BOTTLENECK MUSIC LLC, c/o JEFF RAY, 651-283-04651281 Niles Ave., Saint Paul, MN 55116, jeff@jeffraymusic.com, www.jeffraymusic.com

Jeff Ray

JEFF RAY AND THE STAKESwww.myspace.com/jeffrayandthestakes

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TRACK 1 - I Knew YaTRACK 2 - Cottonwood

TRACK 3 - Dead

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‘APPALACHIA MEETS THE DELTA’ is the fi rst thing that pops into your head when you hear these guys.

In 2008, the acosutic roots and blues slide-guitarist and songwriter JEFF RAY joined up with revered bassist NICK SALISBURY (formerly of GB Leighton and Mick Sterling) to form the high energy, hard-driving roots and blues act

known as JEFF RAY AND THE STAKES.

The two musicians create their own rhythm section by equipping themselves with purely homemade attire… Jeff stomps on a portable wood front porch while Nick smooths out the rhythm with a foot-shaker contraption attached to a

pair of Converse all-stars. When they combine their homemade wears with Jeff’s thumb-thumping resonator slide-guitar and Nick’s gospel-meets-groove bass lines,

your left with a sound that really moves.

One of the great traditions of the Stake’s live shows is their roster of talented musicians that they invite as one-night

only ad hoc band members. Sometimes the band will invite Mikkel Beckman (The Brass Kings) to play washboard, or Harold Tremblay (Cool Disposition) to sit in on Blues Harp, to name a few. The spontaneity of the Stake’s lineup and the ferocity of their live sound has quickly earned them a

solid reputation as a must-see acoustic roots act.

JEFF RAY SOLOwww.myspace.com/jeffraymusic

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TRACK 3 - Low Wage MoodTRACK 4 - Valley

TRACK 5 - Maggie’s Farm

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JEFF RAY’s solo performances have “a quality that could only come from the merger of sounds from his

two backgrounds, Minnesota and Memphis” (Des Moines Register).

In 2005, after honing his craft from a three year stint in Memphis TN, JEFF RAY moved back to the Midwest and

was asked to open for one of is idols, blues/folk great Chris Smither. The experience left a profound mark on Ray’s sound and inspired him to adapt his blues slide-guitar style into a timeless one-man-band sound heard

on his latest CD LAST GREAT WINTER (2007).

LAST GREAT WINTER, Ray’s third release, earned him an instant reputation as a pioneer of acoustic slide and resonator guitar, and as a solo performer who sounds

more rhythmic and energetic than the usual guitar strummer - due in part to the Chris Smither-inspired foot stomping he regularly employs. Ray has been featured

on NPR programs like the Current’s Morning Show(Minneapolis, MN) and Acoustic Sounds Cafe (Liitle Rock, AR), as well as community and college radio programs across the Midwest. He continues to tour

relentlessly, playing over 80 shows each year across the Midwest.

Jeff Ray is a rising musician... the various infl uences and mixture of sounds resembles so much, and yet becomes something very unique... Jeff mixes their sounds into a fl uid motion of music.” -Reader Weekly (Duluth, MN)

“A compelling and cohesive mix of styles,adding snap to the usual acoustic folk tune without straying far from its roots” -The Capital Times (Madison, WI)