song from the early 90s; video a little later on. big up to jim haverkamp and foggynotionfilms.net.
ed gray - power of christ
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"Ed's songs are great, often masked by his weirdness/outsider art thing..." - crockonline.com
live at the hidden bird house, minneapolis, mn january 13, 2007. thanks to barfweasel.
live at 42 comstock, new brunswick, nj
november 11, 2006. thanks to 01001011.......
reviews of the late gray ed great
At a point in time when there are so many pretentious and phony singer/songwriters on the planet...the music of Ed Gray comes across as a cool and sincere blast of fresh air. Based in Iowa City, Iowa, Mr. Gray obviously writes and records first and foremost as an emotional outlet. His songs are direct and personal...notably void of the wealth of overdubs and effects that normally trash the sound of many modern artists' work. Ed's music incorporates elements of folk, Americana, and soft pop. The vocals and instruments are particularly appealing because of the slight flaws that seem to have been purposely left in these tracks... thereby giving the album an impressively warm and inviting sound. In a world where most everything seems to fit neatly into categories...this CD stands out because of the intent behind the music. Top picks: "Baby Bird," "You Have Me at a Disadvantage, Sir," "The Brambling Broad Side." (Rating: 5) - babysue.com.
When an artist resists the need for speed, a certain vulnerability emerges; one that can't get away. Ed Gray's music is stark, dark, and lo-fi. Were it to simply whiz by you might say punk. But in its restraint it borders on symphonic. On his new CD, The Late Gray Ed Great, this Iowa City songwriter sounds relatively alone even while surrounded by strings and various instruments that flirt slightly with dissonance. Come to think of it, so does his voice. It's odd and lonely and haunting. - Frank De Blase, Rochester City News.
The preponderance of home recording in the 1990s opened a window to a whole world of low fidelity--a hissy wonderland of broken hearts and lost causes. A decade later, many of these artists have matured like fine wine, blossoming into something far greater than a homebody with an acoustic guitar and a Tascam four-track. The latest addition to this canon is Ed Gray's The Late Gray Ed Great. You may not be able to say it five times fast, but the Iowa City troubadour has crafted an intimate, warm little album that reinforces how far these cats have come. The list of players on the album reads like a Who's Who for people interested in Gray's scene. Fellow gloomy singer-songwriter Simon Joyner; Bright Eyes sidemen Alex McManus and Tiffany Kowalski; and Sing, Eunuchs! Records' Chris Deden round out Gray's supergroup of a backing band. And they do an admirable job of fleshing out the skeletons of Gray's songs. The tunes are all finely structured and uniformly strong. Gray has taken the raw materials of a century of recorded folk, country, and rock and built a structure as solid as a log cabin. Take "Drink," for example. You can hear echoes of the Neil Young of yore stripped down to a wandering, reverb-drenched guitar line, building to a shambling full band reminiscent of the Band. It's a joy to hear folk make such a racket. So much Americana ends up sounding like the yuppie fodder WCBE plays during the day--a sanitized, white-washed take on our cultural heritage that's about as close to the heart of America as Ronald McDonald's creepy smile. Instead, Ed Gray has a pedal steel plucking out a plaintive melody over top of a chugging guitar that's spitting out feedback as it grinds to its close like does in "The Brambling Broad Side." The formula isn't exactly rocket science, and you wonder why there aren't a hundred bands in every town that sound like Ed Gray. Until then, the market is his. And as far as The Late Gray Ed Great goes, he's earned it. - Rick Allen, The Other Paper (Columbus).
