Francis Ray was born in Italy. His father was a guitarist, he transmitted to him the passion for the six strings During the early nineties Francis met the “Juxâ€, psychedelic and charismatic singer inspired primarily by Mike Patton and Ozzy Osbourne and he formed with him a band called “Acting Funnyâ€. Later on Francis Ray started listening and practicing the blues, his stile was more and more influenced by artists like Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimi Hendrix. The blues became part of Francis’ life and never abandoned him since. Francis plaid in various blues bands but the most important blues experience during the “Italian Period†of Francis Ray was the one of the “Bluescutter†band. Created in the year 2000 with Valentina Biagini on the bass and Luca the “Vi†on the drums. The band became the icon of the blues power trio in Lucca. In 2003 Francis Ray moved to Paris where he got acquainted with several high-level blues-jazz musicians and performed at jam sessions in clubs like the “Fyfty†and the “Caveau des Oubliettesâ€. In Slovakia since 2006, Francis plaid with a band called “the Bluestones†for a couple of years. Currently Francis is playing in a power trio with Jan Cajka on the bass and Damien Murs on the drums; they perform in several clubs in Eurpope.
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Amp
Incontournable: Fender Twin reverb, silver face early 70ies, very heavy and practically impossible to play at volume more than 5 unless you are in a stadium, but this is the amply that I like, clean pure fender sound. I use it with a Maxon overdrive"The gypsy woman told my mother, Before I was born, I got a boy child's comin', He's gonna be a son of a gun, He gonna make pretty women's Jump and shout, Then the world wanna know What this all about, But you know I'm him, Everybody knows I'm him, Well you know I'm the hoochie coochie man, Everybody knows I'm him"