08/24/2007

McCray headlines Camp Quality benefit

By GARRET ELLISON

gellison@record-eagle.com

McCray

TRAVERSE CITY — The stage will belong to Larry McCray on Sunday night, but the Davison-based blues artist said this concert is not about him as he headlines a benefit show for kids fighting cancer.

"Regardless if they are into my music or not, I'm asking the people to come out and support the cause,” McCray said, "because it's twice as worthy.”

Ten bucks gets you into the benefit, which wil be held held at the Traverse City Central High School gymnasium at 7:30 p.m. Sunday.

The show is sponsored by the North Western Michigan Masons and proceeds benefit Camp Quality Michigan, a nonprofit organization that hosts camping and support programs for children with cancer.

McCray recently performed in northern Michigan at the Sleeping Bear Dunegrass and Blues Festival in Empire. He's a career bluesman and "full-time musical hustler,” he said. "Some people don't think it's a real job, but I'll tell you what, it does get to be a lot of work.”

McCray said his shows are a fusion of funk, blues, soul, rock and jazz. He said "Michigan blues” is very much a blend of styles from cities like New Orleans, Chicago, Memphis and Detroit.

"What we do is our own interpretation,” he said. "It allows you to borrow from a lot of different styles — that's what the people here in Michigan are all about.”

A former General Motors autoworker who followed his late sister and inspiration, Clara, to Saginaw from Arkansas, McCray recorded "Ambition” in a friend's Detroit basement studio.

McCray spends a lot of time on the road. His travels will take him to Poland and Russia this fall.

"Blues is a hard sell and you have to work hard to find your audience,” he said.

"One thing that's helping our situation is that we don't restrict ourselves to being unsaturated.” he said. "We borrow from a lot of different situations and try to convert it into the type of blues that we feel.”

He followed up "Ambition” in 1993 with "Delta Hurricane.” He released three more albums on Point Plank before starting his own label, Magnolia Records, in 2000.

"I hate being a totally predictable musician,” he said. "We try hard to fight against predictability but not to move so far away from the format that it's unrecognizable.”

He's hoping for a good turnout for the benefit.

"I hope that (the audience) will leave spiritually uplifted,” he said. "Because the rhythm and the blues together are meant to be uplifting and invigorating.”

Tickets are available in Traverse City at Horizon Books, The Music Factory, Marshall Music Co. and Kurtz Car Stereo. For more information, call 883-9436 or 922-8068.