The child of a family full of musicians, he began his professional career before he was a teenager, graduated to the bar scene as soon as he could drive, and hasn't let up on the pedal since. When he decided it was time to move to Nashville, the work Ray had put in began to pay off quickly as he landed a publishing contract with Warner/Chappell Music and a record deal with Atlantic Records/Warner Music Nashville. Ray's current single, "Get To You," follows his chart-topping "Think A Little Less," which boasts 1.1 billion airplay audience impressions and has sold over 500,000 track equivalents. His debut single, "Kiss You In The Morning," went to the top of the charts in just 24 weeks and made him the only new Country male artist to have a No. 1 single in 2015. Ray continues to grow his following, having toured with Sam Hunt, Kip Moore, Brantley Gilbert, and Darius Rucker. Ray has been selected by radio as one the "New Faces" of Country Music and will close out Country Radio Seminar (CRS) 2018 next month in Nashville. This week's "10 Questions" continues our series highlighting "New Faces" show performers at CRS 2018.

1. You have been voted into the "New Faces" showcase for CRS 2018, and while you've played to most of this cast of characters before during your radio tour, this setting will be a bit different. Can you tell us what it means to you to be chosen to play this show and how you will prepare for the performance?

It's such a huge honor to be chosen to be in this class this year. When we found out, we were in North Carolina on tour, and [Warner Music Nashville SVP/Promotion] Kristen [Williams] called me, and I flew my management out there. I think they all kinda knew before I did. It was a 'pinch me' moment, because it's such an honor to be a part of it. As a kid, growing up in a small town in Central Florida, to be able to be chosen as one of the "New Faces" at CRS from the CRB and having my promotion team and my label and my management to back me, it's a huge honor. To be able to stand up there, where so many amazing artists have stood - Randy Travis, Alabama, Reba, Keith Urban, the list goes on - it's just an honor and no pressure, you know?

2. A lot of times, before an artist gets their career really going, they get to attend CRS and get that experience. Have you ever been to a "New Faces" show before? If you have attended, did you watch the show and add 'perform at CRS 'New Faces' show' to your bucket list?

I did, yeah, one of them! It was the year, I believe, Sam Hunt was on it. So, three years ago? I had a preview of what to expect, and I had been to CRS before and have attended every year since. That was my first and only "New Faces" show. I have known about "New Faces," and to be able to sit in that room and to see that it's your Country music community going, "Hey, here's who we pick this year," and to sit there and watch Sam and everybody else who was picked for that show, it was kind of a mental thing for me to go, "This is a new goal that I want to be able to be a part of the 'New Faces' class one year." The fact that it's this year is unbelievable.

3. We love hearing about the first time you heard your first single on the radio. Where were you the first time you heard your first single, "Kiss You In The Morning," on the air, and can you share with us the story about how you felt and what you thought in that moment?

I remember riding around with my dad, and we were riding close to Orlando, and we heard it. We were just talking to each other and had the radio down enough to where you could still talk, and I heard the intro lick. We looked at each other, and we just cranked it! It was a moment of excitement, and this is my first single to Country radio, and they're playing it on the radio like they played Kenny Chesney and so many other artists, and now we get a chance to make our move. It was an unbelievable moment, and what made it even more special is that I got to share it with my dad.

4. What did you listen to growing up, who would you cite as your biggest musical influences, and what genres - if any - do you pull from when creating your own music? I'm asking because your generation seems to have listened to just about everything growing up thanks to the wide availability of music.

You're right; our generation and the generation coming up, we grew up on what our parents would listen to and we're also a product of the 90s, so we grew up on a lot of 90s music - 90s Country, Hip-Hop, and Punk Rock. I grew up with my dad and my family; his brother, my grandfather, and my cousins had a Country band, and I grew up playing in that band. For me, my first turn onto music of any sort was Merle Haggard, Porter Wagoner, Ray Price, and Bobby Bare - that's what I grew up playing. One of the first songs I ever learned was [Merle Haggard's] "Today I Started Loving You Again," and [Tom Jones'] "Green Green Grass Of Home," and [Ray Price/Vince Gill's] "Heartaches By The Number." I'd play them in my family's band, and from nine years old and on, I'd play every weekend. I didn't know it at the time, but I grew up at a real special time of learning music that was way beyond what the other kids my age were listening to. I didn't realize how much it was gonna help me later on. As I grew up, my mom was listening to Boyz II Men and all those bands, as well as Country, but the 90s started rolling in, and for me, the guy that really connected what I grew up on was Gary Allan. He had this cool, new West Coast sound. His songs were so real that you feel it in his voice over the radio. I remember the first time I heard one of his songs - it was "It Would Be You" - I made my dad buy me the CD, and I think I learned every song on that album! It was like, "Oh, my gosh, this is what I play with grandpa, but it's new!" When I'm listening and writing songs and creating a record, I pull a lot from the 90s Rock, and I also listen to the lyrics of songs like "It Would Be You" and all these other great songs. When I listen to a song that might be pitched to me, I try to blend what I feel is best of all worlds that influences me and make it my own.

5. I've had this conversation with other young artists - Would you call yourself a part of the iPod generation or more a part of the streaming/playlist generation, in terms of discovering and curating music you like?

