A Conversation with Robert Cray (continued)

PM: So am I to understand that after something like ten Grammy nominations and five actual Grammies, you happened to be without a label when this record was being recorded?

RC: Yes. Well, we decided not to sign back up with Rykodisc because, unfortunately for Rykodisc, they went through a couple of hard changes. When we first signed with them, they were a great record label. And then Chris Blackwell bought them.

PM: That's right.

RC: And that was right after we had signed with them. And so they moved from Massachusetts to New York. And all that transition was happening while our first record came out. There was a new president. There were new people that we had to meet, and trying to get people to work the record.

PM: It's the classic nightmare story.

RC: Yeah. So then part two of the nightmare story, the second record comes out and Chris Blackwell sells Rykodisc.

PM: Yikes.

RC: [laughs] And so people are leaving, then we don't know anybody. So it's time to go.

PM: Yeah, right.

RC: So that's what the deal was. And while we were doing the search for a new label and knowing it's going to take a long time, we decided just to go ahead and make a record ourselves. That way, by the time we sign with somebody, the record would hopefully be finished, and we could just turn it in and try to get it out as soon as possible, instead of waiting until late this year or early next year for another record.

PM: Yeah, that was smart.

RC: Because that would be two and a half years between records. That would be too long.

PM: Right. So how did the deal with Sanctuary come about?

RC: Well, the deal with Sanctuary--we looked at different proposals from different companies, and then we finalized down to a certain number. Then we went and visited the people.

PM: I mean, Sanctuary used to be a head-banger label, right?

RC: Yeah. They were a head-banger label. And they started opening up the roster to a lot of other kinds of music.

PM: They must have had some big records, because now they're signing Loudon Wainwright, Robert Cray, I mean, acts so far afield of their original endeavor that they must have really done well with their catalog.

RC: But one of the main reasons we went with them was that one of the two gentlemen who'd signed us to our Mercury Records deal, and with whom we'd stayed in contact, was working there. And so that was really cool. Plus the president in New York, he'd been a fan forever.

PM: Those are the things, obviously, that make a difference.

RC: Yeah, exactly.

PM: Are they doing a good job so far?

RC: Yeah, they are.  continue

print (pdf)    listen to clips    archives    puremusic home