Show Reviews

 

FRANK RAY

Saturday July 2, 2022

@ The Skydeck at Assembly Food Hall in Nashville, TN

(Review by: Jeffrey Kurtis/Photo Credit: Dot Video Design)

In just over a year since first opening its doors, The Skydeck at Assembly Food Hall in the Fifth + Broadway complex in downtown Nashville has quickly become one of Music City’s premier venues and is hands down the place to be to catch top-notch original music in the downtown area.

In the past month alone, such country music staples as Sawyer Brown, Brett Eldredge, and Josh Turner have called this stage home, as well as some of the strongest emerging talent of the genre including Landon Parker, Kylie Frey, MaRynn Taylor, Shy Carter, and on this night…Frank Ray!

The Latin-infused, Broken Bow Records recording artist has recently strode into the Top 40 with “Country’d Look Good On You,” and with an enthusiastic Saturday night crowd who was clearly ready to party with him underneath the beautiful nighttime sky that Nashville provided, Frank hit the stage, bouncing back and forth across it with his leg bouncing in unison to the catchy rhythm as he ignited the night with “Y’all Showed Up” and set in motion the extremely high-energy performance that was about to unravel for the next hour.

After welcoming the party crowd and leading them through a cheerful toast in Spanish, Ray slid into the sexy, Latino tilted vibe of “Tequila Mockingbird,” during which he led a sing along that saw the crowd aptly responding as directed, echoing their voices with that of Frank’s.

“I was a police officer for 10 years in New Mexico before doing this (country music),” Ray shared as he invited the crowd into a piece of his background. “I’m from Las Cruces and we’re gonna take you out to the Southwest where I’m from with this next song,” he finished as the high-octane energy kept rolling with “We Got ‘Em,” during which the crowd danced and jumped along in perfect pace with the melody.

“If you can believe this, we actually just rolled up from playing the Grand Ole Opry earlier tonight to play down here on Broadway at the Skydeck,” Frank said to a tremendous ovation from the crowd. “Tonight, was the first time that they asked me to play two songs on the Opry,” he continued, then performing an incredible version of Freddy Fender’s “Before the Next Teardrop Falls,” paying homage to the artist who Ray factually stated, “paved the ways for Mexican’s in the country music genre,” before he rolled right into his groove heavy ode to classic country, “Back Before My Time,” which makes mentions of “Whiskey River,” “Walk the Line,” etc.

“I’m so glad we wrote this next song at 2AM because I have no idea what it would have sounded like at 1PM the next day,” Ray said flashing his signature smile. “This goes out to all y’all who ain’t ever on time for anything,” he finished as delivered the first slower paced song of his set, “Late,” and instantly had the crowd swaying along side to side.

Whereas the set had been mostly high-energy up to this point, the entire dynamic momentarily changed with what I’d argue is one of the strongest ballads I’ve heard in the past decade, “Watching Me.” After dedicating what he told to be a very special song to him to the parents in the crowd, Frank delivered an acoustic rendition of the heart-tugging, show-stopping song as he sung the crowd through all the simple things that mean the most to a dad of a little girl such as getting glitter on his boots, praying for imaginary friends, etc. all while wrapping the lyric into the idea that he has to continue changing for the better because someone is watching him now besides the Good Lord.

After playing back-to-back slower paced songs, Ray then allowed his amazing band to introduce themselves to the crowd when he stepped off stage, giving them the opportunity to bring back the party atmosphere to the Skydeck as they had the crowd bopping along with their rendition of Stevie Wonder’s “Superstitious.”

Not to be outdone by the energy his band just produced, Frank re-emerged on the stage and kept the party rolling with a souped-up version of Tim McGraw’s “Something Like That,” which saw the crowd surge to the front of the stage as he bounced across it - front to back - singing along with the crowd and even getting the staff and security of the venue bopping along with him – no easy task!

“If you’re nursing a broken heart, just know that it’s all gonna be alright,” Ray declared as the band kicked into “Somebody Else’s Whiskey,” a song which has become the obvious fan favorite amongst his crowd as they screamed out the lyrics of the kiss-off chorus so loudly that it radiated down Lower Broadway.

On the subject of Lower Broadway, Frank playfully made reference to labelmate Jason Aldean’s bar that’s located down there when he said with a wave to them, “Aldean’s rooftop bar over there has no idea what they’re missing over here! Let’s get so loud that everyone down on Broadway tonight is thinking what the hell are those Mexican’s doing up there on the Skydeck tonight!” he exclaimed as he launched into “Stereo,” one of his earlier songs that captured the crowd’s attention and had them singing along with “whoa oh’s!”

“My first time out here to Nashville was the first time that I ever co-wrote with other people, and I had no idea how my life was about to change,” Frank gratefully shared. “I was with my friend Jeremy Bussey, and he had this idea about heartache and trying to get over them with drinks, when I said what if it was with a progression of drinks that kept getting stronger?” he foreshadowed as he delivered the extremely powerful, yet catchy “Stronger Than You.”

With some twists and turns through Latino cultured favorites, Frank then slid into the Latin vibe of his “Streetlights,” a song which he boldly stated before playing, “If y’all ain’t dancing during this one, I don’t know what the hell is wrong with you.”

As he had done all night long, he took a moment to be completely humble and wear his gratefulness on his sleeve as he excitedly thanked all the fans for hanging out with him and his band tonight, before praising his entire team – management, tour promoters, and record label – as he played his current smash hit “Country’d Look Good On You” to close out the night.

The first time that we were able to catch a Frank Ray performance was during an acoustic songwriter round and he absolutely delivered during that. However, with the full band dynamic surrounding him, he was able to put on a show that was perfectly delivered from its opening note to its last, and most importantly, it left you wanting more; so much more!

Purely unbridled energy hit hard right out of the gate as he pulled the audience in on the back of several up-tempo numbers in a row. But at just the perfect moments, he not only dropped in a slower paced song, but he gave the crowd those types of slower paced tunes that carry lyrics that strike all the right chords with the hearts of the listener.

Great songs wrapped within an outstanding performance to boot makes Frank Ray a safe bet to throw in the hat of contention as one of country music’s next breakout artists. But it’s his complete humbleness and transparent gratefulness that are the defining factors that will easily move his status up from breakout artist to country music’s next big star.

FULL SET LIST

1) Y’all Showed Up

2) Tequila Mockingbird

3) We Got ‘Em

4) Before the Next Teardrop Falls (Freddy Fender cover)

5) Back Before My Time

6) Late

7) Watching Me

8) Superstitious (Stevie Wonder cover)

9) Something Like That (Tim McGraw cover)

10) Somebody Else’s Whiskey

11) Stereo

12) Stronger Than You

13) Streetlights

14) Country’d Look Good On You

 

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