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The
Spark of Larry McCray Captured Live
BY SCOTT BAKER
Honoring a promise that was over a year in the making, a musical gift was finally delivered over the holidays.
Live On 75 marks the first live
album for Larry McCray, released on his own Magnolia
Records imprint last month, a CD that was originally intended to
be released a year prior.
Capturing the spirit of the stretch of
highway that cuts through the heart of Michigan, Live On 75 helps
bookend the first 15 professional years of the blues man's career, with
tracks ranging from his first release Ambition, through brand new
songs which have never been recorded.
Having moved last year to Bay City from
Davison, McCray is currently focusing on tracks for his next studio
album, with hopes that Live On I-75 will fill the gap for fans
that have waited five years since his last CD, Believe It.
Selecting two hot nights at the
now-defunct Tenny Street Roadhouse, Live On I-75
encapsulates McCray's live magic with his home-state crowd providing the
good vibes.
"It was a Michigan thing," conveyed McCray, recently. "Detroit, Michigan people, everybody knows I-75, so it was just live at home."
The State Theatre in Bay City and
two nights at the also now-defunct Jambalaya's in Laingsburg were
also recorded, but did not make the final cut.
One of the joys for McCray was he got a
chance to perform tracks from all of his releases, updating some of his
catalog highlights.
"My biggest disappointment in my whole
career has always been that I have never felt that we have got the
production and the time necessary to make a first class recording
(particularly on Ambition)," he stated. "So to go back and get
another chance at it after all this time, to reinstate it, was great."
As an independent artist since the
release of 2000's Believe It, McCray has doubled his efforts
towards his own record and promotional company, Magnolia
Entertainment, along with manager Paul Koch. Having to run
double duty has kept the 'Boar Hog' outside of the pit and into many
different areas of the record business.
"Sometimes you find limitations that you
don't have to contend with when you have bigger sponsorship," McCray
mused. "So you always try to find ways to get the same amount of
effectiveness out of a situation, but with less excess and waste."
"I think we're on the right track, but my
goal is just to be successful at what I'm trying to do already and
that's to be successful and stay putting my own music out. I'm trying to
make things happen for myself the best way I know how and that's what
it's coming to. The music business is not the same anymore with the
Internet and the computer and everything and how easy it is to access
music and not have to pay for it. Nobody sells records the way they used
to."
Having had time to backtrack with Live
On 75, McCray is currently putting his full focus on his next
project, having debuted new live songs recently, and gearing up for the
next chapter in his bluesology.
"I think I am coming closer in terms of
narrowing it down and figuring out who I am as an artist," said the
guitarist. "In terms of if I've reached the height of what I have to
offer, I don't think I have."
"My thing is to play music that I hope
sounds and feels good, from the heart - the emotion of the music. That's
my focus. I really try to attach myself and try to relate to that aspect
of the music.
The things you can comprehend, you try to
make that your strong point. That's why I took it on myself to at least
try to take control of my own future and career and be able to live and
be satisfied with the results of it. As long as I'm out here doing the
best that I can do, I can live with the results of whatever that is. At
least I feel that I'm in control and I know that I'm working toward the
best goal and the best possible situation for myself and the band."
With Live On 75 stamping his
ideals home, McCray feels Michigan is ready for a blues storm later this
year.
"I think at one point that I had my
contribution and I think now instead of so much being the new
kid, I'm becoming the more mature kid."
"And people are waiting for my
masterpiece."
To get a copy of Live On 75,
Email:
liveon75@charter.net.
The disc is $15, ppd.
LIVE ON 75 * Track List 1. Delta Hurricane 2. Man On Bended Knees 3. Nobody Never Hurt Nobody With The Blues 4. Witchin’ Moon 5. Gone For Good 6. Four Nickels 7. Blue River (instrumental) 8. Secret Lover 9. Blues Is My Business 10. Somebody's Watching 11. Believe It 12. Soul Shine |
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