GARY CLARK,JR.

Larry McCray is a bear of a man. His massive arms make him look
more ready to bear hug his guitars than to coax biting emotional tones
from it. McCray was born in 1960, so it’s no surprise that his blues
incorporates elements of all genres of music – rock, soul, funk, and
jazz. His guitar style suggests he was influenced by everyone from
B.B. King to George Benson, Guitar Slim, Slim Harpo, and back to
Freddie King.
“I term my sound as rhythm rock,” says McCray. “I’m trying to take
the blues stigma off the music. When you have that [blues] on your
resume, sometimes it can hold you back from a lot of opportunities that
are out there for other people. When you put blues on it, people take a
different opinion toward what I do. If a white man plays the blues we call
that rock and roll. If I play the same thing it’s blues. That’s just how
people regard the situation.
“Rhythm rock is just a different name for the same old shit. It’s all
about marketing out here now. I have never claimed to be a blues
purist, so my sound leans to a lot of different things other than blues.
I have a lot to offer in other aspects of music. I believe that music is
music and the more genres you can tie together, that’s more
PHOTOGRAPHY © DUSTY SCOTT
Larry
McCray
MY
GUITAR
SPEAKS
MY
HEART
by Art Tipaldi
BLUES REVUE 19