Michael Ray at Stoney's Rockin Country

Michael Ray loves a good story. So, it's only natural that when it came time to tell his own, he gravitated to country music. "I feel like in music in general, but especially in country music, the storylines have always been the foundation," he says. "No matter what changes may happen with the sound, I feel like when you listen to a song, no matter what walk of life you come from, you can really lose yourself in that song and put your own story to it." Ray can't remember a time without music. Growing up in Eustis, he was surrounded by several generations of his extended family singing and playing songs. "My grandfather would sit around and teach me and my cousins how to play and sing harmony," Ray recalls with a smile. "He wanted to put a guitar in everybody's hand." Amos eventually formed a family band with Ray's dad called the Country Cousins who played festivals and parties all through central Florida. Which is how Ray found himself steeped in the likes of Ray Price, Merle Haggard, George Jones, Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, and Jeanie Seely and onstage "when I was literally old enough to just be able to stand." At age 10, after beginning to learn guitar, Ray says, "I started playing every Thursday through Sunday with my grandfather in groups he was in. I learned a lot that I didn't know would help me where I'm at now."

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