In Bloom

Brisbane songstress Sue Ray possesses a voice with all the hallmarks of the country greats delivered with a soulful folk sensibility. With an arresting clarity in the upper register and incredible control of the low notes that can so often sound flat and uninviting coming from less skilled practitioners merely attempting an exercise of dynamic, Ray delivered one of the local highlights of 2011, her second album, Red Roses.

“2012 was basically a follow-up year for the release of my album, so I'd planned to just promote it as much as I could,” she explains. “It was quite a good year for getting a few accolades; I won a Q Music award for best Indigenous song for Red Roses, I got nominated for the Grant McLennan Fellowship – I got shortlisted for that – and I also got nominated for best country album for Red Roses in the AIR Awards… So it was basically a year for really putting my nose down and my bum up and dedicating myself to promoting the album, then going to Nashville and promoting it over there and doing some songwriting so that in 2013 I can do a new album – it is time I think.”

Inspired by her September introduction to Nashville provided by a showcase opportunity through Sounds Australia at the Americana Music Festival, Ray wrote four songs in just her first week there, as she soaked up the vibrancy of the music capital.

“We actually got to play at a venue called The Bluebird, which is one of the most iconic venues in Nashville for folk music…” she says of the showcase alongside fellow Aussies Felicity Urquhart and Jordie Lane in the famed venue depicted in River Phoenix's last film, The Thing Called Love. “The audience packed out and they loved the show and we sold some CDs and everybody got really good feedback, so that was my first gig in Nashville and it was awesome.

“My highlights would have been seeing all of my favourite performers for the finale at the AMA [Americana Music Association] Awards sing The Weight by The Band, and that was like Emmylou Harris, Bonnie Raitt, Booker T. Jones, Richard Thompson, John Hiatt and the singer from Alabama Shakes all on stage together… And basically meeting Emmylou Harris in the car park!” she squeals with delight, recalling the moment that one of her biggest idols actually asked her for a CD. “I stood there just about peeing my pants! It was incredible; that was probably one of the most outstanding moments of my life. Like Emmylou Harris, Linda Ronstadt and Dolly Parton are pretty much my three idols; Trio was something I grew up listening to, which is the three of them together, and I do a lot of Emmylou covers so it was such a wow moment. That was pretty cool but seeing Brandi Carlile live I have to say really opened my eyes up; it was a really great show and showed me that what I'm doing is okay, that there is other girls out there – strong female singer/songwriters – that are also doing well.”

Kicking off her new year with a string of festival performances including Woodford, Saltwater Freshwater and Blue Mountains Music Festival, Ray gives one final nod to her 2011 album with the launch of a long-awaited film clip for single, Lover Evermore, at Beetle Bar before she starts fresh next year. “It's gonna be a fun show – [we're] playin' all the loud songs 'cause I figured everyone will be drunk by the end of the night and it's the Beetle Bar and everyone talks, so I thought right, we'll do the big ones!”

Sue Ray will be playing the following dates:

Friday 14 December - Brisbane Powerhouse, Brisbane QLD
Saturday 22 December - West End Night Markets, Brisbane QLD
Friday 28 December - The Joynt, South Brisbane QLD
Friday 28 December - Tuesday 1 January - Woodford Folk Festival, Woodford QLD