WILMINGTON — If ever an artist firmly stood at the intersection of rhythm and blues, it’s Robert Cray.
While the Georgia native has earned numerous accolades — and quite a number of Grammys — for his blues-playing acumen, Cray’s vocal and playing style is far more reflective of his deep and abiding love of soul music.
It’s at the center of inspiration on his latest album, “That’s What I Heard.” While the collection features its share of original numbers penned by Cray, there are quite a few obscure R&B covers as well.
The 69-year-old was inspired to record them with longtime friend Steve Jordan, who reunited with Cray to play drums and produce the set. Jordan suggested Cray order the CD “Groove and Grind: Rare Soul.”
“It’s a compilation of old R&B tunes, from which we got two songs for this record,” Cray said, referring to “My Baby Likes to Boogaloo” and “Do It.” The latter is a 1971 Bill Sha-Rae’s song, representing hard-edged funk, with an added bonus coming from the six-string contributions of guest guitarist Ray Parker Jr. (who played in Sha-Rae’s band as a teenager). His performance adds grit to the recording.
“We were all in the control room watching this cat work and he was hitting it hard,” Cray shared.
Jordan also posed doing a gospel tune.
“So I went to the record pile and came up with the Sensational Nightingales’ song, ‘Burying Ground,'” Cray said.
“Burying Ground” reminds Cray of his youth. He said every Sunday his parents reserved the stereo for spinning numerous gospel tunes.
The band also landed on covering Curtis Mayfield’s and Bobby “Blue” Band’s music.
“But Steve always sets the mood,” Cray said.
Cray’s musical journey began on piano, the first instrument he played as a child. Then he caught The Beatles on the “Ed Sullivan Show” and switched to guitar by age 12. He spent his teen years in Tacoma, WA, eventually playing the West Coast college circuit. Cray also collaborated with fellow blues artist Curtis Salgado in the Cray-Hawks and got cast as an uncredited bass player in Otis Day and the Knights, the house band in the 1978 film “Animal House.”
By the 1980s, he built his reputation as a live artist touring through Europe and the United States, eventually finding crossover success with “Strong Persuader.” The 1986 major label debut yielded the hit single “Smokin’ Gun.”
Over time, Cray has shared stages with Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy and Stevie Ray Vaughan, all while compiling a canon of his own. He also had the privilege to perform with idols, such as Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker and Albert Collins. Cray has inherited the blues elder statesman mantle from them.
Yet, as he experienced in his own career, he hears the future of the genre blending and evolving with new blood. Cray pointed to more acoustic-style guitar-playing and even more female singers rising above the fray.
“There are a whole lot of younger cats coming out,” he said. “I spoke with someone earlier today and we mentioned the fact that the music is changing — because it’s supposed to. It’s incorporating a lot of other genres mixed into it, which it’s supposed to — because nobody is an Albert Collins, John Lee Hooker, Albert King or anybody like that. It’s a whole new world now and I’m glad people are picking up on the old and putting their own stamp on that and adding their own thing to it. It’s good.”
Over time, Cray’s seen a good bit of change in the music industry. Record companies offer less support, while streaming platforms online and internet sales dominate the market.
“You [once] had these big family-type situations,” Cray said of record companies. “It’s a big change. You hope you can sell something online that more people might get ahold of.”
Yet, the approach to playing live music hasn’t altered, something that brings the performer immense joy still. A stateside tour delayed by the pandemic now has Cray back on the road.
“We go out and have fun — that’s what it’s all about,” he said. “We change the set list up every night, with the exception of a few tunes that we do.”
He said it comes down to the fans — the “reason” any musician is on a stage.
“They don’t tell you that, but you’re on the stage because they like what you do,” he said. “So what you should do is do what you do and love what you do.”
Robert Cray Band will perform at Kenan Auditorium on Tuesday, April 18, 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $37 to $57.
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