I feel like I started with the iPod - downloading music and putting it on your iPod from your computer. Me and my family, we used to do this thing on Friday nights where we would find random new artists on iTunes that we never heard of, and we'd buy an album. It would be all over the place - Country, or whoever. One of the cool stories that came out of that was we'd discovered Brice Long, who was a singer/songwriter that has written many hits like Jon Pardi's "Heartache On The Dance Floor." We used to listen to his album all the time, then when I got my record deal, they said, "Hey, man, you're writing with Brice Long," and I was like, "Wait a minute!" It was the guy we'd been listening to all these years that we found on iTunes. When I got the chance to meet with him and write with him, I was like, "I gotta tell you that I've been listening to your stuff for years!" When I found out who I was writing with, I called my uncle and my dad and said, "Y'all aren't gonna believe this."

6. Radio promotion tours are a big part of artist development on the front end of a career. What were some of the biggest eye-openers for you, in terms of how radio worked and the PDs/MDs you met along the way while first visiting stations?

How hard the radio promotion teams work. Even though I grew up playing music in my family's band, I really didn't know what a radio promotions person was. You grow up thinking they make the music, then the radio plays it. But, what got me is how hard my radio promotions team works with the MDs and the PDs. And, the passion for music that everybody at these radio stations has. You can sit and talk to [WPGB/Pittsburgh PD] JD Greene, [WUBE/Cincinnati PD] Grover Collins, and all these people - that's just a few to name - and, you can feel their passion. I know every one of them has a passion for music. You can sit and talk to them about albums and old records and songs. Everybody's in it to make the best music we can possibly make. That's one of the coolest things that stood out to me - meeting everybody and going, "These are men and women that have a passion for music, and they just wanna be a part of it somehow." It's their path and their gift, and they're part of our family. To see how close-knit the Country music community is.

7. You have a close connection the John Rich, whose music industry skills go beyond being an artist - he's a songwriter, producer, and kind of an A&R guy, too, with his history of fostering young talent he believes in. Has this made you want to expand beyond the artist level, too? What else in the music biz interests you, besides writing, singing, and performing, as you think long term?

When you get around people with that amount of passion and drive like John has, it's contagious. I think that's why you try to surround yourself with people that have that drive and vision of always being an artist and always wanting to pursue it, but how to branch out, help another artist out, to keep an ear out for a song that maybe it's not for me, but hearing it for so-and-so. Being around him, you just shut up and listen and learn from artists like him that have a mindset in not only music, but business. I think right now, in the next few years, it's all about getting my thing up and rolling, but once we get on a level where we feel like we can start branching out, I would absolutely.

8. As a "New Face," you have a bright future ahead of you in the industry. If you were to look into a crystal ball, where would you hope to be - both personally and professionally - by CRS 2025?

I think we've been able to do a lot and be a part of a lot. With that being said, there's a lot of firsts to come. There's a lot of things for us to do. For me, for the next seven years, my goal is to be in arenas. My goal is to be making music that shows my growth from now to then. To grow as an artist in a way that I can one day help another young artist, to be able to give an artist a tour like Brantley Gilbert gave me, and Darius [Rucker] gave me, and Kip [Moore] gave me. To give somebody else an opportunity like they gave me. One of my biggest goals in my career and in life is to one day be an Opry member. The Grand Ole Opry is such an amazing place. It's what put us where we're at. Every time I've been able to play the Opry, it's such an honor, and it's like the first time again. I grew up watching VHS of the Opry with my family. Preserving the Grand Ole Opry and to be a part of that family is probably one of my top goals.

9. Speaking of the Opry, what is it like to be standing in the Opry circle? As an artist, what do you feel when you are performing on the Opry stage?

It's intense. Like I said, I grew up watching it. April 24th, 2015 was my debut. My family came up, and everybody came up. You've watched it your whole life, then all of a sudden, this is happening. You're going. You're gonna stand on that circle, on that wood, where Hank Sr., Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Marty Stuart, Travis Tritt, Randy Travis, Reba McEntire - the list goes on and on - of men and women that have paved the way for us to be where we are at. It's the Grand Ole Opry. This isn't just a club, this isn't just a room - this is the Grand Ole Opry! For that moment that you're on, you're representing Country music. There's people that come to Nashville from all over the world to see the Grand Ole Opry and to get a taste of Country music, and for that fifteen minutes, you're the representation. You not only represent yourself, but you also represent the Grand Ole Opry, and that's something I don't take lightly. The fear, the intimidation, the excitement, the scaredness, everything - from the first time to the last time I've played it, it's the same feeling. One of my favorite things to do is get there early to sit in the back and feel the presence of everybody. Standing onstage in that circle, it's a rush of every type of emotion all packed up in one that doesn't go away that more you play it.

10. Since you have been a supporting act on the tours with the artists you've mentioned - Brantley, Darius, Kip - looking at other "New Faces" in the industry that are up-and-coming, who impresses you? Who would you bring out on the road with you if you were headlining and why?

We had Devin Dawson out with us on the "Get To You Tour." He has a new album coming out. He's just a great artist, great writer, great guy, great friend, and he's one. Jimmie Allen is coming out. Carly Pearce; I know she's a part of this "New Faces" class, but her voice and her music is something I'm a huge fan of.