Welcome everybody to midday magazine for this some Monday September 9th, 2024.
Have your host James J. Mailov here.
We're welcoming in in part one here our great friends from the arts council.
We're going to be talking a little bit with executive director Sally Kisner.
We'll have Eric Brittnocker from the Performing Arts Center joining us as well.
The man we kicked this off on a great note.
We are going to be joined by Kyle and Ray.
Wonderful, incredible musician, 24 top 10 records, 16 number one hits.
And 10 time, Mail vocalist of the year nominee, both five times with the CMAs, five times
with the ECMs.
Colin, I forget anything.
I mean, you got a long resume, man.
So I could just listen to keep talking all day, you know, is it?
Okay.
Thank you so much.
It's good to be talking to you, man.
Thank you.
You too.
I was really looking forward to this.
I will journalistically mention to the audience right away.
I've been a fan for a long time.
I've enjoyed your style for a very long time.
I didn't grow up with a lot of country music or anything, but one of the things that I
got into with you in the 90s was I felt like your music didn't really, you couldn't really
nail it down.
I understand that you're a country male vocalist, but I grew up on a lot of blues and blue
grass and I get a lot of that feel from you.
I get a lot of that passion from you when it comes to that.
Were there those influences for you?
Oh, yeah, totally.
I always kind of, my first musical love was country music, but I'm talking about when
I was like four years old, five years old, six years old.
My dad would bring home those like stacks of 45 singles back then, you know, and be
Merle Hagger to do a single or Buck Owens to a single, you know, and he would listen
to him over and over and over again.
And so instead of what was to when dinner was over instead of, instead of watching TV,
we would listen to record, you know.
So by the time I was like 11 years old, I was a country music historian.
You know, I mean, I knew a lot.
I could already probably sing you ten Hank Williams songs at that point, you know.
And that we thought that was the only music there was.
My brother and I, and then we got into my teen years, I discovered rock and roll, I discovered
blues.
I'd actually known about blues already before, but didn't realize what it was.
You know, if that makes any sense, you know, but I was influenced by a lot of different
things.
I mean, I saw a lot of arena rock shows in my teenage years.
And of course, then when Wayland hit it really big in the 70s, you know, and exploded.
Next thing, you know, he's playing arenas and stadiums and everything, got to see him
a couple of times.
You know, it kind of brought me back to country, you know.
But even if country was changing a lot too, there was a lot of those influences, especially
blues influences in that.
And so by the time you make a long story short, by the time I spent my 20s learning how
to do this and working nonstop in Nevada and just bars and you name it, it was kind of
a mixture of all of that different type of music that influenced me to kind of turn
me into what I wanted to do.
I would do it in this a little in reverse order, but I do want to rewind just for a second
column because while so many, we've known about you for so long, you've been a name in
music for quite some time.
I feel like there's parts of you that we don't know that we haven't gotten a chance to
find out.
So back to the very beginning, where are you from, what are your origin story, if you
don't mind?
Okay.
I was born in a very, very small town in Arkansas called Dequeen, which is about 50 miles north
of Texarkana, which is right on the Texas Arkansas flight, you know.
And but when I was very young, my family moved to Texarkana for the better job opportunities
or whatever.
And so that's where I grew up on the Texas side and went to school there and wound up
graduating there.
But I was already playing music by the time I was really probably 12.
We weren't very good, but I was, you know, but I was always in some kind of little band
trying to, and by the time I was really 15, I knew that's what I wanted to do, or at least
I was going to try to make my living playing music in some capacity or another, and of course
the brash ring being you hope that you would make it big and have hit records and things
like that.
I was always reserved the knowledge that that may not happen, you know.
And so I thought, well, if I can just make a living, even if I'm playing bars all the
time, if I can, if I create a band that's good enough, we'll get work, you know.
And if fate would have it, good Lord, help me out, and finally, in 1990, I was approached
by a producer who wanted to cut some demos on me.
In California, I went down and did that, and three weeks later I had a record deal with
epic records in Nashville.
You know, so I got, I got very blessed, I would say lucky, but got very blessed.
You know, you can be a little column A, little column B, you get your skill, your talent
stands out, and you get a little bit of luck thrown in there.
Don't hurt it, don't hurt it.
Don't hurt it all, and don't hurt it all.
And again, I think it's trying to, I think for a young artist, you just have to decide
pretty early on what you're going to try to do, and what your mission is, and the way
you want your music to sound, you know.
And I think a lot of times people don't, they wait till for someone to tell them that,
and that slows down the process, or sometimes it eliminates the chances, you know.
