Jeff Ray - Last Great Winter (2007)

Tracklist

01. Dear Grenadine
02. Low Wage Mood
03. Higher Hilltops
04. This Land Is Your Land
05. Cindy Sang
06. Human Hillsides
07. Valley
08. Crane
09. Maggie's Farm
10. My My My

Jeff Ray's third and most compelling album to date. A blues-influenced tour de force of resonator slide-guitar, Ray weaves the grit of the Mississippi Delta into a tapestry of poetic americana. Since the release of his rockin' multi-instrumental 2004 sophomore release, JUNE GENERATION, Ray embarked on a life of touring solo from the Midwest to the South where he found the inspiration for LAST GREAT WINTER. Influenced by the Midwest resonator guitar scene, Ray picked up a National steel guitar and eventually landed opening slots for some of his biggest influences, including Chris Smither.
Drawing from those performance experiences, Ray left behind the studio band and found his solo groove on LAST GREAT WINTER. On the album, he weaves his stylistic diversity with unmatched simplicity using only a resonator guitar, his voice, and a stomping foot that blends seamlessly into each song. Jeff reveals with great clarity his unique style that he calls Zen Blues - a style marked by alternate guitar tunings and songs that unsuspectingly shift between thumb-thumping slide-guitar ballads to worldly folk-inspired jams.
Ray even throws in a few surprises, including a bluesy rendition of Bob Dylan's "Maggie's Farm" and a catchy version of Woody Guthrie's timeless anthem "This Land Is Your Land", one of the most surprising versions ever recorded. Originally a protest song, "This Land Is Your Land" eventually morphed into a childhood sing-along, stripped bare of it's most controversial verses. But Ray returns this song to its original purpose and gives it new life by altering the melody, changing the rhythm, accentuating the forgotten verses, and even altering the final lines to give new meaning.
Jeff Ray continues to gain recognition as an emerging influence in the acoustic roots music scene.

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