The R&B and nu-soul artist known as
Ray Harry has released his latest single, “Close Your Eyes to See.”
It is the most recent official release from Ray Harry since his
popular August 2016 single, “I Want to Give Thanks.” These and
others from Ray Harry have been proudly published on the Lighthouse
Music & Media independent record label without the direction of
the corporate music industry. Soulful, sonorous, and bringing that
unmistakable East Coast groove into the 21st century, “I
Want to Give Thanks” stands as evidence that Ray Harry has a place
in music collections everywhere.
Brooklyn, NYC's Ray Harry cites as main
artistic influences Earth, Wind and Fire, Roy Ayers, the Philly
sound, the Motown sound, and as he puts it, “so many more.”
“Close Your Eyes to See” takes elements of Roy Ayers and EWF and
blends them with the panache of titans such as Al Green, Bill Withers
and Isaac Hayes. Ray Harry's raw, interpersonal style communicates to
listeners with an unadorned, acoustic production making a naturally
clear canvas on which his rich vocals can paint pictures.
“I like to write songs about life,”
writes Harry of his lyric themes. “My songs are about love, lost
and found. All the dynamics of a relationship, I write about. I also
write songs about life struggles and triumphs, the highs and lows of
our journey. Many of my songs are written from my experience, but I
also observe the world and compose from that perspective. My ultimate
message is to send positive vibes through music.”
Ray Harry's current official bio
describes him as born and raised in the East New York section of
Brooklyn to immigrant parents from Belize and Honduras, Central
America.
“From a very early age, the sounds of
music captured his heart, and he been on a mission to bring the music
from his mind into the real world ever since,” it reads.
Harry credits growing up in New York
with sculpting his approach to creating music, characterizing his
neighborhood as “a melting pot of cultures where the many musical
styles of the community influenced” him. Also affecting his
creative efforts was the hi-fi his parents kept in the living room.
“Ray heard a great mix of old school
Latin music, soca, calypso, reggae, soul, pop and the traditional
music of the Garifuna people, of whom his family is descended,” his
bio states.
While the music of his mother and
father were seminal in his artistic development, nevertheless it was
not where his own career was headed.
“I must admit,” Ray Harry writes,
“during the boom-box era, radio was my best friend.”
His elder brothers had extensive record
collections stocked with the contemporary soul of the '60s, '70s and
the '80s. Ray himself purchased turntables and a mixer, then set out
to develop his own vinyl collection.
“Ray's special musical niche was
culling hip-hop break beats,” states his bio, “and the early hip
productions from the likes of Enjoy Records and the first releases
from the legendary Def Jam Records. Ray and his friends would set up
speakers on the street corner, cutting and scratching break beats and
hip-hop records into the late evening for the community locals.”
Eventually Harry became the house music
producer for several aspiring rap groups but never broke through into
the mainstream.
Ray Harry is a graduate of Full Sail
University with a Bachelor's degree in music production and the
founder/CEO of Lighthouse Music & Media.
“Close Your Eyes to See” by Ray
Harry is available online worldwide from over 600 digital music
stores online worldwide now.
-S. McCauley
Lead Press Release Writer
“Close Your Eyes to See” by
Ray Harry –
Official Websites –
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