Michael Ray is back with another country classic, as part of his Bootlegger Sessions. The singer, who kicked off the series with a cover of Tracy Lawrence‘s “Time Marches On,” returns with another country hit, this one Randy Travis‘ “Three Wooden Crosses.”
“When we had the idea to create the [Bootlegger Sessions], I could have never dreamed how much y’all would connect to my versions of these classics,” Ray shared on social media. “Thank you for making this guy’s country music dreams come true!”
Ray has been vocal about his admiration of Travis. Although the Florida native has been a regular at CMA Fest for years, he says his favorite memory ever involves the Country Music Hall of Fame member, from 2017.
“One of my favorite CMA Fest memories was bringing Randy Travis out on [the Chevy Riverfront stage] and doing ‘Forever and Ever, Amen’ with him,” Ray recalled “it was a cool moment. It was cool to go backstage; he got emotional and Mary got emotional. I think for artists like him to see kids singing ‘Forever and Ever, Amen,’ you see a 12-year-old screaming the lyrics to something that was out way before this kid was ever even … his parents were kids when this song came out. So everybody started chanting, ‘Randy, Randy.’ It just gave me chills. That’s probably one of my biggest highlights.”
Ray currently has a Top 40 hit with “Holy Water.” The song follows Ray’s multi-week No. 1 hit, “Whiskey and Rain,” which was also certified platinum.
“When I first heard ‘Whiskey and Rain’ I connected with the idea of letting yourself really live in a moment where it can wash over you,” Ray said. “To say I’m proud of this song would be an understatement. I’m very grateful that it’s found a home in the hearts of fans. I couldn’t do this without them or the team I have behind me.”
The 34-year-old is already working on new music. the follow-up to his Higher Education EP, released in 2021.
“Some of the songs we’re getting pitched have just been incredible,” Ray hinted to Everything Nash. “I think finding my sound and finding my place has really helped me as a songwriter, and I think also helped publishers and songwriter buddies of mine, to send me songs that they feel fit where we’re going. So it’s been a cool process making this last part of this EP, as well as the first half. But this last half is really cool, coming off the success of ‘Whiskey and Rain,’ and feeling the love of ‘Holy Water.’ It gets you motivated for that next half, and you wanna keep it going. You have momentum going, and you want to keep it spinning.”
Find music and tour dates at MichaelRayMusic.com.