1st Prague gig for the Trio

Tue, 08 May 2012 22:00:00 +0000

thanks to our friends in Charlie Straight, we have the chance to play to an expectant crowd in one of Prague's best known clubs. Albert and co. will build on the intimate atmosphere we set up as the support band with their awesome show of light, sound and energy. Personally, I haven't seen these guys live for more than a year, so I'm excited to hear the new album tracks performed. And, if the Music Gods allow us, we will be taking them back to Berlin with us to play together again in Autumn 2012.

Ray Gibson @ Akropolis (supporting Charlie Straight) in Prague, Czech Republic

Wednesday, May 16, 2012 at 7:30pm

First Album Mixes !

Thu, 13 Oct 2011 08:40:00 +0000

The 3 album singles - Modern Earth, Red Ribbon and Supersonic Morning - have just been mixed with Producer Tom Krimi.

Adding all the live instruments made a huge difference to the mix, replacing all the plug-ins used in the demos. Many thanks go to: Mr Hirata - French Horn / Helen Bauerfeld - Violin / Martin Knoerzer - Cello / Alex Cool - Double Bass / Ingo keymaster - Harpsichord / Steffen - Trumpet / Jan - Clarinet Michael Weilacher - Percussion...

The media player has just been updated on reverbnation and the hompage here to include these new mixes - if publishers or others from the music bizz would like to download the full WAV files, they just have to send an email for a password request to ritchie@redrock-management.de

About the songs:

Modern Earth is the first single and the first track of the album. The lyrics are a melancholy tale of disatisfaction with the status of things. They were written at Ray's lowest point in 2010, with no cash, ill health and few prospects while the world seemed to be advancing into more and more war fronts all over the place and the full effects of the economic crash of 2008 were beginning to show. The melotrome is a characteristic sound in this recording, with pizzicato cello, and French horns joining the last screaming choruses. Work has just begun on the video shoot in Berlin, with Director Pedro Malacas...

Red Ribbon takes these themes to a fictional setting - a couple falling in love just before World War II starts. We follow the main character - a gardener - from home, across the landing beaches and into muddy and cold Western Europe as the war begins to rage. His only grip on reality and hope is the memory of his girl back home, and the ribbon she wore in her hair when they first met. In recording, the guitar was gradually replaced by a chamber orchestral arrangement, with cello playing the second voice on the track. Live harpsichord sets the pace and rhythm of the song, and also put the sound of the production nicely in the past...

At the end of the album, Supersonic Morning is a reward for listening to some quite tough stories already. It is about waking up dead, in space :) with your favorite rock stars - Elvis, George Harrison and John Lennon. It is a pure celebration of life, the Universe and everything. This track includes a lot of loud instruments and big marching band bass drums, the moog voyager, a victory trumpet and a full choir of freinds for the last choruses. No compromises were made in production , and no consideration taken of how the track should be played LIVE. This song has been tried and tested in concerts already as a live trio of percussion, guitar and vocal and glock... everyone always joined in to clap along to the choruses:

"Find me out on an asteroid performing, Talking whalebirds and clapping shiny hands (clap, clap!), I am born on a Supersonic Morning, Tonight, I stand !!!".

About Ray and the album

Ray Gibson is releasing his debut album, "Fishing Muddy Puddles". Recorded with Producer Tom Krimi in Berlin, the rest of the album is being mixed and mastered now and will be ready to share with media partners in December 2011.
Ray's songs stand on their lyrics, and his unique voice. Described equally as a tenor and as a baritone, Ray's vocal range and warmth delivers his songs to your head and heart. His melodies are catchy, but no-one would describe this music as pop. His guitar work is intimate, but not always slow or quiet!
Ray is a professional artist. Born in the UK, he relocated to Prague in 1999 and then to his new home in Berlin in 2009 where he writes music and paints.
He plays LIVE alone with guitar, and also as a 3-piece band with cello and percussion/drums.

raygibson.webs.com

www.facebook.com/raygibsonthesingingpainter

Thanks to Martin Kn�rzer on Cello

Wed, 31 Aug 2011 07:20:00 +0000

Roger Waters once said that the ony test of music, is whether it moves you.

i have been humbled over the past couple of days as Martin Knörzer (pictured here) laid out his cello parts on Red Ribbon, Modern Earth, Wake the Others, Fishing Muddy Puddles and Grief. All at once, years of patient practice with his instrument combined with his committment to delivering the mood of the song and lyrics... It was deeply moving. I can't wait to share all this...

