(Weaving Together Music And Art) Gray was born and raised
in (Snake Hollow) Paint Rock, Tennessee. In this place he
developed a sense of curiosity, discovery and imagination
which he still pursues through his art and music. His work is
rich in southern imagery, for example, from his song Brushy
Mountain, Gray painted a convict, transformed into a
blackbird, flying away from the remote East Tennessee
prison with the lyrics of the murder ballad written across the
sky. Like all of Gray's work, it is rendered in acrylic
house-paint -- in this case on the side piece of an old
church pew. Gray's art has been featured in the Oxford
American and Time Magazine. Also, The Complete Hank
Williams boxed CD set, featuring Gray's art, won a Grammy
Award for design. His newest music and art is evocative of
his childhood in Paint Rock, Tennessee near the Smokey
Mountains where he was reared by his grandparents on a
small farm. "From an artistic point of view, I'm glad I went
through that,"said Gray,describing an anachronistic
life-style as a child where he and his family had no plumbing
or running water. His recent paintings are of blackbirds,
mules, and men cutting wood or curing tobacco, often with
lyrics of his songs superimposed on the image. "Sometimes
I'll paint a memory and write out what I remember from it,"
explained Gray. "You could call this 'folk tales or songs
mixed with painting'." Gray's work is popular among
Nashville musicians, but it has shown as far away as SoHo,
New York and as nearby as the Tennessee State Museum in
Nashville and the Country Music Hall Of Fame.
_____________________________________________________________
_________ Gallery Location: (The Center For Southern
Folklore) Memphis,Tennessee 119 South Main Street
Tele:901.525.3655
in (Snake Hollow) Paint Rock, Tennessee. In this place he
developed a sense of curiosity, discovery and imagination
which he still pursues through his art and music. His work is
rich in southern imagery, for example, from his song Brushy
Mountain, Gray painted a convict, transformed into a
blackbird, flying away from the remote East Tennessee
prison with the lyrics of the murder ballad written across the
sky. Like all of Gray's work, it is rendered in acrylic
house-paint -- in this case on the side piece of an old
church pew. Gray's art has been featured in the Oxford
American and Time Magazine. Also, The Complete Hank
Williams boxed CD set, featuring Gray's art, won a Grammy
Award for design. His newest music and art is evocative of
his childhood in Paint Rock, Tennessee near the Smokey
Mountains where he was reared by his grandparents on a
small farm. "From an artistic point of view, I'm glad I went
through that,"said Gray,describing an anachronistic
life-style as a child where he and his family had no plumbing
or running water. His recent paintings are of blackbirds,
mules, and men cutting wood or curing tobacco, often with
lyrics of his songs superimposed on the image. "Sometimes
I'll paint a memory and write out what I remember from it,"
explained Gray. "You could call this 'folk tales or songs
mixed with painting'." Gray's work is popular among
Nashville musicians, but it has shown as far away as SoHo,
New York and as nearby as the Tennessee State Museum in
Nashville and the Country Music Hall Of Fame.
_____________________________________________________________
_________ Gallery Location: (The Center For Southern
Folklore) Memphis,Tennessee 119 South Main Street
Tele:901.525.3655
GRAYART
PAINTING THE BLUES (From Juke Joints To Sunday
Service)
Gray continues creating work rich in southern
imagery. His new series "Painting The Blues" is a
beautifully soulful look into a 3-dimensional world of
Church House stained glass colors and rustic
self-taught _expression. His is a fresh look into the
past, taking things old and forgotten, and breathing
the visual color of life back into what seems a fading
memory of southern culture. Gray's work is like finding
an old photo of your great grandmother long since lost
and forgotten. Once you've found it and reconnected
yourself to your own past, you treat it like a treasure to
be handed down to the next generation, so that they,
too, can know and have a connection to their own past
history.
Service)
Gray continues creating work rich in southern
imagery. His new series "Painting The Blues" is a
beautifully soulful look into a 3-dimensional world of
Church House stained glass colors and rustic
self-taught _expression. His is a fresh look into the
past, taking things old and forgotten, and breathing
the visual color of life back into what seems a fading
memory of southern culture. Gray's work is like finding
an old photo of your great grandmother long since lost
and forgotten. Once you've found it and reconnected
yourself to your own past, you treat it like a treasure to
be handed down to the next generation, so that they,
too, can know and have a connection to their own past
history.
Please check out our friends websites on our LINKS page. If you have any comments or questions, please EMAIL US.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
ALL THE MUSIC AND ARTWORK ON THIS WEBSITE IS DISPLAYED UNDER A
CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSE
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
ALL THE MUSIC AND ARTWORK ON THIS WEBSITE IS DISPLAYED UNDER A
CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSE
 |  |  |  |  |