Ten years ago, Rebekah and Gabriel Craft of married folk-rock duo Linen Ray found themselves living parallel lives as musicians. At night, while Gabriel was out gigging as an in-demand pro drummer, Rebekah would compose songs in the privacy of their bedroom. Each didn’t realize their romantic life partner was also their musical soulmate.
Today, Linen Ray has emerged as a powerhouse roots-y Americana band. Jason Barnard speaks to the duo as they prepare to release new album, ‘On The Mend’.
Can you tell me about the inspiration behind your new single ‘Love Ain’t Easy?’
We wrote this song when we were approaching eighteen years of marriage right in the middle of the pandemic. Throughout our years together, we’ve had our ups and downs. In 2020, just a couple of weeks after a deadly tornado swept through our community (only 2 miles away) near Nashville TN, our government issued the stay at home order. With Covid 19 on the rise and families being forced to stay home together, these past (almost) two years have been the most challenging yet. The adjustment was extremely stressful as we were required to become more involved with our children and their school work as they were remote learners for much of the year. As we became their educational facilitators, we also needed to create more stability and emotional support in the home. As a parent, this really forces you to take a look at yourself and find ways to become better. When this awareness happens, some ugliness will always come to the surface and it can be a really uncomfortable place. But as we work through our differences and struggles, true understanding and healing begins. We really like these lines in the song: “Yeah, we got that special something, stories of our own, oh honey don’t you know, my heart is your home.” It’s about us staying united in our relationship and knowing we’ll be there for one another no matter what happens. It’s a safe place.
What should we expect to hear from ‘On The Mend’?
This album was definitely inspired by music that came out of Laurel Canyon in the 1970s. There’s an even mixture of alt-country and classic rock fused with folky earthy elements. You’ll hear pedal steel, banjo, acoustic guitars, dobro, electric guitars, piano, organ, bass, drums, harmonica, a little brass and string arrangements and lots of harmonies (backing vocals). Thematically, the songs are about personal healing in close relationships.
What is your usual process for songwriting?
Rebekah: Most of the time melodies and chords come first with a few words here and there. I usually try to pay close attention to those words and build something around them. I really listen closely to what the song wants to say. Once I have something that feels pretty solid, I’ll bring to Gabriel and that’s when we start really start thinking about the dynamics with possible rhythm, lyric, and structure changes.
Where and how do you record?
For On the Mend, we recorded vocals, acoustic guitar, drums and backing vocals in our home studio. The rest of the instrumentation was recorded by professional musician friends in Canada, Detroit, and by our producer, Patrick Jordan, in the UK. The horns on “Love Ain’t Easy” were recorded here in Nashville.
Where are you from and where are you based now? What is the music scene like?
We’re originally from the Metro Detroit area, but now located in Nashville. We’ve lived here for about three years now. Nashville’s music scene is vibrant and thriving with so many venues, restaurants, music industry mixers, songwriter’s nights and retreats, etc. This city provides many resources and opportunities for artists. We also especially enjoy hosting live performances by local artists here in our home! By opening our home, we’ve met and become friends with really great people and artists.
You play an excellent version of ‘Fire and Rain’. What artists, including James Taylor, have influenced you and why?
Rebekah: My father was a record collector. He taught me a lot about music when I was growing up and listened to James Taylor quite often. There’s an earnestness in his writing that demands attention and respect. We wanted to cover “Fire and Rain” because it’s a beautiful song with an emotionally driven melody and theme. We’ve personally lost some dear friends and family to suicide, so we felt a strong connection to its meaning.
My favorite music is 60s and 70s folk and classic rock. One of my favorite albums is Joni Mitchell’s Blue. I feel a refreshing kind of energy when I hear that album. It gives me life. She’s got it all-really interesting and creative production, heart-felt melodies and poetic lyrics. I also enjoy the sweet and distinctive sounds of the dulcimer which Joni used to write “All I Want,” “California,” “A Case of You” and “Carey”. Then there’s Emmylou Harris’ Wrecking Ball. I would describe it as a youthful romantic and mysterious kind of album. That one always gets me. It doesn’t matter how many times I listen…I still love it! She had a great team of people working with her on that album – produced by one of my favorites, Daniel Lanois, and legend Neil Young on backing vocals!
Gabriel: I remember as a young boy, around the age of fifteen, I worked at my parent’s bakery. Time to make the donuts! While I was frying the yeast raised donuts, I would often break several pairs of donut sticks as I played along to Led Zepplin, Rush, The Police and Fleetwood Mac. I would say those bands have always inspired me throughout the years. I enjoy listening to The Police because they’re a mixture of rock, punk, and reggae. Led Zeppelin’s drummer, John Bonham, was undeniably the most creative and technical rock drummer of his time.
Then, there’s Mick Fleetwood, drummer of Fleetwood Mac. His playing approach was different than most drummers because of his struggle with dyslexia. I would always wonder why he would add an extra beat here and there, or an off-beat rhythm and still manage to make it sound incredibly awesome! I also grew up listening to a lot of classic rock and roots country such as: Waylon Jennings, Charlie Daniels, and Hank Williams Jr. In our teens, my older brother and I started a band. The music we played was heavily influenced by grunge and heavy metal. I really liked Nirvana, Rage Against the Machine and System of a Down. I liked Rage Against the Machine because it was groovy and eventually inspired me to learn other styles-hip hop, R&B, and reggae. I spent several years playing these styles of music. It wasn’t until I met Rebekah when I opened up to the idea of singer-songwriter, country and folk styles.
How has the pandemic affected you?
Our recording plans had to change. We originally planned on flying over our producer from England and recording a live album here in Nashville. Instead we recorded with a few different musicians from all of the world-mainly England, Canada, Detroit and Nashville. We’ve had to cancel a few out-of-state gigs and reschedule some shows. Because our kids weren’t able to attend school, we had to juggle our work, recording, and school schedules. We stayed very busy. Some good things came out of it – we grew a vegetable garden and bought a puppy, Fergus.
Do you have any plans to play live?
We’re planning on performing these new songs this spring/summer of 2022. We can’t wait to get back out there and hopefully perform some local and hometown shows and festivals. We’re also looking at the possibility of booking a European tour. That would be a dream come true.
Finally, how do people find out more about you?
You can find us at www.linenray.com and most social media platforms. We’re most active on Instagram. We’d like to also encourage folks to join our mailing list which can be found on our website.
Linen Ray’s new song “Love Ain’t Easy” comes out on most music platforms on Friday, November 5th. It is available to pre-save now: https://linktr.ee/linenray
