Hey…so, it’s been a minute.

Honestly, all I can say is, I’m sorry. After the last album, life started life-ing and things just became a lot. And before I knew it, the “break” I was on turned into a full-fledged hibernation. There’s been a LOT of joy these past 7 years—getting married, returning to Nashville, adopting a slew of fur-babies, buying my first house—but there’s also been a lot of struggle and uncertainty. And through it all, I've really, really missed making music.

So when everything shut down last year, I finally got serious about it. And thank God I did.

I’m currently in the studio recording a new album (!!!!). The lyrics speak to everything I’ve been through during all this time, and it sounds like everything I’ve ever wanted my music to sound like. It’s soul, it’s gospel, it’s throwback and it’s modern all at the same time: I’m calling it “Spiritual R&B.” I cannot wait to begin sharing it with you, and thankfully we don’t have to wait for much longer. The first single is coming sooner than later.

In the meantime, here are some other fun goings-on to keep us busy.

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Allow me to reintroduce to you… “Honesty”

I wanted to take these next few months and revisit some of the songs from my back catalog that resonate the most with where I’m headed next. First up is “Honesty,” from my 2014 album Backslider.

Be sure to check out my Twitter thread going “Behind the Song”, as well as the DIY new lyric video (above) and spanking new acapella version (below). I had a ton of fun toying with these harmony parts and doing my best Take 6/Boyz II Men impression. I hope you love it!

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New Podcast: Outlaw’s Evidence of the Unseen

For the nine years that Tim and I have known each other, we’ve never had a dull conversation. We’re constantly challenging the surface-level discourse happening in the mainstream and seeking to have better, more honest conversations than the ones we see happening online, on TV, and in the general populace. We’ve batted around the idea of doing a podcast together for quite a while but could never fully see the big picture of it. Most journalistic/topical podcasts require a TON of researching, weekly recordings, hours dedicated to editing and we just…don’t have the time for that. At the same time, this new season of creativity we’ve found ourselves in has us yearning to expand our community—to find our comrades on the fringe of progressive thought as it pertains to music, politics, religion, history, and society. We finally pondered: what could it look like if we just sat down with a given subject in mind and just hit record? No filter, no pretense.

​So we’ve decided to try it out. ​

The first two episodes are already up on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and more (you definitely don’t want to miss our conversation about the life and ministry of Juanita Bynum), and the next one should be up in the next couple of weeks. These are raw and uncensored conversations, and I’ve been blown away by the feedback we’ve already gotten from friends and listeners who are resonating with these discussions. Many of you have probably never heard us like this before—you may even find it irreverent. Still, perhaps you join us anyway. Our goal is for our approach to come across as refreshing, illuminating, inviting. This won’t be a weekly thing (more like monthly, at least for right now 😝). But we hope our voices can become a part of the podcast rotation of your daily commute (or fake commute if you WFH) and welcome you a bit more into our world: the world of the Outsider. There’s always an exception to the rule.

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Lastly, can I ask you a favor? If you don’t already, please subscribe to my YouTube channel and connect with me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. As you can see, these are going to be the first places you’ll hear about the new music once it’s available.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for still being there, after all these years. I’ve learned that in this new streaming era, emerging artists aren’t allowed to “take breaks” so everything I’m doing now is a rebuilding of sorts. I’m grateful for your support as my music makes a first impression on the world all over again.

Love and light,

Ray

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