Donnie Ray

Renowned for his work as a performer and recording artist across the Southern soul and Carolina beach music circuits, Donnie Ray first entered music during his teenage years yet waited until 2000 to issue his initial album, Let's Go Dancing, on the Susie Q imprint. From that point forward the vocalist and composer has issued fresh material nearly annually, grounding his output in classic Southern R&B while adding contemporary blues accents and following the path established by Bobby "Blue" Bland, Johnnie Taylor, and Tyrone Davis. Projects issued on the independent Ecko and CDS rosters—Don't Stop My Party (2006), Who's Rockin' You? (2011), and My Southern Soul (2018)—have consistently appeared on Blues Critic's annual rankings.

Born in Texarkana, Texas, Donnie Ray began appearing live in the mid-'70s alongside his father's Aldredge Brothers Band, steadily acquiring proficiency on four- and six-string guitars, keyboards, and drums. After years spent largely out of the spotlight he joined Susie Q and emerged in the early 2000s with his opening pair of releases, Let's Go Dancing and Are You Ready for Me, which arrived in 2000 and 2003 respectively. During an extended subsequent stint with Memphis-based Ecko he recorded more steadily, beginning in 2005 with I'll Be Good to You. The standout of that decade was Who's Rockin' You?, which not only reached Blues Critic's Top 20 year-end tally for 2011 but also captured the site's readers' poll for Best Southern Soul/R&B Album. He shifted to CDS in 2016 for Two Way Love Affair and continued in 2018 with My Southern Soul, marking his fourteenth studio effort.