Jim Bray. I do all the music Guitar, Bass, Drums, Keyboard, and vocals myself. The only thing I don't do is any orchestra sound. That is generated. Everything else is me.
The recording is done in my home studio. I am learning how to use it properly and still in need of a new condenser microphone. The sound from the mike I have is somewhat distorted.
Influences
U2, The Police, Bowling for Soup, Genesis, Pink Floyd, Johnny Cash, Def Leppard, One Bad Pig, Linkin Park, Creed, Billy Idol, Elvis, Charley Pride, Nickle Back, Chevelle, Sting, Maroon 5, I like just about everything and too many to mention.
Sounds Like
Everyone says different things about my sound. Some say 80's some say I'm a balladeer I like to think that it's different from everyone else out there.
Jim was born in Knoxville, Tennessee as Rodney Bray . He found a love for music from the age of 6 when he first performed in a local church. His mother taught him to play the guitar when he was 8 years old. He continued playing and writing music throughout his childhood.
Jim joined various bands in high school including the marching band. He played various instruments in the high school band. He continued playing music after high school with bands and solo performances in the late 80's. Jim had a love for singing but had a nasal sounding voice that he could not change.
Jim decided to give up music entirely when he joined the Army in the early 90's. He received the nickname Jim during basic training in the Army. One of his drill sergeants decided to name him "Hillbilly Jim" and the name stuck with his friends.
While in the Army, Jim had reconstructive surgery to his nose. The surgery fixed his singing voice, but he had already given up music and had no intention of ever performing again.
The Army told Jim that he would see the world, but all he ever saw was Texas. He was stationed at Fort Bliss, Fort Sam Houston, and Fort Hood. While stationed at Fort Hood, Jim was one of the medics that responded to the Killeen Massacre at Luby's Cafeteria on Oct. 16, 1991. Jim said that he will never be able to forget those images while on that scene.
Jim was honorably discharged from the Army in 1994 in Washington, DC and moved to Texas. He lived in Texas for some time and moved back to Northern Virginia/DC in 1996.
Jim started to use music as a tool to work out emotional issues that he had experienced during his life after some personal issues surfased in 2003. He started recording his music and released the Scars Sampler in 2004.
Jim experienced divorce and the house fire that consumed his first studio in Virginia in 2005. He decided for a change of scenery and moved to California in July of 2005. He met many interesting people in California and developed some new friendships with people in the entertainment industry and is currently working on a film project.
Jim decided that he needed to be among life long friends after a loss in his life and is now living in Virginia. The loss actually turned out to be a very positive thing for Jim as he has written many new songs and has grown through that loss onto a new and much better path in his life journey. Jim says that this new path has led him much further in life than he ever would have grown emotionally without making that move to California. He has opened his eyes to many new and exciting possibilities that were never available to him previously.
Life, he says, is still a challenge every day. But now I look at it as a journey and an amazing adventure instead of being on an unguided ship in a storm.
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Hey Jim Bray!
I think you are one of my HOTTEST FRIENDS, so I nominated you for my Hot Friends list. But are you really HOT enough to be on Hotties for Sale? Find out!
This comment was sent by your friend via the Hotties For Sale! app. To block this app and all communications from it, click Here.
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Hey Jim Bray!
I think you are one of my HOTTEST FRIENDS, so I nominated you for my Hot Friends list. But are you really HOT enough to be on Hotties for Sale? Find out!
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