“Summerville Journal Scene ® Photo courtesy of Lisa Roux Harrison Ray is set to perform at Coastal Coffee Roasters on Thursday evening. Local music lovers are often surprised there aren’t hundreds of people at Harrison Ray’s concerts – because there should be. Each show is wildly different and incredibly entertaining. An audience never knows if he’ll be performing with an electric or acoustic guitar, banjo or omnichord. Ray is a skilled master of melody, songwriting and challenging lyrics. He’s also a fine picker of stringed instruments with a distinct, fluid guitar style. Ray’s gift for telling stories comes through in his songs, in person and during off the cuff remarks between songs. “This song bought me my first Winnebago,” he recently told an audience at The Tin Roof in Charleston. “The songs sort of appear,” Ray said. “I’ve never purposely written a song. It seems like this thing telling me what I need to hear. They come from some other place. They”

“The Simplification of Ray Very little impedes Harrison Ray's vision of pop by T. Ballard Lesemann ”

"Some artist put the art before the career...If I were hard pressed to give you points of reference to analyze Ray's music, it would be the pure psychedelia of Syd Barrett or Thom Yorke coupled with the lyrical talents of Bob Dylan or Jeff Tweedy...that would be a good place to start...but that doesn't quite hit the nail on the head."

"Some songs have a whispery, dream-state sound, while others thump along with more traditional rock band instrumentation...Lyrically Ray sings about everything from loved ones to green fairies and the wild west..."

"Ray's music is whimsical, other-worldly, and just a little bit melancholy-adjectives which would all apply to standout songs, "Green Fairy and Good Mother..."