Welcome to this week’s Launch Box featuring Ray Goren
If you like: Gary Clark Jr., Stevie Ray Vaughan, Lane Mack
Before the age of three, Ray Goren played nursery songs on his toy keyboard. By the age of five, he was playing his favorite tunes by Thelonious Monk, J.J. Johnson, Miles Davis, and Coltrane. When Ray was seven, his family moved to California from New York City and he got into the guitar. Ray says:
“I had been looking online for jazz musician J.J. Johnson, who was an incredible trombone player, and instead of typing J.J., I typed B.B. by accident. The first thing that came up was B.B. King and don’t know why I clicked on it. I saw B.B. King, Albert Collins, Jeff Beck, Buddy Guy and Eric Clapton. I watched a video of them playing ‘Sweet Little Angel’ and I was moved by the energy, their charisma and something really deep and soulful appealed to me. It got to my heart.”
Before the day was over, Ray discovered many other blues and rock greats including Albert King, Luther Allison, Stevie Ray Vaughn, and Otis Rush. After talking his parents into getting him a guitar, Ray put all of his musical efforts into learning the blues.
Ray started to write his own original music which draws primarily from R&B, Rock, Blues, Jazz, and Gospel. In the winter of 2013 & the spring of 2014, Ray went into the studio and recorded some original tunes. Ray’s “Save My Soul” EP stayed on the Root’s charts for about six months, peaking at number 13.
Ray’s latest “Songs For You” is a five-song EP released by Jay Vee Records and produced by Grammy Award-winning artist Steve Jordan, a highly-respected Grammy and Emmy Award-winning musician, producer and writer who has worked with Keith Richards, John Mayer, Alicia Keys, and Kelly Clarkson, to name just a few. In reflecting on Ray Goren, Jordan says,
“Ray is not just a musician, he’s a great singer who writes great songs….I’ve worked with a ton of great and legendary musicians in my career and Ray is one of the most gifted artists I’ve ever witnessed. Between his guitar playing, piano playing, songwriting and singing, He’s a special talent.”
Ray has two bands. The first – Ray Goren and the Soul Fixers, is a dynamic pop/rock band that plays Ray’s original music. The other, Ray Goren & the Generation Blues Experience – a blues band comprised of several blues veterans who have been mentoring Ray since he was 12.
At only 15, Ray is an explosive live performer who has been playing all around the United States. He has shared the stage with B.B. King, Leon Russell, Robby Krieger, and Jonny Lang to name just a few. Chicago Sun Times music critic Thomas Conner wrote after Ray’s performance on the main stage at opening night of the 2013 Chicago Blues Festival:
“Ray Goren stepped up Thursday night and ripped out a guitar solo that would have made some hairs fall out of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s soul patch.”
Old-timers who have been playing the blues for decades call his guitar-playing phenomenal and say he plays like he’s about 50, not 15. Can’t wait to see what the future holds for this incredible young musician.