“Blues Without You is a damn near perfect blues record.”
–
Blues Rock Review
“This is a magnificently soulful blues album, seasoned with wisdom.”
– Raw Ramp
“Larry McCray’s new album oozes passion and intensity.”
– Fireworks Magazine
“The best record of his career.”
– Blues Rock Review
“McCray and his band come together in a perfect trifecta—exquisite performances from everyone involved, meaningful lyrics and a killer melody.”
Poised to become a genre-shaping staple early in his career performing alongside the greats B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Albert King and more, rustbelt singer and guitarist Larry McCray’s life has imitated the rags-to-riches stories of the blues throughout his musical career.
Eager to demonstrate his position as a legend, McCray re-emerges with his first album in seven years Blues Without You, produced by blues-rock titan Joe Bonamassa and Josh Smith, on Bonamassa’s Keeping The Blues Alive Records (KTBA Records).
“Albert King, Albert Collins and B.B. King really had the most influence on me because, in my mind, they were the greatest of their generation at playing the blues,” shares McCray. “And it took them their whole careers to achieve minor milestones in the business. So, if it took the greatest players their entire career to make it, who am I to complain about having to walk in their footsteps?
“I feel totally reborn, with a whole new career, and I’m optimistic about what the future holds,” he adds. “But truthfully speaking, sometimes I do wish it would have happened 30 years ago. I would have been much more qualified for the job at that age than at 62,” he laughs.
Featuring performances from
Bonamassa,
Warren Haynes,
Joanna Connor and
Reese Wynans, McCray’s 12-song collection has garnered critical acclaim from
Guitar Techniques Magazine, dubbing
Blues Without You as “exquisite” and the tracks “run the gamut of what many blues fans want: great songs, rich grooves, tight band interplay and stingingly singing guitar solos,” while
Blues Rock Review praises it as “the record of a lifetime and the best project of his career.”
Alongside today’s release, the Arkansas-native debuts the official music video for Down To The Bottom featuring Warren Haynes, described by Blues Rock Review as “a musical undertaking where Larry discusses the challenges he’s been through during his life and career.”
“Down To The Bottom is an instant Larry McCray classic,” says UK music blog Fabrications.
Labelled an “old-school, perfectly-arranged soul” song by Guitar World, Breaking News is “shaped by the seemingly endless crises that dominate the news from day to day,” while lead single Arkansas is “slick, vibrant and a little funky-y, too – an impressive statement of intent. McCray sounds reinvigorated.”
Title track
Blues Without You (For Paul) is a moving tribute to McCray’s manager of over three decades Paul Koch, who passed away suddenly last year. “
Blues Without You is a career defining song, that could arguably rival
The Thrill is Gone or other Blues classics. The pure emotion captured in this song is something many artists aspire to, but few achieve,” boasts
Blues Rock Review, also naming it a “career-defining” track that “should become an instant classic in the blues genre.”
“Larry McCray is a legend,” praises producer Bonamassa. “We have known that for 30 years. He is the last of the great blues shouters from the rust belt. It’s now up to the world to rediscover him. He has been here all along.”
“I met Joe when he was in his early 20s, and I met Josh when he was about 13 out on the road touring,” shares McCray. “My first impression of both is that they would do exactly what they did by becoming the alpha figures in the pack among all the other guitar players out there. I never thought that either one of them was impressed with anything that I played because I am old school.
“I was really surprised when I found out that they wanted to work with me. It was very difficult at times. Sometimes I even felt very self-conscious having to play before someone I respected to this level musically,” he continues. “But it felt good to be working with old friends that I knew and whose opinions I valued and trusted so much.”
McCray was named the Orville H. Gibson (in honour of the vaunted Gibson Guitar founder) Male Blues Guitarist of the Year in 2000, won the Top Guitarist prize in the International Blues Matters 2014 writer’s poll and was awarded the “Sunshine” Sonny Payne Award for Blues Excellence in 2015. Over the years, Larry has performed and toured with such blues greats as BB King, Buddy Guy, Albert King, John Mayall, Johnny Winter, Robert Cray, Keb’ Mo’, Jimmie Vaughan, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, and Joe Bonamassa, as well as rock legends the Allman Brothers, Phil Lesh, Jonny Lang, Joe Walsh, Levon Helm, Chris Robinson, Dickey Betts, and countless others.
Blues Without You – Track List
1. Arkansas
2. Without Love It Doesn’t Matter
3. Good Die Young
4. Down To The Bottom feat. Warren Haynes
5. Breaking News
6. Roadhouse Blues
7. Drinkin’ Liquor And Chasin’ Women feat. Joanna Connor
8. Blues Without You (For Paul)
9. Mr. Easy feat. Joe Bonamassa
10. No More Crying
11. Don’t Put Your Dreams To Bed
12. I Play The Blues
About Larry McCray
Rust belt blues guitarist and singer Larry McCray was born in 1960 in Magnolia, Ark., as one of nine siblings. Early on, his sister, Clara, introduced him to the guitar and the transformative music of the three Kings of the blues. In 1972, 12-year-old Larry followed Clara to Saginaw, Mich., where he honed his guitar skills, adding rock riffs to the traditional blues style he loved. After high school, Larry began playing the local circuit, and by the late ’80s, he had attracted the attention of the head of Virgin Records’ blues label, who signed Larry as Point Blank Records’ inaugural artist.
His debut album, Ambition—aptly named for fusing elements of blues, rock, and soul to create a contemporary blues sound—was released in 1990 to critical acclaim. Throughout the ’90s, Larry continued to help define blues rock, releasing Delta Hurricane (1993), Meet Me at the Lake (1996) and Born to Play the Blues (1998). In 2000, Larry started his own label, Magnolia Records, releasing Believe It (2000), Blues Is My Business (2001), Live on Interstate 75 (2006), Larry McCray (2007) and The Gibson Sessions (2015).
Throughout those years, Larry played with such blues greats as BB King, Buddy Guy, Albert King, John Mayall, Johnny Winter, Robert Cray, Keb’ Mo’, Jimmie Vaughan, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, and Joe Bonamassa, as well as rock legends the Allman Brothers, Phil Lesh, Jonny Lang, Joe Walsh, Levon Helm, Chris Robinson, Dickie Betts, and countless others.
Blues Without You, Larry’s latest, a 12-track release, was recorded on Bonamassa’s Keeping the Blues Alive record label.
About Keeping the Blues Alive Records
Joe Bonamassa and his long-time manager, Roy Weisman, have put their decades of expertise to use with their new venture, Keeping the Blues Alive (KTBA) Records. The independent record label is an offshoot of Keeping The Blues Alive Foundation, Joe Bonamassa’s non-profit that aims to conserve the art of music in schools and preserve the rich culture and history of the blues.
Since its inception in 2020, KTBA Records has proven to be a driving force in the music industry, taking on talented artists and propelling them into the spotlight. The label has released albums for Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Inductee Dion, Chicago blues queen Joanna Connor, and blues rock sensation Joanne Shaw Taylor. Each album has received worldwide critical acclaim as well as the coveted #1 spot on the Billboard Blues Album Chart. This is only the beginning for KTBA Records. With its roster of talented musicians and success in the industry, the label has many new projects on the horizon, working synergistically with the non-profit’s mission of supporting musicians. 10% of all profits from KTBA Records are donated to the foundation.
KTBA Records represents Bonamassa’s continuing efforts over the last 25 years in support the artistic community and reflects the philosophy of paying it forward just as so many did for him in the hope of paving the way for musicians for years to come. To support KTBA Records mission and its talented artists, visit https://bit.ly/shopktbarecords now.