With a music style based on live performance, the Stakes used front yard house concerts during the pandemic to develop the songs on their new album "IN THE FIRE”. Their improvisations recall everything from early blues and rock, to British folk and Indian Carnatic - sounding equal parts Ry Cooder, Grateful Dead and RL Burnside.

Resonator

With a music style based on live performance, the Stakes used front yard house concerts during the pandemic to develop the songs on their new album "IN THE FIRE”. Their improvisations recall everything from early blues and rock, to British folk and Indian Carnatic - sounding equal parts Ry Cooder, Grateful Dead and RL Burnside.

Resonator slide-guitar songwriting pioneer Jeff Ray gels with bassist Nick Salisbury (Ryan Bingham, Brian Fallon, Sonny Knight), washboard mainstay Mikkel Beckmen (Charlie Parr, Brass Kings), and blues harp veteran Harold Tremblay (Cool Disposition, Doug Otto) to create a groove unmatched.

On the album’s single “Hard Times”, Ray reflects on life as a health care worker simultaneously impacted by both the pandemic and civil unrest. “Hard Times” reflects on our shared experience and emphasizes human connection, showing that music can transcend division and bring people closer together.

Recalling his years in Memphis, Ray draws on his love of American roots and blues in “Rounder Around”. A romanticized ode to the West Bank roots music scene of Minneapolis, at times sounding more ‘Mississippi’ than ‘Minneapolis’. The singular cover on the album “Friend of the Devil” showcases dual slide-guitar / harmonica solos, conjuring Duane Allman and Little Walter, reminiscent of an early 70’s blues festival. The vibe captured on "IN THE FIRE" is truly a gem and represents the band's greatest work to date.

"IN THE FIRE" is the band's 2nd album together, following 2015's "VALHALLA", and is also Jeff Ray's 7th full-length album. Ray has shared the stage with Chris Smither, Justin Townes Earl, Indigenous, Spider John Koerner, Earl Greyhound, Black Diamond Heavies, Pat Donohue, Retribution Gospel Choir, Dawes, and Charlie Parr, among others. He has also earned recognition as the 2010 first-place winner of the Greater Twin Cities Blues Music Society "Road To Memphis" competition and as a 2009 second-place winner of the Trocadero's Spotlight Songwriter Competition.