Home → Overview → Blues Artists → Larry McCray

Larry McCray

Photo by Victoria Fadden

Blues Is His Business

In a little town called Stevens, Arkansas, Larry McCray was born April 5, 1960. Following on the heels of musical big sister, Clara, Larry tasted the blues for the first time, if not having lived through it. After leaving with Clara for Saginaw, Michigan, in 1972, Clara soon put a guitar in the hands of her younger brother, then at the age of 12. Weekends with Clara’s friends sparked Larry McCray’s desire to pursue the instrument. Two early Saginaw guitar influences on Larry McCray were Johnny Red (Bias) and Howard Pitman. Soon Larry McCray had his younger brothers Carl (bassist) and Steve (drummer) join him in Saginaw to make their own family sound. Performing on and off as The McCray Brothers for 10-12 years, Larry, Carl, and Steve, pushed the envelope around the state of Michigan, eventually catching the attention of a record producer out of Detroit. Ambition marked Larry McCray’s first national release in 1990, recorded between ’87 and ’88. After the painful experience surrounding his first album, Larry McCray met current manager Paul Koch around 1991 on the heels of a European tour with B.B. King and Gary Moore. Larry McCray went right in to cut Delta Hurricane (released in 1993) and Koch introduced Larry McCray to the sound of The Allman Brothers Band and particularly guitarist/friend Warren Haynes whose song Soulshine was first cut by Larry McCray on Delta Hurricane, before the Allmans or even Warren Haynes himself. The song has gone on to incredible heights for all the performers, becoming a musical staple in the blues/rock world. Following Delta Hurricane, Larry McCray continued to consistently tour and only dropped one more gem throughout the decade, 1998’s Born To Play The Blues. Yet the decade helped him find himself amongst high peaks and low valleys. As the blues torch gets passed generation to generation, Larry McCray hopes his body of work and musical legacy will lend itself to that of legend, rather than just because he is one of a dying breed. Larry McCray also sights a career highlight as being honored as the Orville Gibson 2000 Male Blues Guitarist of the Year. With Magnolia Records his new home and a young son to raise, Larry McCray was able to pull back into his personal life for a while, which he finds incredibly difficult to juggle to this day. Pitfalls have included trying to find time to write while staying busy on the road. Magnolia Records released the McCray’s first live album, Live On 75, on December 6, 2005. A new studio album and tour is to follow in late 2006.

Home → Overview → Blues Artists → Larry McCray