Thank-you Martin.

Ray

Invitation to Film-makers/Animators for Music Video

Tue, 23 Aug 2011 07:10:00 +0000

Ray Gibson - The Singing Painter - is inviting video artists to submit applications to write and Direct a music video for an upcoming album this year. The music video will be approx 3:30 of footage.

The music video will be released and promoted in Germany and the UK. Artists will not be paid for creating the music video - it is expected that a film-maker will create a short film they can send to film festivals and use to promote their own work, from which the music video will be cut. Joint rights to the film and music video also create a chance to have their project and ideas promoted by Ray's record label across Europe and beyond. The song is called Supersonic Morning, and the demo recording can be heard here with lyrics:

http://www.reverbnation.com/raygibson

Ray is mostly interested in ideas involving animation. The video should include the singer, Ray Gibson, in some way... but all ideas are welcome as long as they represent the mood of the song, and are attractive enough for MTV, Viva, ZDF, BBC etc...

Application should include:

• a 2-page description of your idea for the music video and short film

• expected completion time

• full name and address of the applicant

• description of any other team members

• samples or links to completed previous film/video projects

Applications should be sent to: rayandtheroads@googlemail.com

Deadline for submissions: 9th September 2011

A shortlist of 3 applicants will be invited to present their idea in more detail.

All applicants will receive feedback on their application by 30th September 2011.

There is no fee for submitting an application.

Good luck!

Ray Gibson - The Singing Painter

Rough Mixes !

Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:55:00 +0000

RayGibson is now on Reverb Nation... so you have the first chance to here some rough mixes from the upcoming album "Fishing Muddy Puddles" here...

http://www.reverbnation.com/raygibson

Ray has also teamed up with Red Rock Management to plan promotion and tour of Germany in Feb-March 2012. Watch this space.

Rock for People!

Fri, 08 Jul 2011 20:05:00 +0000

THE ROADS played the prestigious Rock for People 2011 festival in Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic, playing to a packed aircraft hanger... chedk out this live video from one of our fans from Hradec.

Ceska Lipa, Klub Progres

Wed, 01 Jun 2011 16:30:00 +0000

Thanks to Simon Jelinek and to Ondrej Homola for joining me on stage for the 2nd half of this show, including this song, "Out of Reach", written by Simon, which has never been released by THE ROADS, but sometimes heard in our acoustic shows.

Luckily, someone in the audience captured this song on video (Thank you Tomas Urban!)

the song is about the respect astronauts build for the Earth as they look back at our planet from space...

lyrics:

Autumn leaves cover ground

Sun and air fade to brown

Winter winds that blow through

Feeding land with rain and snow

...

Fell in love for the first time, saw the earth out of reach

No one knows why we go on, burning gifts beneath our feet

...

Spring clouds, calmer seas

Whales come up to breathe

Painting summer sun in corners

Children come to warn us

...

Fell in love for the first time, saw the earth out of reach

No one knows why we go on, burning gifts beneath our feet

...

If you had a house, would you burn it down?

Would you let your home, fall to the ground?

You wouldn't, because you care

You wouldn't, no you wouldn't dare

no you wouldn't dare

no you wouldn't dare...

...

Fell in love for the first time, saw the earth out of reach

No one knows why we go on, burning gifts beneath our feet

portrait series

Tue, 17 May 2011 20:47:00 +0000

I am kicking off a new portraits series with this one of the Dalai Lama... "The Dalai Lama in Exile"

...almost ready for framing.