In Iowa City, the guy frying your eggs is working on a dissertation, and the guy next to you at the coffee shop discovers new elementary particles. Perhaps Iowa City's most unlikely genius is Ed Gray, grizzled guy who you might see opening a show at a local club with nothing more than a nylon-string guitar and a voice that ranges from an intimate baritone to the bellowing of a drunk shouting across a crowded bar. He put out a CD in 1998 on Super Kick Ass Music, and plays out from time to time, but his tendency to go from a slow dreamy country song into five minutes of howling feedback hasn't garnered him a huge following locally. The first time I saw him perform, he played a set so raw and shambling that it felt a little like listening to a homeless guy ranting on a street corner. It was great, but great in a way that seemed almost calculated to puzzle and repel an audience looking for comfortable folk music. The Late Gray Ed Great is a CD that finally brings Ed's scary talents as a songwriter into sharp focus...The craft Gray expends on his songs is as extravagant as it is unassuming, managing to sound conversational and dashed off, but so perfectly formed that they can't be as artless as they sound. Ed's singing and guitar playing are of a piece, sometimes delicate, sometimes unruly and wild, but always with an artless directness. Ed's art grows out of a paradox: When he plays nice, he's as good as anyone else, but when he reels out of control, he's great. He has a way of sounding positively broken that carries more emotional truth than conventional performers dare to show. Ed recorded this album last year with an all-star cast of Omaha musicians, including Simon Joyner, Tiffany Kowalski, Alex McManus and Chris Deden. Their additions, particularly the violin and pedal steel guitar [Friedman!], are spot on, enhancing without overshadowing Ed's playing and singing. The Late Gray Ed Great makes it finally clear that Ed Gray is one of the best songwriters in Iowa, and if you'll forgive me a Leonard Maltin corny finish: Better late than never. - Kent Williams, Little Village (Iowa City).
latest release, the late gray ed great, available now for $13 ppd.
through Paypal.
iTunes now has the late gray ed great for sale. click here to open itunes and go directly to my page in their music store.
If you are not comfortable with conducting an online transaction, for whatever reason, and you live in the
following cities, you may be able to purchase this and other fine Ed Gray and Ed Gray Brand titles from the following vendors: Iowa City, IA (Record Collector, Rusty Records, Real Records), Quad-Cities, IA and IL, (Davenport Borders, Iconoclast/mixtape, Co-op Records), Omaha, NE (Antiquarium), Austin, TX (End of an Ear).
edited with Thomas' Myspace Editor V4.4
"But we need some definite answers
So I thought I would write you a poem"
(realplayer required)corn bread when i'm hungry.
It was so good seeing you at the show on Saturday. Ever since I moved to KCMO, I've been missing you. The lack of live Ed Gray has caused me to wear my prized E.G. Vinyl collection....
I hope you enjoyed our new stuff. I sent Sam our new album with instructions to share it with you and Grace, make sure he does so.
xo, Greg W.
PS- If you are ever in KC, you are welcome to stay with me.
Hey, you old bastard, I haven't seen you in a pig's age. We should get out and about with one another some time soon. And when the weather permits, we will be grilling various meats, so you should come over and eat some of them. Namaste.
As you may or may not already know, in January of 2009, I am embarking on a two month tour with a friend, Al, of the project My Cell Phone Is Better Than Your Cell Phone (http://www.myspace.com/mycellphoneisbetter). This tour will span the entire length of the United States. We are travelling by Greyhound busline. It will begin January 8th in New York and end March 3rd in Michigan. I was going to wait until the entire schedule was completely done, but as people have been procrastinating, I figured now is as good a time as any. The majority of these shows are free, but as we do not have complete control over such things all of the time, specific shows are charged at the door, though they are very few. Regardless, any donations along the way are more than appreciated, as we are doing this completely independently and out of our pockets. We will be busking at various points on the tour, recording all over the place, and have many things for purchase, to help us eat along the way.
You can read much more detailed information, including that of merchandise and many other things, in the top Blog here http://blog.myspace.com/bicyclesighs Please check there, to see if we are coming to a city/state/theatre near you.
I apologise if you already full well know about this tour, or if you aren’t in the United States, as this is a mass comment. Come out to a show, have fun, mope around, get intoxicated and take off your clothes while running into a snow drift. Whatever floats your Winnebago. If you can’t come out to a show, make sure every person you know comes to a show. We might forgive you then. If not, expect a three AM house visit. Thank you.
Well I'm jealous -- yr playing a show with Roommate -- I thought WE were your favorite Chicago band ... anyhow, I hope you are well, and hope to see you in either Chicago or IC soon. Yrs, KH
"Sir Edward Grey. British occult detective. Special agent to Queen Victoria...Rumor has it they had a falling out over her decision to suppress the identity of Jack the Ripper. Eventually he moved to America and disappeared in Chicago in, I think...1916."
