Caliente

Cray throws his soul into anti-war stance

By Gerald M. Gay

No need to ask Robert Cray about his stance on the war in Iraq. The Grammy-winning bluesman makes his position clear on his latest Sanctuary Records release, "Twenty." Cray - who plays the Rialto next Thursday - lays down his feelings with soul on the title track, a story of a mother who loses her son in battle. "They call this a war on terror/I see a lot of civilians dying/Mothers, sons, fathers and daughters/Not to mention some friends of mine," sings the seasoned performer halfway through the emotional ballad. "You read the newspapers and listen to the radio and they all mention soldiers dying," said Cray in a recent phone interview from Spain. "Guys in their teens and early twenties. Men called up from their National Guard units in their forties. Even noncitizens. Guys who joined the service after the events of 9/11 and wound up over in Iraq. "I wanted to write something about those guys." "Twenty" is not the Robert Cray Band's first jab at what Cray considers injustice. The band's previous release, "Time Will Tell," also included commentary on the war in Iraq. In more than 20 years as a group, with 1,000-plus gigs logged in its current incarnation, the band has never shied away from the issues. "Twenty" is just more straightforward about its messages. One look at the cover - a fatigued soldier lost in the havoc of a bustling, desert sandstorm - and you know opinions will be heard. "Everybody goes about their day-to-day lives," Cray said. "Even in newspapers, what's going on in Iraq is relegated to the middle or back pages. The idea of putting a soldier on the front cover brings the issue to the forefront. The song will bring attention to people as they go about their daily lives. It will help them remember those guys are over there." Cray doesn't have relatives serving in Iraq, but he can relate. His father served in the Army in Vietnam when Cray was a child. "I always remembered my dad being the military man," he said. "The guys in the military take orders. They don't question anything, and growing up as kids we didn't question dad because that's what he was taught and that's what he taught us. That was part of the understanding in writing this song. Knowing that these guys are doing what they are told even though that might not be what they want to do." Fans of the 52-year-old performer can expect to hear songs from "Twenty" at his Rialto performance, along with songs going all the way back to the band's 1983 release, "Bad Influence." Popular hits like "Smoking Gun" from the band's 1986 album, "Strong Persuader," and tracks from the Grammy-winning follow-up, "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark," are also on the menu. "We have been hearing a lot of positive response from soldiers," Cray said, referring to "Twenty." "Just recently, a Marine in D.C. came up to our tour manager and said he was in tears when he heard the song. My tour manager was in tears just telling me about it."