He's been the next big thing for so long, it's a wonder he can pick up a tab for lunch. But seriously, folks: as successful as Robert Cray has been- and with millions of discs sold and millions of fans, he is that - there's always been an air of expectation. He was supposed to be the next big thing in blues; then he was the next big thing in guitar; then he was the next big thing in adult contemporary.
He ignores it all with grace and soft-spoken good humour. When other people define you, he notes, they create their own perspective of your successes and disappointments. "We were never straight blues in the first place," says Cray, in town to open for Eric Clapton Sunday night as they near the end of a year-long tour.
"We were tagged with the label because we are big blues fans, but we had lots of other influences." Travelling as a major touring act only reinforces how many other cultures and styles can be melded into his songwriting, says Cray. "It's a natural thing - the hardest thing for me is to stay in one direction when there are so many different styles of music.
"It's frustrating for anyone who loves to play music to be compartmentalized. It would be a lot better if we could just turn on the radio and listen to a song by Madonna followed by a song by Howlin' Wolf." For the most part, however, record companies simply "force down our throats" the music they want to sell, he says.
"It's true we're pretty much a road band and that has been more lucrative for us than selling discs," he says. "But at the same time, I don't think it's fair to not pay people for the discs they put out. It used to be that there were bands that could just put out CDs and never go on the road, but that just doesn't exist anymore.
The two things complement each other." Back in the early 1980s, when Cray was first coming up, roots music was suddenly getting mainstream attention. But it turned out the industry was only interested in them for 'flavour of the month' status, he says.
Nonetheless, it provided Cray - along with bands like Los Lobos, the Blasters, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble - with enough money and fans to build a lengthy career long after record companies had moved on to manufacturing pop and hip-hop. "You can get stuff out there, but the labels still play a big part in helping with the financing required to let that stuff be seen more," says Cray. "It's still possible for roots music to gain another toehold, but it all depends on when they want to do that.
We don't really have any control over it." And Cray laughs at how backward it all is. "It's the genre defining the music; they just say 'we'll tell you what you're supposed to like.
' " Instead, Cray focuses on producing the most interesting narratives he can. "I had great people to work with over the years, most notably Dennis Walker. He paints beautiful stories that the music is just an accompaniment to.
That taught me early on that the story is most important.
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