Michael Ray‘s EP, Higher Education is available now!

Michael says his new project wouldn’t have been possible without the journey he’s been on in his life and career, “I feel like out of all my records, I’m proud of the success, proud of the hits, proud of getting the opportunity to tour…cuz all of that together led up to this…you know the good and the bad, the highs and lows.”

Michael shares that before 2020, everything felt like it was on fast forward. “It’s fast moving, so you go go go go, and your body gets trained to this and all of a sudden…errr…you’re stopped. It’s all gone.”

The resulting shutdown and home quarantining due to COVID last year gave him time to reflect on what he was doing musical, “I think my mind set wasn’t so much of when’s it coming back it was like ‘What if it doesn’t?’ What if…I knew that it would…but I was just preparing for the worst. And I was like ‘What id that did happen? What if they’re done? Why didn’t I do this? Why wouldn’t have I just said this? Why wouldn’t have I done that?'”

With those thoughts Michael chose and wrote music that had more of a personal connection to him than ever before, like his song “Picture”

Michael knew in creating this more personal music fans would also connect with the songs in a new way, “Country music is a universal language. It’s real. It’s about real life. It’s about real people. It’s about real situations. So, odds are, if you’re writing from a place of a broken heart, or love, or to go ride roads with your buddies and just drink some beer and hang out, other people are feeling that too, and have been through it. It’s the one thing that ties us all together…no matter anything that’s going on in the world, music ties us all together.”

Higher Education track list;

1. “Whiskey and Rain” (Josh Thompson, Jesse Frasure)
2. “Just The Way I Am” (Michael Hardy, Ben West, Josh Miller)
3. “Holy Water” (Ashley Gorley, Hunter Phelps, Ben Johnson, Michael Hardy)
4. “Picture” (Michael Ray, David Garcia, Michael Hardy)
5. “Higher Education” (Tim Montana, Derek George, Jeremy Bussey, Monty Criswell, Frank Rogers)
6. “Live Without You” (Michael Hardy, Jessi Alexander, Corey Crowder)
7. “Didn’t Know I Was Country” (Michael Ray, Taylor Phillips, Ashley Gorley)

Higher Education also includes Michael’s current hit single at country radio, “Whiskey And Rain”

Photo Credit: Sean Hagwell