Ray Barnard's Music Evolution Through Three Decades

Welcome to this episode of Indie Artist Music Hustle with Blonde Intelligence. I am your host Ms. Roni, and I lays seek to give you exquisite cranial repertoire. Ray Barnard joins Blonde Intelligence to unpack his remarkable 30-year musical journey and the evolution of his distinctive sound—a personal fusion of roots, soul, and reggae that defies traditional genre boundaries. With candid reflection, Ray reveals how his approach mirrors a growing trend among independent artists who create their own musical categories and cultivate dedicated audiences outside mainstream expectations.

The conversation explores how musicians adapt and grow with age—developing improved skills while facing new challenges in capturing audience attention. Ray's pragmatic embrace of technology stands out as he shares how he incorporated AI vocal processing in his latest self-produced album "And the Horse You Rode In On" when collaborators weren't available, demonstrating how established artists can leverage new tools to overcome creative obstacles.

We delve into the pandemic's silver linings for introverted creators, the democratization of music production through affordable technology, and the persistent value of professional studio environments. Ray offers heartfelt advice to emerging musicians about early business education, marketing experimentation, and the critical importance of persistence through discouragement. His story illuminates the evolving indie music landscape where authenticity, adaptation, and community knowledge-sharing create pathways to sustainable artistic careers. Whether you're a musician seeking guidance or a music lover curious about the behind-the-scenes reality of independent artistry, Ray's insights offer valuable perspective on crafting a meaningful musical journey beyond mainstream constraints.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 2 (00:25):
Hello everyone, welcome to this week's Indie
Artist Music Hustle with BlindIntelligence.
I'm your host, ms Ronnie, whereI always seek to give you
exquisite cranial repertoire.
This week we have a specialguest named Ray and he's going
to tell us a little bit abouthimself.
Hello Ray.

Speaker 3 (00:43):
Hi, ms Ronnie, Tell us a little bit about himself.
Hello Ray, hi Ms Ronnie, tellus a little bit about yourself.
I'm a musician.
I've been doing it for over 30years.
Where I'm at now is I dosomething as a fusion of what
I'd call roots and soul music.

(01:03):
Roots could mean something fromcountry inflected to reggae
inflected.

Speaker 2 (01:12):
Is that your major genre?
That you tell me why.

Speaker 3 (01:16):
One of the only things I'm good at.

Speaker 2 (01:20):
Yeah, okay, the reason why I asked that question
is because the trend lately inmusic is that independent
artists are creating their owngenres, creating their own
audiences, so they might doseveral different types of music
together and then they'llrename the genre and then

(01:42):
they'll rename the genre.
So when you said that you haveroots and mixed with, I can't
remember what you said, but whenyou have that, what made you?

Speaker 3 (01:53):
choose that genre, the stuff I grew up listening to
.
Most of the things the people Iwas interested in always did
mix it, and I go back furtherthan most people.
So when I mentioned Ray Charlesor Elvis Presley to me, I mean,
they didn't stick to one thing,never, right.
So, uh, I've never wanted to,for for better and for worse.

Speaker 2 (02:20):
So that's so tell me about your journey in being a
musician.
Being a musician is different.
You said you've been in thegame for 30 years.
The advancement in technology,the onset of social media, the
ability to collaborate withpeople around the world, the

(02:44):
introduction of more AI in musicyes, so tell me about your
journey in music.

Speaker 3 (02:52):
Well, I started out thought I was just going to be a
singer, and then you realize,well, everyone's a singer, so
good luck.
And then started graduallyadding other things to my game.
I play several instruments andI make my own records.
Yeah, this day and age, there'snothing you can't do yourself.

(03:13):
And of course too, when you'reyounger, you come to find out
that even as I think a lot of uswho keep doing it, as you say,
stay in the game you get better.
You just inevitably, you know,unless you got other health
problems or whatever, you getbetter at it.

(03:34):
But you realize it's harder toget people's attention as you
get older too, because you don'tlook like you used to, or
whatever.
Or your friends still go out onthe weekends or whatever.
But you know, that's where theinternet comes in, and so
everyone has access to hustlingtheir music if they want to.

(03:57):
Okay, but it's funny, youbrought up AI, okay, and on my
newest record I used some of it.

Speaker 2 (04:05):
Okay.

Speaker 3 (04:08):
The song I liked a lot, but it was a little low for
me and I asked three friends ofmine at least three to sing on
it and none of them could, forone reason or another.
So I took my voice and put it,ran it through a AI filter and I
liked the results, so I wentyes.
So there's going to be a lot ofthat they're already.

