Q : When did you start playing music? A : I started taking piano lessons at age 5, in church. My mom had studied vocals for five years, under an opera singer. She?s always been a guiding influence, right up until I got into a band called Cry Wolf. Q : Who were your influences? A: Elvis, although you probably can?t hear it in the music. He was the first big influence that I listened to. I wasn?t allowed to listen to the hard rock of the day. I grew up in the late 70s, and I listened to the Bay City Rollers, and Little Richard. I had the 50s and 60s music in my house. My neighbor had Deep Purple and KISS, and that?s where I learned about that kind of music. Richard Marx? first solo album was a huge influence as well. Q : You mentioned that Cry Wolf was your first band. Tell me about that. A : I was in my mid-20s, and I was working at a music store. All the guys in the band were on the road, and were buddies of mine. They told me that they needed a keyboard player for club gigs, and I joined them for four years. We played in 38 states and fourteen countries. Q : Where are you from originally? A : Ashland, KY, but if you wanted to have any fun, you had to go to Huntington, WV to go to the movies or anything like that. I grew up in the Huntington music scene. Q : Your last band was One Eyed Gypsy, and they were based out of West Virginia. How did they come into being, and why are they now defunct? A: I left Cry Wolf after a cruise ship gig. I was really burnt out from being on the road for four and a half years. Not long after that, I heard some guys playing that called themselves Bourbon Street. I stepped in with them as a keyboard player, and it was only supposed to be a temporary gig. The lead singer ended up bowing out, and I inherited the duties. From there, we started recording an original album, and just switched the name. Q : How long did you sing for them? A : From 1998 to 2002. The debut album came out, and we were still progressing as writers. The music was getting heavier, but it was still melodic. A couple of the members discovered Tool and Nine Inch Nails, and I just parted company. I come from the school of Steve Perry and Jon Bon Jovi, and I?m proud of that. Q : Was it a hard decision to come back to Nashville? A : It was scary. I was doing a fill-in gig with a band called Kanyon, which featured Billy Ray Cyrus? bass player, Corky Holbrook. I was tired of the club scene, and just said it was time to go to Nashville. The members of the band gave me a lot of numbers and support, and helped boost me out the door ? in a loving way. Now, I had lost my day gig and my night gig, and I thought to myself, ?If I don?t go to Nashville now, I?m nuts?. I just threw everything in the car, packed it up, and left. Q : What?s happened for you since you got to Nashville? A : Right away, I was handing out the One Eyed Gypsy CD left and right. People were listening to it, but the response was basically, ?Hey, really great ? wrong town. Thanks.? I was really discouraged and down, and was ready to give up until I met a songwriter named Daryl Keith Norman. He liked my voice, and we exchanged info and CDs. I loved the material, and he said, ?let?s put your voice on my tracks, and see what we can do?. Since then, we?ve developed a great working relationship, and we?re best of friends. The doors are opening. Nashville is such a small town, and everyone knows everyone else. He opened one door, and that opened another, and so on. Q : What song have you written that was closest to you, and why? A: There?s one that?s currently in the works that will be on the next record that?s pretty close to me. There?s also a song called ?Did It Hurt?? that I co-wrote with Denver Triggs that has so much meaning for me. When I sing it on stage?it?s just full of emotion for me. Q : You have a song called ?In My America? that?s kind of a snapshot of the country, and what?s going on right now. What inspired that? A : The bass player for Gypsy came to me with two songs, that being one of them. This was written before the war started. My generation didn?t get to go work where my parents did. They?re not doing as well, owning a house and car at 35 or 36. He was kind of bitter, and I just latched onto it. I thought to myself, ?This is America right now.? Q : Would you say Ray Whitlock has a message in his music? A : Yes. When I?m writing, it?s specific, and focused towards something specific. Q: Describe Ray Whitlock in three words. A: Never give up.