Johnny Rawls and The Rays
Johnny Rawls has traveled a long way from Purvis, Mississippi where, when still in high school, he worked with such stars as Z.Z. Hill, Little Johnny Taylor, Joe Tex and The Sweet Inspirations when they toured in his area. In the mid-70s, Johnny went to work for O. V. Wright as Wright’s band director. After Wright died in 1980, Johnny joined Little Johnny Taylor and led his band for several years. By 1985, Johnny Rawls was touring as a solo artist and had made his first solo recording. In 1994 he recorded the widely acclaimed album Down To Earth on the Rooster Blues label with L. C. Luckett. The following year, he and Luckett released Can’t Sleep At Night, also on Rooster Blues. In 1996, JSP released his solo effort Here We Go. Johnny continued as both a recording artist and producer for JSP for years until he started his own record company, Deep South Soul, and has released his CD’s Lucky Man and Live In Montana on his own label. Johnny Rawls appeared on the cover of the April 2002 Living Blues magazine which described him as “a soul-blues renaissance man”. He has been nominated four times for W. C. Handy Awards. Johnny Rawls tours constantly, playing over 200 dates per year in the United States and Europe. Johnny produced the 2001 Texas Justice CD for Kay Kay and The Rays which was released on his Deep South Soul label. Members of the Rays have worked with him when he has toured through Texas. The Rays will be appearing at some festivals and U.S. tours with him to promote No Boundaries.
Before starting Deep South Soul, Johnny had discovered Texas band, Kay Kay and The Rays in 1999. Blues Revue wrote that The Rays have “an approach of their own and a message...funk, jazz, soul and blues for the thinking person.” The Rays sound also has roots rock and gospel influences. Inpress, the Australian weekly music magazine, wrote that the best of the sold-out, five day East Coast Blues & Roots Festival in 2004 were Dr. John, Solomon Burke and Kay Kay and The Rays, writing “The Rays were wild and smoking with a dynamo sax player.”
Kay Kay and The Rays first hit the blues charts with Texas Justice which reached number 15 on the Living Blues radio airplay chart in 2001. The Johnny Rawls produced CD was also selected as one of the top 25 U.S. blues releases for 2001 in the Ninth Annual Real Blues Awards as selected by Real Blues magazine. Their 2003 release, Big Bad Girl, which was produced by multiple Grammy award winner Jim Gaines, reached number 10 on the Living Blues radio airplay charts and stayed on the charts for two months. It was XM Satellite Radio Blues Pick to Click in November 2003 and has been played on over 200 stations in the U.S., Canada, Australia and Europe. The band’s performance at the 2003 W. C. Handy Festival was broadcast as an hour-long program on public television stations in 2004. Kay Kay and The Rays stopped performing in 2004. Johnny Rawls eventually persuaded songwriter/bassist Bob Trenchard to get The Rays back together for the No Boundaries project which Johnny produced along with Rays guitar player, Steve Lott. Other members of The Rays are Dan Ferguson, keyboards and Andy Roman, saxophone. J. T. Paz and Richie Puga, who have both toured with The Rays, played drums on the CD.