a lyric from Ray Riddle’s song " Take Me Back " paints a musical picture of a life in rural Kentucky. Ray is a seasoned country musician who writes all of his songs from true life experiences and developed his style from playing with local bluegrass musicians who would round up the family for a Saturday night sing along.

With a childhood spent on a dairy farm in Ohio, Ray later moved to Kentucky where he made a living as a mechanic in a coal mine both underground and above. Nights were spent making music on the front porch of his A-frame house which sits about 20 minutes off a lonely highway in eastern Kentucky. With hopes of making it big in Nashville and his guitar strapped to his back Ray walked the streets of music row on three separate occasions only to be told that he didn’t know how to write a song by the only person who would take the time to listen.

Several years later a documentary film maker shot the story of two young men growing up in a poverty stricken part of the Appalachian Mountains. As the father –in-law of one of the main characters Ray wasn’t the focus of this movie but when he picked up his guitar that all changed. Ray’s song "Country Boys "is the title song for the documentary and his music echoes the many hardships of life in a forgotten town.

It was by coincidence the man who would come to produce this album saw that documentary. One year later Ray from Blue River, Kentucky recorded a full length album at 510 studios in Fremont, Ca. where a readied and willing group of top, country musicians awaited. The group consisted of a younger generation of musicians that had been inspired by men very much like Ray Riddle. Extremely talented musicians in their own right something magical happened when the tape began to roll…

Ray Riddle is an all time classic; from the coal mines of Kentucky he brings country music back to where it should be, from the heart….