But I always, my brother and I, we started up together, and we always had an exact idea
of what we wanted to do, and then in our 20s, like as brothers do, sometimes we went
our separate ways, had different ideas about things, and so the next thing, you know, I'm
a solo act, you know.
And I guess that's the way it was supposed to be, but he went on to my brother, Scott,
he passed away a couple of years ago, and I'm very proud of him, though, because he kind
of got a rebirth when Miranda Lambert came out.
He was, he was Miranda's original band, it was just him, Scottie, he was just Miranda
and Scottie down in Lendale, Texas, and I remember him coming to me saying, you gotta come
see the squirrel, I'm working with him, I think she's really good, and so I did, and she
blew me away.
Okay, she's really good, you know, and I felt like she was going to do well, but I had
no idea how well, but Scottie was with her right up until the end, and I'm so thankful
he got to do that, and he got to do some very cool things with Miranda.
I'm happy that he came up, I wanted to make sure that he got mentioned, I feel for you,
your family, with that loss, and appreciate you sharing that with us, he seemed like
a great guy, I would love to have him on the call with us here.
And his ties to Miranda are noted, I talked about it on the sunrise show, our country
music show, morning show we do, I'm a big fan of her work, and she's such a big fan
of her bands and promoting them and everything, it's a real good artist.
Most of the people we get the chance to talk to, especially musicians, they come from
music families or their parents were musicians, I love the story of you and your dad listening
to records, my dad and I used to do a similar thing.
Is that where a lot of your love of music began, or did you come from a musical family?
Oh yeah, my mom, it was a not club singer when I was growing up, she had been a, she
had, she had, I want to brag on her a little bit, she actually, her and her sister actually
got to sing with Elvis back in 1956, and it was a, it was a son records tour that was
going through that area, the Arclatics area they call it, you know, and my mom and her
sisters, she, mom was like 17 or sister was like 19, and they used to sing in the churches
around there and stuff, and people would have them show up and sing at weddings or events,
and so the promoter who had booked Elvis, and it wasn't just Elvis, it was Elvis, Johnny
Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins on the same deal, so it was, and of course Elvis
was the headliner, you know, and they, that's back when there weren't tourbusters, everyone
just drove, like Elvis drove up to, it was, it was a number of shows, I want to say it
was like five or six shows in the area, and mom and, and Becky got picked to, to open,
for the, open this thing, right, and she said Elvis, every time they would drive up Elvis
would just drive up in a Cadillac, he was driving it himself, and he had like a three-piece
band, and they were, they had the base, the upright bass strap to the top of the Cadillac,
that's how they traveled back then, you know, past the same thing, when Cash would show
up there in a car, you know, Jerry Lee, and so about the third show, Elvis came up to
them, and he got there a little earlier than he had, the first couple of shows, they came
up to them, and he listened to them, and he said, he goes, I want to tell you girls are
really, really good, but you want to come out and sing, sing some backgrounds with me
on my show, so, so they're just like, but their dad was there, and he had, he had told
them, uh, said, they, you stay away from that Elvis spread, everybody's got to understand
everybody back there, so, but Elvis went up to my grandpa, and said, sir, I just want
to tell you, uh, you have two very lovely and talented daughters, and he was so kind
and genuine about it, my grandpa was like, you know, that Elvis Presley, he's okay if I
broke up, so my mom and, and Becky got the thing, like on the next three shows, with
singing, oozing off, and background with Elvis Presley, and so years later, when I was growing
up, she was, you know, a nightclub singer and whatnot, and, and my dad was a bass player,
my brother's part of playing lead guitar when he was like six years old, he was like a
prodigy, you know, took me a little longer to catch on, I was, I started doing stuff
when I was more like, you know, I just had 12, 13, you know, and that's, and that's because
of what my brother showed me, he showed me how to play bass, and so I was a bass player
originally, you know, but, but yeah, music was, was a big, big part of our household.
It doesn't sound like it was a matter of, if you were going to be in the country music,
but, you know, what you would do, and you were born into a man, that's amazing.
What a great story, thank you for sharing that, I know, I'm thank you so much, I'm sorry,
the story was so long.
No, it was worth it, it was worth every second, man, we're speaking with Colin Ray, who's
going to be coming to town here performing at the Performing Arts Center Thursday, September
26th, Colin, what can people expect from your show?
