Michael Ray‘s career, from his early days playing in bars and clubs in Florida, all the way to having a multi-week, No. 1 hit, “Whiskey and Rain,” all comes out in his forthcoming new EP, Dive Bars & Broken Hearts. The record, produced by Michael Knox, is the culmination of everything that Ray has experienced and learned, working hard to make each of the tracks as authentic to him as possible.
“When you came up punching it out in bars, there’s a different kind of energy,” Ray reflects. “Michael let me record with live players, sing about things I knew – and trusted that who I am is who all the people I’ve been playing for since I was a kid are, too. We kept finding songs that felt right for who I am, and we kept singing live and pulling the heart out of the songs. It’s been an amazing process. When we’ve been playing, you can feel the difference with the new stuff… so we’re now using the road to really dial in what Dive Bars & Broken Hearts is gonna be.”
Dive Bars & Broken Hearts follows his Higher Education EP, released in 2021. While the size of the venues might have changed in the last several years, at his core, Ray remains who he is, and insists he has always been. It’s an authenticity that permeates Dive Bars & Broken Hearts.
“When the songs are this strong, you know you’ve got something,” the 34-year-old maintains. “And when you were practically born playing this kind of music with your family, literally grew up in the bars and little roadside theaters, you can’t help yourself. It’s like a fast car, you wanna take it out and see how it handles. Playing new music in these kinds of places ain’t for the faint of heart; but when you’re not afraid, you bring songs this good, it’s amazing what happens.”
Ray has been performing the songs on Dive Bars & Broken Hearts while on the road, and will continue to play them throughout his jam-packed summer schedule.
“There’s nowhere I’m more alive than playing to a roomful of people,” Ray explains. “To me, that’s where country music comes to life. I love being in the studio, putting a song into just the right instruments and frame. But if you want to really understand how a song works, go play it somewhere big enough to get loud, but small enough to feel the people.”
It was Ray’s love of country music, since he was a little boy, which led him to Knox, and the ultimate creation of Dive Bars & Broken Hearts.
“I took some time to really think about what I wanted,” Ray says of the project. “When you strip it all back, think about what really matters to you, you cut away a whole lot of reasons that should never drive your music. I’m a kid from central Florida, raised singing at the Sunshine Opry, playing Froggers, turning it up when Jones, Hank Jr. and later Montgomery Gentry hit the dial. I like the ones who hit their country straight up and hard. I knew one guy who makes that kind of country: Michael Knox.”
Dive Bars & Broken Hearts will be released on June 23. Find all of Ray’s music and upcoming shows at MichaelRayMusic.com.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of EB Media / Conner Morss