Edito de In The AftermathLaddie Ray Melvin, his birth name, is a folksinger who has played music in the Pacific Northwest for many years. He is a songwriter who carefully crafts his lyrics and surrounds them with music from the American folk tradition. Country, blues, folk and folk rock are all colors this mature artist works with as he sings of life, death, work, family, love, hope and our shared humanity. Ray has produced two independently recorded CDs in the last decade. The first is Rocky Ground, and the most recent is In The Aftermath, a collection of tunes that considers what it means to be human in times of trouble. He has also recorded with songwriters Brad Keeler and Lyle Morse, a trio that can be heard often in the Spokane area. The album is titled Three Different Ways. Mark Stanton, owner and sound engineer of Summit Sound, writes, ?His songs are crafted with care. Laddie Ray weaves humanity, time and landscape into his songs. These songs echo in my soul like the sound of that ?freight train leaving the yard.? For over three decades, Ray has played festivals like Northwest Folklife in Seattle, the Tumbleweed Festival in Richland, Washington, and many acoustic friendly venues throughout the region like the Hot Club Coffee House in Troy, Montana, and the singer/songwriter showcase at The Dalles, Oregon. His work is sometimes heard on the long-running radio show Inland Folk on Northwest Public Radio and the Singer Songwriters on Sunday show on Q104, a commercial station in the mid-Columbia. KEWU, the inland northwest?s only jazz station, has played cuts from the Rocky Ground CD as well, and Ray has appeared on Spokane public radio?s ?Nacho Celtic Hour.? Ray is a performing singer/songwriter who is also an educator. Putting his MFA to work in a new way, he recently conducted a craft based workshop on lyric writing at Holy Names Music Center in Spokane, Washington, and plans to continue this work when invited as well. The Pacific Northwest is home to a rich community of folk musicians, and Laddie Ray Melvin is one of them. Please support the local and live music in your town or city. Our cultural heritage past and present is alive and well, and artists like Laddie Ray help keep it that way. For bookings please contact Laddie Ray Melvin at lrmelvin@laddieraymelvin.com. Lire la suite