Well, to accuse this, this particular show is a trio, acoustic trio show, and we do a
lot of, I do, I basically had to do three different kinds of shows now, I do acoustic
trio, like I'm going to be doing there, at the PIC, and then we have a full band that
we, when, when somebody wants drums and electric guitar and all that, we, we got that, we want
to rock a little bit more, you know, and then I also do a tour called Roots & Boots, that
I've been on for about, almost eight years, where it's myself, Sammy Kershaw and Aaron
Tippen all together, so it's, I do three different types of shows, and I have to say my favorite
is the acoustic show, because even though there's no drums, even though we still, I don't
know, I just feel freer, and we can, if people yell out requests, if they think I'm maybe
not going to do one of my hits and they yell it out, guess what, we'll just do it, you
know, it's just real, it's very laid back and flexible, and I think it's great for performing
arts centers and theaters, like that, it's very, it's the most, I'll put this, it's the
most musical, yeah, of all the shows I do, you know, that's so cool to be doing different
shows, what, with this tour, I imagine it keeps it fresh for you, keeps the creative, you
know, energy going and everything, but also really cool to hear about this particular show
you'll be doing here in Rapids, we're excited about that, and I did want to mention one thing
before we do Rap Love, I know busy you are, but I, well real quick, actually one other thing
I did want to mention, speaking of your live work, you are a great MC, man, you do a great
job interacting with the audience, I have such a high respect, and a high bar, if I'll be
honest with you, for people that can, you know, sing, play music, that's great, but how
do you work with an audience? How do you incorporate the audience? Do you do such a great job
with that? That's a great compliment, thank you. You, this particular show, it sounds like
just from what I've been able to see online, you're, you're really able to do that, really
connect with the audience, is that part of what you love about this acoustic trio show?
Totally, it's just, like I said, it's just so, it's laid back, but we keep the energy going,
you know, we definitely keep the energy going, but I just feel like I can talk,
I can see faces, I can, I'm, I like to bring the audience into the show because without the
audience you got no show, you know, no matter, if we're sitting up there by ourselves and no one's
enjoying it, then there's nothing's happening, you know, so, but I love bringing them into it,
and just, I can, and I've learned over the years how to read an audience pretty well and
pretty fast, as I can kind of tell what kind of night it's going to be and what they might like
more than something else, and so even though we'll have a set list in, down in front of us with
a list of songs, I guarantee it's going to change. Because once we start the show, you go,
you know what, I think we're really like this one, maybe more so than this one, you know?
And so we will, we definitely, I think I asked if we wanted to do an
intermission there, and I got to say, be honest with you, I used to not like doing intermissions
because I felt like it kind of broke up the flow, right? But at the older I get, I think it's,
it's kind of nice because then you can regroup, you got about 15 minutes in between on the little
break, you're kind of regrouping, okay, here's what I'm thinking, let's change this out for this,
on the second half, let's change this out for this, let's change this out for this, and so it's,
I just really feel like it's, it's, it's, it's really special. I think that show is really,
really special, and if you're a, a Colin Ray fan, and you want to hear a lot of the,
sometimes some of the album cuts, you know, we, we slide a few of those in there too,
there's certain ones that I get requests for like every show that we're not hits, you know?
And so we try to, we try primarily keep it hits, of course, but we just like to like
just slip in a few things, if I want to do a cover or something that I think would work really
well, we, you know, I know a zillion songs, you know, we might just dive into something like that too.
So it's a really, I just love the freedom I have of the show.
Yeah, yeah, I love, I love the halftime adjustments you're able to do. That's awesome.
And the, and the, the improv of nature of the concert is, it's got to, it gives such a unique
performance to every night. That's really cool. I do want to encourage people to check out the
website, Colin Ray.com, Colin Ray.com, and while you're there, check out the live auction. He's got
everybody. This is a really cool opportunity for you to get personal items auction live on there.
Be sure to check that out. And, and again, Colin Ray.com is where you can find out all the
information about his tour and everything else. Colin, we cannot wait to have you come to town.
This has been a blast. Thank you so much for joining us. James, you're, you're awesome,
man. Look for, you'll be at the show, right? Yeah, I'll be there. Make sure you come up and say
how, okay? We'll do, man. We'll do safe travels and we'll see you soon. Thank you so much for your
time, brother. Thank you, man. You have a great day and we'll talk again real soon.
Okay. Bye-bye. And we're going to go ahead and play a little of Colin's music for you to give
a little preview for you. As we get into, get ready for Sally and Eric's conversation here at Midday
Magazine on W.F. H.O.
from the church of Christ.
Sorry that I cried when I talked to you last night. I think I'm on the roll here in little
rough. I'm solid as a stone, maybe wait and see.
I got just one small problem here in little rough. Without you, maybe I'm not mean.
Welcome back, everybody to Midday Magazine. Sally and James here with you, Sally Kisner,
executive director of the Arts Council and Saver the Arts and Sally, wonderful music and a
wonderful interview with Colin Ray. I got to thank you so much. I wouldn't get a chance,
our audience wouldn't get a chance to talk with these individuals without you. I really do
appreciate it. I feel like I made a new friend. Like, Colin's awesome, a really nice guy.
