Bluegrass vocal duo, Colin & Kathleen Ray, have announced a touring and recording band, pulling three extremely talented young artists into a new single unit.
The Rays, husband and wife, met studying bluegrass music in college at ETSU, both excelling as student vocalists and pickers. While Colin was touring with Jeff Parker, Kathleen was playing as part of the Burnett Sisters Band with her three younger siblings. Now working together as a duet partners, they have enticed a trio of strong fellow artists to band with them into this new group.
Colin is on mandolin and Kathleen guitar, along with Aynsley Porchak on fiddle, Justin Alexander of banjo, and Max Etling on bass. These will be familiar names to anyone who follows bluegrass music closely, as they have all been involved with news-making acts in recent years.
Aynsley has been turning heads since she moved to east Tennessee from her native Ontario to study at ETSU several years back. Her stints with Carolina Blue and The Tennessee Bluegrass Band demonstrated her ample skills playing vintage-style bluegrass fiddle, not to mention her sizable accomplishment of winning the Grand Masters Fiddlers Championship in both the US and Canada.
Colin says that he and Katherine are very happy to have her aboard.
“Aynsley has spent years on the road with many top notch bluegrass outfits, has won numerous awards in the fiddle world, and we are honored to have the opportunity to make music with her when she’s able to step away from her day jobs at ETSU and Mountain Home Music. She is a great person committed to her craft, and brings out the best musicianship in those around her.”
Max came to prominence spending several years on bass with Seth Mulder & Midnight Run, appearing on three of their albums.
The Rays have known Etling for some time as well.
“I believe you would be hard pressed to find a musician in this generation as professional and musically solid as Max. As with Aynsley, we had the opportunity to play with Max for many years as a student at East Tennessee State University, and are convinced he is one of the best bassists around in our generation. When not working as an instructor for the university, or with his project, The Bays Mountain Cut Ups, Max will be playing bass with us – and we are thrilled.”
Justin Alexander is another player Colin and Kathleen know well, a multi-instrumentalist with a knack for bluegrass.
“There are few in the business right now harder working and consistently in demand than Justin. Whether in the classroom working on his masters at MTSU in audio engineering, or on the road with Amanda Cook, Justin is always working to improve personally and professionally. When Kathleen and I were with the Burnett Sisters Band, Justin was always our go to banjo player. He is creative, unique and tasteful in everything that he plays – in many ways, like Max, giving each song what it needs. We also met at ETSU. Justin is NOT giving up his position with the Amanda Cook band, but has generously agreed to pull double duty and we are appreciative.”
They put together this live video to serve as an introduction to the new group, but with Colton Powers on banjo.
This should be a good’n!
Keep an eye on the official Colin & Kathleen Ray web site for tour dates and show details.
