So maybe it's not so strange after all that a high-school math teacher and rancher from Conrad, Montana, could sound like a born-and-bred Mississippi bluesman, or perhaps an old-time country crooner revived from an age when country and blues weren't altogether distinguished from one another.
"The early country-western music, like Hank Williams and George Jones and all that stuff from back in the '40s and '50s, that was based on blues," says Erik Ray Gustafson, aka musician/teacher/rancher Erik "Fingers" Ray.
To see him setting up on stage, one might presume Ray is little more than a novelty act. Seated between a battered hi-hat cymbal and a bass drum that looks like it's been kicked a few too many times, Ray grabs a hollow-bodied electric guitar in his hands, loops a harmonica holder over his neck, adjusts his cowboy hat, and begins kicking a simple, boom-chuck-boom-chuck backbeat.
Maybe then he launches into a Johnny Cash rocker like "Folsom Prison Blues," or an old traditional classic like "John Henry." Maybe it's a Beatles tune, or the Stones, or Muddy Waters.
But whatever the song, Ray steeps it in his own style and attacks it with an almost reckless energy, leading the listener to quickly forget that, really, there's only one guy up there on stage, playing and singing all the parts.
"When people think of one-man bands, they think of organ grinders and monkeys, or Dick Van Dyke in 'Mary Poppins,'" says Ray. "I really try to focus on the kind of music that moves me, and this just seems to be the best way to play it."
Having performed around Montana for more than twenty years, Ray (whose full name is Erik Ray Gustafson) has earned his share of accolades over the years. Way back in 1980, his old rock band (in which he performed with his brother, Wylie Gustafson) won the Montana State Battle of the Bands, a contest put on by Missoula radio station KZOQ.
The next year, Ray quit the rock scene and began performing country music as front-man for Erik Ray & the Skates. His brother also veered into the world of country music, chasing the dream to Los Angeles, where he formed Wylie & the Wild West, a well-regarded western swing band that has occasionally appeared on Country Music Television and the Nashville Network, and at the Grand Ol' Opry.
Wylie Gustafson is probably best known today by his yodeling "Yahoo" that accompanies the Internet media giant Yahoo.com's TV ads.
But around these parts, Erik Ray is the more familiar fixture, performing over 100 nights a year in bars and nightclubs from Miles City to Libby.
"A week ago, I drove to Seattle to play a gig, opening up for my brother," says Ray. "It was a big bar, 400 or 500 people, standing room only, and they were really into it.
"But I had just as much fun last night at Dusty's Bar in Brady, Montana," Ray continues. "Those small-town Montana crowds - they can get pretty wild."
Ray has never formally studied any of the instruments he plays, and claims he can't read sheet music. Yet he's a skilled fingerpicking guitarist, and a fine harmonica player and singer.
Putting it all together, he manages to inhabit songs, remodeling them to fit his own musical personality, with a skill that few entire bands manage to pull off.
"A lot of the time, it's not that I'm trying to put my own stamp on something; it's just that I can't sound like those guys," says Ray. "I just can't play as good as the record, and so I have to find my own ways to make it sound OK."
Being a one-man band has its advantages (even beyond the fact that paychecks go a lot further when they're only split between one person). Unrestricted by the inflexible click of electronic drum machines or other high-tech tools of today's more typical solo performers, Ray doesn't need to worry about communicating with his bandmates or punching buttons when he wants to stretch a phrase, or throw in a pause for effect.
The result is music that is at once staggering and lock step, bedraggled and perfect - as if four musicians were sharing the same brain and heartbeat, following the same subtle ebbs of emotion and inspiration.
Sometimes it can be hard to dance to, but it can also be quite engrossing, in a way that blues and country music too often isn't these days.
Another fortunate byproduct of Ray's multi-instrumental approach is the sparseness of his arrangements. With only two feet to cover the rhythm parts, Ray's percussive backup is solid but skeletal, never overwhelming the melodic instruments with fancy fills.
Never does the harmonica player overrun the guitarist, or the singer cut into the guitar solo - because of course, all three parts are covered by Erik Ray, who always knows where he's going, and how soon he plans to get there.
"I'm the luckiest guy in the world," says Ray. "I have three jobs and I love all three of them. I love teaching, I have my little herd of cattle, and I can play music as much as I want without letting it become drudgery."
Erik "Fingers" Ray appears live at Sean Kelly's, Friday and Saturday nights, Jan. 23 and 24. Admission is $2.
HAVE A HEART
For anyone who has fallen into epicurean reverie at the tables of local restaurants such as Marianne's at the Wilma, the Steelhead Grill, or Finn and Porter, the man tugging at your tastebuds was Chef Charles Davidson.
One of western Montana's most talented chefs, Davidson has been a staple of the haute cuisine scene - that is, until recently, when he was forced to endure an unexpected emergency open-heart surgery.
So this Sunday, a bunch of Davidson's friends will be gathering for a fund-raising benefit concert, at the Ritz on Ryman.
Sweet Low Down & the Zoo City Players, featuring Davidson's brother Johnny on keyboards, will provide some auditory delicacies for the evening, and word has it that some other local musicians will share stage-time, although details could not be obtained before deadline.
Needless to say, your financial gifts are most welcome at the event. Think of it as a belated tip for that great pork chop with hot banana salsa you still remember from that dinner you had at the Steelhead Grill.
Reach Joe Nickell at 523-5358 or jnickell@missoulian.com.
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