Cray Rail Music

What's In a Name?

In the 1990s before the phrase “cray cray” meant crazy, I couldn’t tell you why I didn’t like my new moniker, but I didn’t. Maybe because it was so different and uncommon sounding. But the way these things work, it didn’t matter if I liked it or not, because in time, it would become a part of my core identity as a musician.

The definition of “cray cray,” according to Google/Oxford Languages

My brothers and sisters had easily nickname-able names that rhymed with that “ay” sound but mine didn’t. Since my real name is Christian my siblings started to call me Cray. As the oldest of four, I took my share of friendly ribbing. As much as I didn’t like my nickname, it really stuck after some of my friends from high school started calling me Cray.

The Cray Rail Aesthetic

According to Google Books Ngram Viewer, use of the word “Cray” peaked in 1991 which I find intriguing that it’s around the same time my family coined it for me.

Much later, as a twenty-something (and then thirty-something) I had firmly established myself as a folk and blues enthusiast, singer and songwriter in various places from Philadelphia, all parts of New Jersey – my home state, and in New York City. 

With my affinity for hard rock and blues and folk guitar styles, it made sense to keep the nickname my family gave me. I then began associating it with the great blues man Robert Cray whom I didn’t know much about in 1991  as a wee lad.  I later delved into his extensive catalog and found it truly inspiring. 

If you are not already acquainted with Robert Cray, his music is worth your time and I’m honored people sometimes think of his name when they hear mine, as I too play blues in my repertoire. I also found that as of this writing (March 2024) he has sold out shows in both Paradiso in Amsterdam, Netherlands and at Hunzigen Mill in Bern, Switzerland. God bless European music fans! Just one more reason Robert Cray is an inspiration to me and to the adoption of his last name as my first.

To a lesser extent the existence of a 1990 gangster film about the real life violent twins called The Krays made me think this new name I was given was kinda tough. (Although I don’t want to be associated with any of the wild grisly acts in the movie!) It was simply the same name coming at me from a different direction, telling me that maybe I should actually keep it.

Cray supercomputers anticipated both the internet and AI and the company, founded by Seymore Cray the “father of the supercomputer” in 1972 (a few years before I was born), was another reference I drew on to help me fit my nickname turned nom-de-guerre into something … intellectual and high end. In other words, hey I’m smart, and this guy was smart too and so maybe I could get into this strange name.

A Brief History of Cray Rail

As this is my inaugural post I want to impress on you that I have been playing blues, folk and rock (and variations between them) with my earliest home recordings dating to 1995 and 1996 – directly after I graduated high school.

Most of these recordings were home-made on a hand-me-down two tape deck portable radio, which as it turns out is a pretty well made device that still works today. [Need a picture.] None of this would have happened without this tape recorder I got from my uncle with its built-in condenser mic. The recordings are the lowest of lo-fi, but they represent my earliest recordings and, to date, my most numerous recordings.

Tape hiss and the sound of the rolling tape were captured beautifully on this condenser. On top of that has been my voice and that of my family, my guitar, various bands, occasionally radio broadcasts that I preserved. 

I really liked making amateur tape recordings. In some weird way I knew I was making historical documents about my life and my personal art, because it ended up being shared with so few people back then. I had very little access to capital or anyone in the recording industry, but I could buy or sometimes repurpose as many tapes as I wanted to continually record my songs and other experiences.

I have no doubt that when I made these tape recordings I was influenced by the example of Daniel Johnston, only without the mental health issues he had. Although it’s possible those issues were what made him so bold as to share his tapes with the public, eventually Curt Kobain would be a fan. 

I found out about Daniel Johnston through WXPN Radio out of the University of Pennsylvania and they played a rather disgustingly named record called Dead Dog’s Eyeball by Kathy McCarty which I bought in 1996 and have that until this day. The record isn’t like it’s name except in it’s raw, gritty and stripped down realness and Kathy McCarty has such a better voice than Johnston had. She does these songs real justice and I was convinced my songs might one day be covered in the same way.

Over the years I’ve hit “record” on my Sound Design tape deck for the occasional gig (not as many as I should have) and a whole lot of band practices and solo explorations. 

It feels like these old tapes were made a lifetime ago now, but here I am still singing songs like Bob Dylan and playing solos like my guitar hero, Freddie King, whom I was happy to write about for my Master’s thesis. Download that here if you are interested.

The Meaning of Cray Rail

Somewhere in 2005 I penned these two lines to help connect my nickname to my stage name and thus my music:

Cray like the fish down in the muddy delta The home of the blues, the restless soul blues

I don’t remember exactly when I made up the “Rail” part except that it was between 2005 or 2006 when I became a complete solo artist on my own without any other family members. 

I’ve also recorded acoustic versions of a song I call the Crayfish Blues which is a reworking of Muddy Waters’ Catfish Blues (also borrowed by Jimmy Hendrix.) 

The opening lines, “Lord I wish I was a Crayfish swimmin’ in the deep blue sea…” add to the already bluesy undertones of my name. My old tagline was Cray Rail: Blues Folk Revolt. All of these are true as I focus on the roots of rock. All good rock and roll in my mind starts with these basic building blocks.

At live shows or when I was introducing myself at coffee houses I used to explain how to the audience understand my name (and sometimes still do): “Cray like the fish, Rail like railroad.” Hobos, tramps and poor boys a long way from home, these are people I have always identified with.  

The beginning and middle parts of my career have been primarily as a solo artist with an acoustic guitar. 

Now I’m forming my own band and working to create more recordings for my fans.

If you hang out on this website for a while and listen to some of my recordings on YouTube and Spotify and Apple Music, we can get to know each other that way. I also will have high quality merch available for affordable prices.

The Cray Necessities

The value I bring to you, dear reader/listener, is the feeling you get when you remember good times and a cold brew, only without having to drink. I write my share of love songs, as everyone does, but I also write songs about the news of the day, the good and the bad. I have songs of faith and encouragement and songs that are intended to make you laugh and more than a few anthems that could fill you with hope or make you angry about injustice. 

These are times when we need artists who engage with real life. Escapism is available everywhere. Music has a special advantage in communicating important truths that are hardly recognized elsewhere. I see this as part of my calling, if you’ve heard Say What You Feel, or one of my other songs, you might agree.

For me engaging the audience’s full range of awareness is critical. I strive to approach your ears with blues and occasionally aggressive solos while peeling back layers of meaning with my words. All my favorite artists did the same. Like all music, my songs are concentrated emotions, listening to them is like opening a bottle of your choice of feeling, angry, happy, melancholy or hopeful. I’ve got something for every occasion.

The Cray Rail Effect

If you like hard hitting lyrics that call out problems in society, or if you would just like to sit back and hear acoustic guitar finger-picking or some classic covers of rock, folk and blues – you are in the right place.

Sometimes I’m loud, sometimes I’m quiet, but I’m always thinking about how I can write a better song. How can I get through to your heart in the midst of AI “songwriting” and so much fakery going on in the music industry? 

Maybe I’ll sound familiar, or maybe I’ll sound brand new but I’m shooting for both at the same time.

In the world of independent music there are a lot of folk singers, blues lovers and rabble rousers. But there’s only one Cray Rail.

Nice to meet you. 

I hope you come here often to find out about the music I write, record, sell and promote, both mine and that of others who are around me or who influenced me. 

I’d love to hear from you! Please drop me a line at Cray@CrayRail.com to start the conversation or if you’d like me to see me live. 

If you want to learn more about where I will play, what I play and how you too can write songs with hard hitting lyrics, please subscribe