It's is done in chalk (of course :)) and will be followed by other inspiring and popular figures.

I did not realise at the time, this is also a pretty good picture of my bent and crooked hands!

Coming next... Guy Garvey, lead singer of my favorite band these-days, Elbow.

CZ article: THE ROADS in Lucerna Music Bar

Fri, 04 Feb 2011 12:12:00 +0000

The Roads navštívili Lucerna Music Bar. Ray Gibson téměř skákal z pódia

4. Únor 2011, 13:00

Ve čtvrtek 3. února se do Lucerna Music Baru přišli podívat fanoušci pop-rockové muziky v podání stále oblíbenější česko-britské kapely The Roads. I když to tak nejprve nevypadalo, Lucerna Music Bar se celkem slušně zaplnil.

Foto: Eva Makovská, Topzine.czThe Roads

Do klubu jsme se dostali v osm hodin večer. Dole nebylo zrovna narváno k prasknutí, ale postupně se to měnilo tak, že už v devět hodin bylo až nepříjemně zadýcháno a ti, kteří neodhodili své svršky v šatně, se pomalu ale jistě svlékali.

Apathea v roli předskokanů – to byl skvělý tah. I když ne všechny skladby byly dokonalé, sklidili kluci celkem slušné ovace. Určitě bych rád vyzdvihl především výkony kytaristy a bubeníka. Sebastian a Kristián patřili k tomu lepšímu, co jsme mohli slyšet od devíti do desíti hodin.

Kolem půl desáté se do Apathey začali vměšovat i chlapíci z The Roads. Nejprve Ray Gibson vypomáhal se zpěvem a poté Ondra Homola pokřtil nové CD kapely Apathea, které pak hodil do davu s tím, že ti fanoušci, kteří skandovali nejvíce, si CD určitě raději koupí. Proto desku chytala méně hlučná část Lucerna Music Baru.

Konečně se na pódium dostala celá sestava, říkající si The Roads. První skladba Myriad Sounds rozehřála i právě dorazivší opozdilce. Ondra Homola tradičně bavil lidi pod pódiem svým poskakováním v parádně nažehleném kvádru a s motýlem pod krkem tak velkým, že kdyby začal mávat svými křídly, tak unese i samotného Ondru.

Ray Gibson nabádal všechny přítomné ke zpěvu, tleskání, tanci a dokonce se našlo pár natěšenců, včetně mě, kteří doladili atmosféru zapalovači nad hlavou. Jak se shodne spousta lidí, Ray je tahák pro fanynky každým coulem. Jeho upravená tvářička s perfektně načesanými vlasy dostane i leckterého fanouška mužského pohlaví, co teprve přítomné slečny a dámy?

Zřejmě nejsilnější zážitek si všichni přítomní odnášeli ze skladby Hypoxia, při které Ray téměř skákal do rozbouřeného davu. Po pódiu přitom naběhal úctyhodný počet kilometrů, aniž by to bylo znát na jeho hlasovém projevu. Skvěle se také ve čtvrtek večer jevil Šimon Jelínek, který zpěvem doplňoval snad každý song, který zazněl.

V závěru vystoupení pozval Ray na pódium i dvě přítomné slečny, které si mohly s kapelou zazpívat. Hodina a půl ale utekla jako voda a The Roads se po povinném přídavku loučili s Prahou.

Poslední korálek s názvem Lus 3 si mohli fanoušci navléknout až nakonec velmi příjemného večera a po půlnoci se vesele proklouzat zledovatělými ulicemi ke svým domovům.

http://www.topzine.cz/the-roads-navstivili-lucerna-music-bar-ray-gibson-temer-skakal-z-podia/

John Frusciante, on music...

Wed, 12 Jan 2011 21:49:00 +0000

I love this clip... no bells or flashy production, just a great musician talking abouth his craft