Paris Ray
Written by: Cait Elizabeth - May 2019
Edited by: Travis Ryan
INTRODUCTIONS
Paris Ray is no stranger to the stage. She got her start in entertainment as a child actor at the age of four, appearing on shows like iCarly, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, Guiding Light, All My Children, and various commercials. The ability to empathize while acting lent itself nicely to music, and she shifted her focus in that direction at around 15 years old. The process of teaching herself guitar led to a permanent writing bug, and she quickly turned out several short love songs that she played at every opportunity. Performing at all the open mics and high school acoustic cafes she could find, Paris’ confidence and skill grew, even leading her to sing the National Anthem at a Mets game when she was a junior in high school. College brought new experiences, song material, and opportunities. In 2018 Nation Dawn (yes, the dish soap guys) used Paris’ cover of “Lean on Me” in a commercial showcasing their environmental work such as washing ducklings after oil spills.
Her music is made up of an ethereal blend of pop and folk influences. She tells honest stories tinged with darkness in a bright airy voice. One of many crowd favorites, her song “Astronomy” is a tale of bending and shaping to fit a partner’s perceived expectations. The whimsical lyrics cover a tough topic that many of us have experienced, but in an upbeat and catchy way. “MORE?”, one of her most personal songs, is about a toxic relationship she endured during college. “Part 3” was written after that relationship saw him expelled and her hospitalized for two months. When a recreational therapist brought Paris a guitar, writing “Part 3” was a way to work through a heartbreakingly difficult chapter of her life. Built on a chord progression she’d been toying with for a few years, the song came together in about 45 minutes. Right after she was released from the hospital she was chosen to participate in the Gold Coast Art’s Center Big Break competition. She made it to the finals where original songs were fair game, and decided to switch from her “go-to” song “Astronomy” to the riskier “Part 3”, which she’d just poured her heart into. Feeling confident and powerful, Paris delivered her new song to impressed judges and walked away with first place. Each success propels her closer to her goals, the most recent being her addition to the 2019 roster for the Great South Bay Music Festival!
TOURS & SHOWS
Paris has kept the majority of her gigs local but packs a whole lot of singing into every week. Working full-time singing 3 to 5 days each week at venues across the island, you just may have listened to her while wine tasting or having dinner. She has opened for some big names so far though, including Jake Shimabukuro at The Paramount and David Crosby, Katrina of Katrina and the Waves, and Jon Herrington of Steely Dan at The Space in Westbury.
This will be the fifth year that she’s played the Montauk Music Festival; this time around she’ll be kicking off the opening party for the whole festival. It’s their big 10-year anniversary and sure to be weekend full of music and fun, so clear your plans and check out some great local music May 16th - 19th. Paris will be releasing her first full-length album called Desert Baby Cactus Flower at the party, a tribute to Arizona where she was born and adopted! She describes it as “8 tracks of nostalgia, love and self reflection,” where she works through relationships with friends and family as well as her abuser. “I think the overall theme is getting over the idea that I’m not hard to love, that I don’t have to be sad forever, and that life is good,” which is a lesson we could all use from time to time.
INSPIRATION & INFLUENCES
Paris describes her sound as “what happens if Taylor Swift and Norah Jones had a very dark love child.” Sometimes when she does cover-heavy sets in restaurants and bars, names like Norah Jones, Ingrid Michaelson, and Tracy Chapman naturally come up when describing her sound. Paris maintains that she tries to have a unique approach to content though: “I try not to be LIKE anyone else”. The balance of light and dark in her music is all hers, touching on topics including mental health, domestic violence, and family.
“My parents are a gift, they love me more than anything in the world and would do anything to see me happy and succeed. My boyfriend John is the most supportive, involved and wonderful little muse I could ever ask for. And my best friend Tom who is my creative soundboard and has heard roughly 1800 versions of every song on the album before they were even good.”