And that was a really fun experience. Let's get into the details of this show in particular.
So we're looking at Thursday, September 26th, 730 pm at the Performing Arts Center.
Tickets are $59 for adults and $10 for students. And you can purchase those online 24-7
at saverthearts.com or give us a call 715-424-2787 or stop by and see us at 1040, 8th Street,
South, and Wisconsin Rapids. Our hours are Monday through Thursday from 10 to 230.
Sally was kind enough as well to give us some tickets to give away. Be listening here at 97-5 FMWFHR
and our sister station, 105-5WIRI, West Country. We'll be giving you an opportunity to win
some of those tickets. Thank you very much for that, Sally. Absolutely.
This one, Colin was so excited to come to town here. And he's played, you know,
Wisconsin before, of course, and everything and really enjoys it. But he loves this particular
so he's got it really good right now where he has kind of almost got three tours,
three different types of tours going on. One where he gets to work with other guys that he
really enjoys playing with. There's another one that's a little bit more traditional, his
life set, a lot of his hits. But this one that we're getting here in town is his favorite.
Colin's acoustic trio. And this is a real stripped down, real intimate way of being able to
just really interact with the audience. He can hear him in the interview. He's so excited to be
able to do this one and especially at the pack that he himself has seen and heard that it's
the acoustics in there, all of that. This had to have been a really fun one when you nailed this one
down, Sally. I was so excited because obviously country always sells for our season and to
be able to nail him down and bring him in just felt so good. We were listening to quite a few
other groups that are also excellent. But we just kept going back to Colin Ray. So when we finally
pinned it down, we were pretty pumped. You know what? And that makes sense. I think a lot of us
understand that. What I thought was so interesting is he had the same energy. He was just as excited
that we wanted him to come to town and everything. And this is a guy again for those who don't know
24 top 10 records, 16 number one hits. He has been five time, both with CMA and ACM nominee
for a voice of the year. This guy who has had a nice career has been going strong since
in the early 90s, 1990, I believe. And it doesn't seem like it's gotten lost to him. It's humble.
Yeah. Yeah. And it just really still loves this boy from Arkansas. It just still loves performing.
You know, and I love these kind of axes. He's going to be so much fun to come to town. We are
looking forward to this. Again, get your tickets Thursday, September 26th at 730 over here right at
the performing arts center. Colin Ray performing live Colin Ray acoustic trio. Sally, before we do
let you go, if you don't mind, I would love to preview November's upcoming event because we've
got a good one coming up in November. Absolutely. We have the Glenn Miller orchestra tickets for that
one are $54 and that's being held November 7th. You also have the option of dinner before the show
for $40. You can purchase a ticket to Lake Air. There's a limited menu and you choose
among three different options. And you can get those tickets directly through us as well.
They got classics, Fools Russian, Tuxedo Junction, that old black magic. This is one of my all time
favorites. I want to get to my head as soon as I say it every time. Some of those greats you can
still hear. And you know, when it comes to orchestral music, one of the things that I think is really
unique about this, my papa is a fan of orchestral music a lot, especially specifically Glenn Miller.
He would talk about how Glenn Miller never got old. His music is being performed the same as
Glenn Miller performed it. And without there being voices involved in some of this, chances are
every once in a while you can tell the difference between this horn player, this flute player and
another one. For the most part, you don't really hear that big of a difference. So you're still
hearing this very similar if not just as the Glenn Miller orchestra performed it. And that really
there's nostalgia. And then there's something like that that just really feels good for the
soul and hits you really good. And again, in the performing arts center, one of the better places
you can hear a performance like those acoustics are top notch. It's a great place. Eric, a shout
out to Eric and his group and his team over there and the great work that they do on this. Sally,
what are the details on the Glenn Miller orchestra of it? Glenn Miller, November 7th, 730 tickets are
54 for adults. And as always, $10 for students, you can contact us 24-7, saverthearts.com or
call 715-424-2787 or come see us 10-48th Street South. I want to say a big thank you to Colin
Ray for joining us. That was a lot of fun. Thank you so much, Colin. Come check out the Colin Ray
acoustic trio. We kick off the 48th season of the arts council. Congratulations on that by the
way, Sally. September Thursday, September 26th, 730. Join us over at the pack for a great show.
Get your tickets at saverthearts.com, saverthearts.com. Sally, we'll talk again real soon.
Sounds good. Thanks. We'll have more Mende magazine coming up here at WFHR.
