Robert Cray

Renowned for giving the blues a more, soulful, polished sheen, Robert Cray has played with Eric Clapton, John Lee Hooker and Bob Dylan and is regarded as one of the most skilful guitarists of his kind. Raised in a military family, he started playing in his teens in Virginia with first band Steakface, before building a growing reputation in his twenties when he teamed up with Curtis Salgado and lit up Oregon's blues-rock scene as the Cray-Hawks. Signed to Mercury in 1982, his fifth album Strong Persuader (1986) proved the big breakthrough, winning his first of three Grammy Awards, reaching Number 13 in the US charts and producing one of his great singles. Smoking Gun. Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark (1988), Midnight Stroll (1990) and Some Rainy Morning (1995) cemented his reputation as a leading contemporary bluesman and further defined the clean, rich signature sound produced by his Fender Stratocaster guitar. Inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2011, Cray continues to tour the world and keep the spirit and the traditions of the blues alive.