Larry McCray

Thursday , March 29, 2001
12:00 am
Location: Elderly Instruments
in-store performance (free)

Larry McCray is one of a handful of talented, young blues performers leading the music into the next century. McCray’s music is rooted in tradition, yet robustly contemporary. His attractive, compelling blend of blues, pop and soul is blues for this generation and the next. McCray will play an acoustic-solo in-store performance at Elderly Instruments (1100 N. Washington, Lansing) at 5:30 p.m., Thursday, March 29. Later that evening, McCray and his band will play at Jambalaya’s on Round Lake in Laingsburg. For more information on this show call (517) 651-9072. McCray’s approach is resolutely honest and straightforward. There’s a minimum of flash, and a maximum of down-to-earth sincerity, upbeat messages and good-time partying going on. It’s a new workingman’s blues, with a kick of rock and roll. McCray was born into a musical family in Arkansas, near the Louisiana border in 1960. At the age of 12 he moved to Saginaw, Michigan. He studied guitar, learning the blues of B.B, Albert and Freddie King, as well as soul and the omnipresent Motown sound. Playing in a band with his brothers, he also learned to play rock, country and jazz. After high school McCray went to work for GM, but kept playing music on weekends with local blues, rock, country and jazz fusion groups. McCray quit his day job after becoming the first artist signed to Pointblank Records in 1990. His debut, "Ambition," featured a variety of blues and blues-based rock, soul and R&B. McCray’s second album, Delta Hurricane, was recorded in Memphis with the help of the Uptown Horns, and was met with critical acclaim. "Born To Play The Blues" continued his evolution as a power-blues guitar slinger and vocalist. McCray’s latest, "Believe It" firmly establishes him as a blues force to be reckoned with. Pick up a copy of "Believe It" at this performance and Larry will be glad to sign it for you—sure to be a collector’s item.

Check out recordings we carry featuring Larry McCray