Speaker 2 (04:30):
I actually interviewed an artist and I
asked him that same exactquestion and he did not.
Because I was like, whateverthe scenario was that you wrote
a song and you knew theparticular sound that you were
looking for, but you could notfind it Would it be OK to create
it?
He was like no.

(04:51):
So you know, I feel like,because music is art to each his
own and you create it the wayyou want to, yeah, but I want to
ask you this question.
Yeah, but I want to ask youthis question.
And what made me ask thisquestion?
I was going to do a show with aguy who owned a pharmaceutical

(05:12):
medicinal.
I'm not going to say the word,but because you know, but when
doing research, I found thatmusicians have the same elements
as professional sports playersand they put a lot of, I would

(05:36):
say, research into sportsmedicine, sports therapy, but
they don't put that sameresearch into musicians who have
the same problems with theirhands or know from repetition,
have the same problems withtheir hands or know from
repetition.
So what do you think about?
Or do you think there needs tobe more research, or do you
think that people should go on?

(05:57):
What do you think aboutresearching physical therapy for
musicians musicians.

Speaker 3 (06:11):
I think it's fine.
I think we all figure it out onour own.
I know a handful of friends whoare guitar players, where that
affects them, and you know,unless you want to stop playing,
yeah, you go to a chiropractorand learn some techniques, or
you go to a physical therapist,or I guess you can always try
new drugs, steroids, whatever, Idon't know.

Speaker 2 (06:29):
but Do you think that should be something that should
be included and I don't evenknow if they have these, but I
know that you have to getcertain policies when you're in
the entertainment industry.
Do you think that physicaltherapy for the musicians should
be added to policies formusicians?

Speaker 3 (06:50):
Hmm, Sure, yeah, I mean bluntly yeah.

Speaker 2 (06:55):
Why not?
Okay, I just wonder what youthought about it.
Okay, tell me about your latestproject.

Speaker 3 (07:03):
I got a new record.
It's uh, let's see, it's thisthing here.
Okay, um, um.
And the horse you rode in onSelf-produced, self-arranged, I
got the best band.
I mean, that's the other thingabout getting older I get the

(07:24):
best band I've ever had too.
So a lot of it was cut live andthen I fill in the blanks as
necessary.

Speaker 2 (07:31):
Okay.

Speaker 3 (07:32):
And yeah, it's a perfect example of what I'm
talking about.
It's a fusion of roots music orroots rock, and some fair
amount of reggae-ish materialand some soul music as well, or
my version of it, so I knowenough people go, hmm would I

(07:52):
call that soul music?
Well, I do.
Where are you from?
I'm from St Paul, Minnesota.

Speaker 2 (08:00):
Okay, so what's the fascination with reggae?
Tell me about it.

Speaker 3 (08:05):
It's a practical one.
I've liked it.
My interest in it has grownover the last couple decades.
But the kind of songs I write alot of mid-tempo, some slow put
in a reggae groove to it justgives it more energy than if I

(08:25):
were to put a country groove.
And I mean, you know, somewhatfrankly I'm kind of tired of
country grooves and the reggaeis a lot more enjoyable to me
right now.
But as a singer it sets upgreat for me and I don't.
I can't sing like a traditionalgospel soul singer who can

(08:46):
wreck the house.
So being more low-key, beingable to sing that way, helps me
as well.
So those are the reasons whyreggae and I've heard enough in
old school reggae you hearplenty of country and you hear a
lot of soul and you go, oh okay, well, they're using everything
too.

Speaker 2 (09:05):
So Okay, so tell me, since it's been a little minute,
how has or has things gottenback to normal after COVID, or
has things?

Speaker 3 (09:18):
gotten back to normal after COVID.
It's getting there and itdepends.
I think there's morecompetition than ever for live
venues now, but I think peopleare finding more.
They still like the liveconnection and they're getting
back to it.
Some don't, but that's anage-related thing too.

Speaker 2 (09:49):
So how did it affect you during that time where you
wasn't able to perform live andwork with your band the way you
wanted to?
How easy or hard was it for youto still complete a project?

Speaker 3 (09:55):
On one hand, making my own records, it was great,
and being a raging introvert, itwas kind of wow, this is great.
On the other hand, I had whatthey call a little bit of
momentum beforehand and that,just like for everybody else,
came to a dead stop.
So I was both Well.

(10:16):
In hindsight at the time it waslike great, I'm just going to
write songs and work on myrecordings and I don't have to
worry about finding gigs.
But in hindsight it's like, oh,now it's tougher than ever for
the time being.

