The spiritual love child of 90s R&B, contemporary gospel, and Flower Power-era pop rock, Ray Curenton is a songwriter and producer who has a hard time coloring within the lines. A Columbus, Ohio native who’s decidedly made Nashville home, Ray’s music is a genre-defying, progressive approach to soul and pop music. His lyrical content is equally focused on deconstruction, mixing themes of faith, sexuality, and politics to communicate his own version of the Good News outside of the four walls of a church.
Ray is an artist with preferential concern for the physical and spiritual welfare of the most marginalized in our society. Finding more inspiration from the past than the present, the artist looks to the paths forged by inspirational renegades like Tramaine Hawkins, BeBe and CeCe Winans, The New York Community Choir, and Sylvester. He sees music as an organizing medium—an effective tool to promote subversive expression, civil resistance, and political action.
In that vein, with his latest release, “Make It with Me,” Ray’s mission is to position himself within the traditions of The Weavers, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Nina Simone, Bob Dylan, and Arlo Guthrie as a modern cultural worker and storyteller of the struggle of this generation, weaving spirituality and art into political consciousness.
Ray is currently in the studio finishing his third solo project, The Last Shall Be the First.
LISTEN & BUY
CREDITS:
“Make It with Me”
Written by Manasseh Ray Curenton-Dillinger, Brandon Adams & Tim Dillinger-Curenton
Produced by Ray Curenton and Brandon Adams
Vocals co-produced by Tim Dillinger
Programming and instruments by Ray Curenton and Brandon Adams
Guitars: Brandon Adams
Additional Keys: Malcolm Dean
Organ: Alton Gibson
Choir: Brandon Adams, Kweli Buckner, Kyra Curenton, Ray Curenton, Robin Curenton, Tim Dillinger
Recorded at: The Dungeon (Nashville, TN), Sweetbriar Recording Studio (Nashville, TN) and Moja’s House (Antioch, TN)
Recording Engineers: Eric Westmaas and Brandon Adams
Mixed by Jon Blass
Mix Assistant: Jesse Lavigne
Mastered by Dave Harris at Studio B Mastering, Charlotte, NC
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/raycurenton
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TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@raycurenton
