Sugaray Rayford is pleased to announce the release of the new single, “Homemade Disaster” written & produced by Eric Corne for Forty Below Records on August 7, 2020. PopMatters Magazine will be premiering the track on August 5th and an exclusive listening party contest is underway now for August 4th.
2020 should have been Sugaray Rayford’s year. He was nominated for a Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Album for his critically acclaimed album, Somebody Save Me, produced by Eric Corne and released in March 2019 on Forty Below Records. He was also the recipient of two Blues Music Awards, winning the highly coveted B.B. King Entertainer of the Year as well as the award for Soul Blues Male Artist for the 2nd consecutive year. And if that isn’t enough, Suga also won a pair of Muddy Awards for Best Performance and Best Recording, as well as Blues Blast Magazine’s Best Blues Band.
Rayford then hooked up with a new manager who orchestrated his singing with the United Talent Agency, a necessary component for booking the ‘touring machine’s’ 200+ dates a year.
All the forward momentum came to a screeching halt due to Covid-19 and just like everybody else, Suga was sidelined, unable to capitalize on all his recent success. Not one to sit idle, Sugaray and producer Eric Corne returned to the studio virtually to create “Homemade Disaster.” About the song Rayford states, “I love this song more and more every time I hear it, the sound and lyrics take you on a wild ride. America, we allowed this to happen on our watch – what we got here is a homemade disaster.”
Rayford’s magnetic personality and old school vocal approach brings to mind such legends as Muddy Waters, Otis Redding and Teddy Pendergrass, but the production and instrumentation put a fresh spin on things, resulting in a track just as at home alongside Gary Clark Jr. and Fantastic Negrito as Black Pumas and Michael Kiwanuka. He captivates his audiences with dance moves reminiscent of the legendary James Brown. Downbeat called Rayford a performer with “a soul-blues voice that has an emotional strength.” Albumism raved “A sound that’s undeniably fresh and inspired. Living Blues hailed him as “a soul singer who brilliantly weaves blues, jazz and gospel inflections into his soaring songs.” BluesMusic Magazine agreed, describing Somebody Save Me as “an outstanding showcase of Sugaray Rayford’s great talent.”
Despite a difficult childhood fraught with poverty and other domestic difficulties, Rayford began his musical career at the tender age of seven, singing and playing drums in church. After a ten-year stint in the Marines, he opted to pursue a musical career which formally began with his self-release debut album, 2010‘s Blind Alley. A year later, Rayford joined The Mannish Boys and sang lead on nine of the songs featured on their album, Double Dynamite, which went on to win Best Traditional Blues Album at the 2013 Blues Music Awards. His next solo album, Dangerous, was released in 2013, followed by Southside in 2015, and The World We Live In in 2017. Rayford has also been inducted into the Arizona Blues Hall of Fame.
Suga has been entertaining the masses virtually with his weekly Facebook livestream on Tuesday’s at 12PM PT. Live From The Sugashack was featured as a “Pick” in the LA Weekly and Rayford’s currently sitting pretty on the LA Weekly Spotify Playlist.
An exclusive listening party is planned for Tuesday, August 4th, in celebration of Suga’s summer single, “Homemade Disaster,” before it releases to the public. One hundred lucky fans can submit multiple entries to take part in a 30-minute ZOOM listening party and Q&A. For more info, click here.
Lastly, to satiate your Suga fix, catch him performing live at Pershing Square’s At-Home Concert Series.Watch it on August 22nd at 8PM PT / 11PM EST on Youtube, Recconnect LA, Facebook, & 88.5FM
