Scot Ray endorses Paloma Stone Guitar Slides!Cds and mp3s available at Cdbaby & iTunes."Shitkick stuff, keening India mojo, balladic meditation." - Metaljazz, LA“Odd-metered bluegrass a go-go.” - Touching Extremes, Italy“This is more than recommended listening - it should be compulsory!" - Harmonica World, UK“Ray and Barrett fruitfully elevate roots-inspired thematic forays into boundless frontiers for the mind’s eye.all subsidized by monster chops and acute vision. The musicians’ close working relationship and intuitive understanding of each other's thought processes connect mightily. Sparks fly throughout! Zealously recommended.” - All About Jazz, LA“The duo of Scot Ray and Bill Barrett is another nail in the coffin of dead-end blues, the demonstration that, if we’re lucky enough, heaven-made acoustic music enters our humble garden one way or another. Gutpuppet is a healthy dose of optimism in a dying world of sterile pyrotechnics. Make it yours - and the rest of their output, too.’ - Massimo Ricci, Italy“Blessed with killer improvisational chops and a free-wheeling polyglot musical style, these two guys explore the vast and mysterious oceans between klezmer, Latin, jazz, and blues, without ever lingering long in any one current. As it plays out, it all feels just right, even as it tilts and turns unexpectedly from one moment to the next. It’s gripping, even a touch freaky. Barrett blows a multi-metered chromatic fantasia that combines tango harmonics with blues gestures. Ray picks his way around Barrett‘s howling melodies with deft sensitivity; and when he opens up, as in the bluesgrass-meets-raga ‘Kentucky Rebetika’, he’ll take your breathe away.” - Nickell’s Bag / The Missoulian
BILL BARRETT bio"Barrett is probably the most complete harmonicist on the market today, able to offer low-budget Delta abstractions and Allan Holdsworth-like lyrical contrivances in the space of thirty seconds." - Touching Extremes, Italy"Bill Barrett plays the harmonica. Simply stated, he is one of the most cogent and arresting soloists ON ANY INSTRUMENT playing today. I kid you not. Listen to this shit! He goes from classic blues harp to fucking campfire memories to ghostly shakuhachi rushes without ever losing the moan and shriek of the blues. His playing is consistently haunted. It haunts the music like a spectre, imbuing each moment it inhabits with what David Briggs called "The Spook."" - Nels Cline
Since moving to L.A. in 1984 Bill Barrett has performed with a wide range of sonic luminaries, from Anthony Wilson & Greg Ginn to the USC Orchestra & L.A. Philharmonic. Barrett has recorded with pop icons Terrance Howard and Natalie Merchant, along with such new music innovators as Vinny Golia, Eugene Chadbourne & Oliver Lake. As a bandleader Barrett has released several genre bending records, ranging from soul-jazz aberrations and high octane blues to modal chamber jazz on the Los Angeles Punk label SST and the renowned Ninewinds jazz label. Barrett has been a featured performer and clinician at several international harmonica festivals including SPAH in Columbus Ohio in 2002 and Harmonica Sur Cher in France in 2005 (and again in 2009 with Gutpuppet). In addition to Gutpuppet, Barrett currently plays in several innovative music groups including Hazmat Modine, Marc Ford's Neptune Blues Club, and Steuart Liebig's Mentones.SCOT RAY bio"Astonishing acoustic slide guitar work." - Downtown Music Gallery, NY"Prepare to be slain by his slide-guitar grind, which is as clean, tough and rootsy as it comes." - Metaljazz, Los Angeles"Scot Ray's slide guitar expressiveness is at one and the same time surgical and full of hearty joy, a true set of firecrackers for any guitarist AND acoustic music aficionado in general." - Touching Extremes, Italy"Ray generates a kaleidoscopic array of sound with his dobro; from languid slides to fragmentary picking, his instrument's resonator hums with ghostly blues inflection one minute, scintillating crystalline shards the next." - All About Jazz, Troy CollinsScot Ray's eclectic and innovative 6, 12, & 22 string slide guitar work is informed by his many years as a jazz trombonist. His multi-instrumental career has run the gamut, from work with Stray Cat Brian Setzer (which included a Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental, and a joint US tour with Bob Dylan) to Cuban percussionist Francisco Aguabella, from pop icons Gwen Stefani, Jason Mraz, Dionne Warwick, Tony Bennett, Elliot Easton & Ray Manzarek to new music pioneers Nels Cline, Jeff Gauthier, Vinny Golia, Steuart Liebig & Mark Dresser; from sound-sculpting with video artist Carole Kim to collaborations with poets Joel Long and Nance Van Winckel (not to mention Caribbean cruise ships to Buddhist funeral bands). This diverse musical landscape has transported Ray to multifarious venues and festivals in over one dozen countries, including performances on David Byrne's Sessions At W. 54th Street, David Letterman, Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien, The DuMaurier Jazz Festival, and Harmonica Sur Cher France '09. In addition to having played on numerous soundtracks, including 'Stuart Little', 'Me, Myself, and Irene', and 'Three To Tango', he has also received a vote as 'rising star' from Down Beat Magazine.
