Larry McCray

Rust Belt blues screamer and guitarist Larry McCray was born in 1960 in Magnolia, Ark., about 12 miles from the Louisiana border. He spent his early years on a farm, the second youngest of nine children. After trying out the saxophone in school, his older (and only) sister, Clara, introduced Larry to the guitar and the transformative music of the three kings of the blues (BB, Freddie and Albert). Over the past three decades of relentless touring and recording, Larry has played and shared stages with such blues greats as BB King, Buddy Guy, Albert King, John Mayall, Johnny Winter, Robert Cray, Keb Mo, Jimmie Vaughan, Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Joe Bonamassa, as well as rock legends The Allman Brothers, Phil Lesh, Jonny Lang, Joe Walsh, Levon Helm, Chris Robinson, Dickey Betts and countless others. In 2021, Blues Without You, Larry’s latest album, a 12-track effort, was recorded on Keeping the Blues Alive, the nonprofit label of renowned blues-rock guitarist Bonamassa, with producer Josh Smith, a partnership that also spawned a music video (for the upcoming single “Arkansas”) and a documentary. “Larry is still a relatively young man who has a lot to say, and the world needs to know who he is. It’s the perfect time for his music to be reborn,” Bonamassa says. “He knows he’s a badass, he just needs to make sure and make sure he can stand up where the gigantic guys are.