Robert Cray was President Obama’s favorite blues artist. That sweet voice must be from growing up in Georgia & Virginia. I say Robert is a modern blues man. He might sound like Chicago Blues but Robert lived the good life in Oregon playing college gigs on the West Coast. You guys remember the guitar player in the house band in National Lampoon’s Animal House.
Robert is a polite & humble blues man. Hearing “The Sky is Crying” made me think of the older blues masters, but those guys don’t have that tamed mellow voice that Robert has. “Smoking Gun” & several other songs this evening tells me Robert was influenced by good old fashion rock & roll. You can hear Albert Collins & Freddie King in his voice & guitar.
This August 18th night at the Zoo gets darker sooner. Robert’s sound reverberates in my head way after the show. He is not a flashy guitar player & he ain’t from down south. His solid & familiar blues kicked ass in this beautiful evening, this was a perfect blues night with Sonny Landreth opening the evening. The influence of his old rock days are strong & clear. Robert is one of my favorites, he has mentored several new age blues artists & his old green 64 Stratocaster has a lot of new strings to ware.
