The Robert Cray Band in Concert

Robert Cray, a five-time Grammy Award winner, with 16 nominations is one of the most distinctive blues guitar stylists of his generation. He has released 20 acclaimed albums, with his most notable work being the 1986 album "Strong Persuader," which sold over one million copies and earned him a Grammy Award.

Cray has written or performed with a wide range of artists, including Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and John Lee Hooker, and has been credited with helping forge the blues "renaissance" of the 1980s.

When it comes to live performance, The Robert Cray Band likes to get right down to business, they cut right through to the emotional core of every tune — whether they're playing the classics that put Cray on the map, like "Right Next Door" and "Smoking Gun," or killing it on covers of tunes by the likes of Bill Withers, Bobby "Blue" Bland, or The Mississippi Sheiks. Cray and his cohorts use their mighty musical prowess in the service of the song. Sure, you'll hear plenty of fluid guitar solos, but at a Robert Cray show you'll never hear a single unnecessary note — in other words, everything he and his band play on stage really matters.

The Robert Cray Band Background

Robert Cray did more for the blues in the 1980s than anybody other than Stevie Ray Vaughan. He started out small with a string of early-'80s indie albums, but by the middle of the decade the singer/guitarist's blend of blues, soul, and rock 'n' roll influences made its way to the mainstream with a major-label deal that introduced the world to the game-changing Strong Persuader LP. 

Between his supple grooves, soulful vocals, storytelling songs, and stinging guitar solos, Cray emerged as the blues hero the '80s didn't even know they were waiting for until he came along. Over time, Cray's sound has become simultaneously deeper and more expansive. His reputation has grown to the point that he's an esteemed elder statesman of modern blues, a winner of multiple Grammy awards, and an artist as venerated today as any of his heroes were when he was growing up and learning his licks.

Martha Redbone will be the opening support for The Robert Cray Band.

Martha Redbone is a vocalist/songwriter/composer/educator, known for her unique gumbo of folk, blues, and gospel from her childhood in Harlan County, Kentucky infused with the eclectic grit of pre-gentrified Brooklyn.