Ray Goren might only be 17 years old, but he’s already lived the sort of life a musician three or four times his age could only dream of.
A child prodigy who was playing Thelonious Monk and J.J. Johnson tunes on keyboard by the age of five, he picked up the guitar at eight and has since shared stages with everyone from B.B. King to Buddy Guy to the Doors’ Robby Krieger, as well as written and recorded songs in the studio with Leon Russell. He’s released several EPs of original material, and has now issued his full-length debut effort.
Titled simply Me, the 11-song collection highlights Goren’s deep, soulful vocals as much as his spectacular six-string work. Additionally, it displays his diversity as a songwriter, updating classic rock and blues sounds for the 21st century by mixing them with elements of modern pop, r&b, hip-hop and electronic music (what’s more, Goren also played every instrument on the record himself). The result is a captivating and wholly engaging debut that will satisfy fans of solid songwriting and singalong hooks as much as those who love shit-hot guitar pyrotechnics.
Here, Goren talks to Guitar World about his path to creating Me.
You named the album Me, which would seem to be pretty indicative of the subject matter.
This is really the first album where I’m writing songs from the first-person experience. Because, you know, I’ve gotten older and life’s been happening! [laughs] So it’s one of those things where it’s a very real record. And yeah, that’s why I called it Me, because it’s what I’ve been going through the past year and a half in song. Some of the songs are perfectly summarized bodies