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Gary Gray is a soul man. His love of Memphis rhythm & blues is paramount. He mixes this with some fancy bare finger
pickin' and some hot Delta blues, to create magic. His original material and cover arrangements are unique, as is his relationship
with his instrument. He's a man of few words, but Gary's Magic begs, cries, and shouts to be heard.
Gary has worked with some of his mentors such as Hubert Sumlin, Pinetop Perkins, Bo Diddley, Albert King, Sleepy Labeef,
Kinky Friedman, Rosco Gordon, and Bob Gaddy. Gary has open shows for Richie Havens, Merle Haggard, Marshal Tucker Band, Grin
(Nils Logfren before Bruce), Luther Allison, and more.
Gary began his musical career as a solo acoustic singer/songwriter, and now has returned to just that. Alone on stage,
with his guitar, he takes the audience into his confidence, and creates a place for them to hide out for a while.
"GOTTA HAVE LOVE"
© Grog records CD#9702
Reprinted from "Rootstown
music" (Belgium) 1/98
Gary and his band are playing the circut for about twenty years. Gary made a name for himself as guitar/trumpet player
with the likes of Otis Rush, Bo Diddley, Sleepy LaBeef, Kinky Friedman...and a whole bunch more. This second CD, after
" Get Hip To It" on Jaguar Records. It's a selfproduced record...Musically it's a mix of selfwritten songs, boogies,
to slow funky blues. Most enjoyable are the two semi-acoustic songs, "Blues All Around", with a nice guitar solo,
and the rudimentary played "Black and White". Also very good are the stompin' instrumental "Blue Turbin",
and "Blues For the Earth" with a raw sounding guitar. The real standout of this CD is the slow "All I Feel
Is Pain" with Gary blowin' a beautiful piece of trumpet......Marc Nolis
Reprinted from issue of "LIVING BLUES" Sept. 97
Multi-instrumentalist,vocalist,producer, and songwriter, Gary Gray knows how to help his band find a groove. When they
do, the Blue Roots have a bucketful of fun creating nuevo-retro music that combines pop, boogie, bigband, and even a delightfully
crazed mutation of rockabilly. Quite often tongue-in-cheek, Gotta Have Love has little straightforward blues but a lot of
entertainment value.....PJK
Reprinted from "Blues Access" spring/98
Gray is a hell of a guitar player with a knack for textures, melodies and arrangements, just offbeat enough to keep things
interesting throughout. The real treat are the instrumentals........Catfish Whitey & Red Rooster
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