Speaker 2 (10:31):
So do you think that you produced some of your
greatest work during that time,or do you think that you refined
things that you already felt apassion?

Speaker 3 (10:41):
for I was more experimental and even use some
kind of what some friend calledoh, that sounds like an edm song
ray and I'm oh, okay, great, itdoesn't matter to me.
I like chasing down ideas.
I don't care about genres.

Speaker 2 (11:00):
Okay, so tell me how has the music business changed
for the better to you?
Because you have 30 yearsexperience.
You have seen all the trends,all the changes, the different
registrations and everything.

(11:20):
So how has music businesschanged for the better to you?

Speaker 3 (11:29):
It's a lot easier to buy your own recording equipment
that is pretty much the equalof what they used to have in big
studios.
That's the best part.
On the other hand, um, to makesounds that are striking to
people, if you're not doing itall on the computer, which you

(11:52):
know anyone can do that youstill need really good sounding
rooms, which studios still have.
Let's see for the better.
It's just, everyone has accessthese days.

Speaker 2 (12:08):
But that could also be a double-edged sword.
Absolutely, tell me about yoursocial media presence tell me
about your social media presence.

Speaker 3 (12:21):
Um, fair to middling, um, I'm trying to get better at
it.
You know, yeah, I, I, I, Ithrow up stuff on facebook,
instagram threads, uh, uh, I'mtrying to figure out videos now,
um, because I know it's prettyeasy to do a 30 second video and

(12:43):
throw it up on tiktok orinstagram or whatever.
But I, I still like the longform videos as a whatever
another form of art, but it'sreally hard to make good long
form videos harder or expensive.

Speaker 2 (13:03):
So if I ever crack that code, With the way
everything is going, and I waslooking at Angie Stone and she
was talking about that.
She hired managers to dodifferent things for her.
Yeah, as a independent artist.
What advice would you give to anew artist entering the music

(13:24):
business?
About music business.

Speaker 3 (13:30):
Learn it earlier than I did.
So everything you're talkingabout I'm starting to do
Although, yeah, I mean I'veregistered stuff with Harry Fox
covers and that and I'vepublished stuff up on get my
name in the songs up on ASCAP.
Yeah, the sooner you do thatthe better.

(13:54):
I think it's like anything else.
If you start seeing results,it's fun.
Yeah, the sooner the better.
I think younger people are moresavvy to it than people my age
too.
Oh, you don't think so.

(14:15):
Just the ones who are savvy.
Um, advice, no, I'll look intoit, or, if you, if you can, I'm
going through that now and it'sjust basically, um, I'll try and
hire this person for that andsee what happens to it.

(14:35):
A hardest thing, the bestadvice is to not get demoralized
quickly, to my mind, and thenjust try whatever comes across
your your bow pertaining tomarketing, just try throwing

(14:56):
stuff at the wall and seeingwhat sticks and ask your friends
what worked for them.
Yeah, I guess that's all I gotfor now I'm in the process.

Speaker 2 (15:09):
Okay, well, I thank you for coming.
I want you to tell everybodyyour name, where they can find
the name of your latest project,where they can find it, your
social media handles andanything that you want to leave
us with.

Speaker 3 (15:21):
Okay, my name is Ray Bernard.
My latest record is called andthe Horse you Rode In On my
website is ray-barnardcom.

(15:43):
You can find me up on Facebookand Instagram, and I don't know
if I know my specific handles,but ray-barnard will get you up
there, although there is apreacher with my name too, who
has a fair amount of content.
R-a-y-b-a-r-n-a-r-d will getyou up there, although there is
a preacher with my name too, whohas a fair amount of content,

(16:05):
but I think you'll spot thedifference between us RM Bernard
, 67, but I don't remember offthe top of my head.

Speaker 2 (16:13):
I got you.
Well, remember, you can findthe podcast on all podcasting
platforms.
You can find us streaming onsocial media.
If you have any questions orwant to copy your merch, you can
get it atwwwblonde-intelligencecom.
I was about to get that wrongand I'll see you next week.
Bye.

Speaker 1 (16:34):
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Girl, everybody has a podcastthese days, but this one
interviews new and interestingindie artists.
It's called Indie Artist MusicHostel with Blonde Intelligence.
Really, when can I find it?
It's on all podcastingplatforms streams live on social
media and on RPENTradiocom.
What'd you say it was called?

(16:56):
Again, it's called Indie ArtistMusic Hostel with Blonde
Intelligence.
Girl, I'm going to have tocheck her out.