Ray Cashman - Houston Electric (2019)

Ray Cashman is a blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist, who performs mainly solo or with an electric band. Armed with a National guitar, stomp box and a Fender amp he performs a blues gumbo repertoire that can conjure up the ghosts of the Mississippi Delta. Cashman grew up outside of Conroe, TX, listening to older black men play guitar, sing and drink. The influences of those times are certainly everywhere in his music. He is filled with years of experience from travel and inspirations of Southern Gothic literature. His songs are filled with passion and feelings and honesty and subtly be damned.

It all came together rather unexpectedly back when he was ten years old. He was at a friend’s house and a guitar that was sitting in another room caught his eye. He asked if he could pick it up and something about holding that guitar seemed to fit rather well. There was a mirror in the room and he looked into it while holding that guitar. Somehow it just felt like it was meant to be and that was the beginning.

Next, Ray would take in the blues from some real down home bluesmen. The young man was hooked. Years later while looking back at those formative years, Ray never would have imagined that armed with just the blues in his veins that he would go on to share his love of the guitar and the blues with people all over the U.S. and Europe.

Ray Cashman is an interesting musical gumbo of a person. The man fits into the Americana roots scene as well as in both the blues and rock genres. His sound is solid and his lyrics hit home. Two things you can tell about the man is that his heart is in his music and he’s passionate about sharing the blues with all sorts of folks. After all, that’s how he found it. It hasn’t stopped since; his upcoming release is probably his best.

Cashman’s 2007 release, Texassippi Stomp, which featured Jimbo Mathus, (Squirell Nut Zippers, Buddy Guy) was widely praised. It was placed on a number of critics’ year-end best of lists for blues recordings. Since 2003, Cashman has toured England, Ireland, Holland, Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, and the USA from the Gulf Coast to Canada and sea to shining sea. Cashman has released 6 full-length albums with the latest being 2016 “Slow Drag.”

From Spain to Belgium to Italy and on to the Netherlands, Ray had been sharing what’s inside him naturally with folks across the big pond. Then, he returned to the states and set up camp in Austin. Afterward he went on to Nashville where he could license his music to the Discovery Channel. However, as time moved forward, the notion of returning to Southeast Texas grew deeper in his heart. Now he’s back in Montgomery, Texas and even though performing on the stages in New York City, Los Angeles, Seattle, Austin at SXSW, as well as a number of other cities was a tremendous experience, the man has now settled back in where it all began.

He’s turned out six albums over the years and once he arrived back home there was one more working its way to the surface. This time around, the album will be a blues-rock release which Ray will title as “Houston Electric.” Ray describes his upcoming album as the best one he has ever done and “the most rounded one and even more rocking.” This is not too surprising when you learn that his top musical influences over time include the Rolling Stones, Howlin’ Wolf, and the great songwriter Townes Van Zand.