Michael Ray kicked off the countdown to his latest collection of new music… Dive Bars & Broken Hearts is slated to drop on June 23, the country singer-songwriter announced on his social media channels on Wednesday morning (April 5).
Ray reflected on growing up in Florida, surrounded by family and classic country music, including George Jones, Hank Williams Jr. and later Montgomery Gentry, to name a few. Ray instantly connected with his new producer, Michael Knox, when he set out to record new music reminiscent of some of the genres biggest legends. He shared on Wednesday:
“I’m a kid from central Florida, raised singing at the Sunshine Opry, playing Froggers, turning it up when Jones, Hank Jr. and later Montgomery Gentry hit the dial. I like the ones who hit their country straight up and hard. I knew one guy who makes that kind of country, my new producer Michael Knox. The more we talked, the more I knew he understood where I came from. My kind of country doesn’t come from TikTok or a TV show, it’s all those straight up country singers who knew life doesn’t always turn out like you think, but you keep going. I’m from a family of EMTs, cable-splicers, first responders; they had to get up and go to work, no matter what was happening... and when they got home, they reached for the music, whether they were going out with my grandpa Amos to watch him play, or some band they were playin’ in. That’s a whole different way to do this, and Knox got it. Just like he knows how dive bars and broken hearts are a lot like George Jones songs and steel guitars… they go together.”
Ray, who is in the midst of his 2023 tour, has been teasing new music and confirmed that he’s working on his fourth studio album. Ray’s upcoming project follows his 7-track EP, Higher Education, in 2021, and 2019’s Amos. Recent fan-favorites include “Whiskey And Rain,” “Just The Way I Am,” “Holy Water” and others. See his announcement about his upcoming EP here: