The countdown is on. Ray Ray Star is an official nominee for Song of the Year – Rock Artist at the 12th Annual Josie Music Awards, recognized for his single “Ashes Next Door,” with the ceremony set for September 20 at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville. It is one of the most competitive categories the Josie Music Awards hand out, built to honor songwriting and craft over industry backing, and it places Ray Ray Star among the independent music world’s most respected honorees this year.
“Ashes Next Door” is Ray Ray Star’s most personal release to date, a raw account of addiction and recovery drawn from sixteen years of his own sobriety. The title comes from something that actually happened to him: a fire broke out next door after a neighbor struggling with addiction passed out, a blaze that took nearly everything he owned except two guitars. Featuring vocals from Chris Vayne, the song turns that experience into something the Josie Music Awards singled out on its own terms. As a longtime supporter of MusiCares, Ray Ray Star has also directed a portion of the song’s proceeds, along with merchandise sales, toward the organization’s work helping musicians battling addiction.
The nomination adds to a career built well beyond the recording booth. Ray Ray Star is an internationally touring guitarist, a record producer and executive producer, and the Director of Marketing & Promotions for the NBC-aired Real Music Live. To his following, he is also known as the Rockstar Psychic, whose intuitive readings have made him a fixture well outside the music world alone, giving him a rare vantage point that shows up in his songwriting as much as anywhere else.
With the Grand Ole Opry House date approaching, all eyes are on whether “Ashes Next Door” will take home Song of the Year – Rock Artist, a category that has become one of the night’s most closely watched. For an artist whose story runs through fire, recovery, and second sight in equal measure, September 20 promises to be a fitting stage.
The official losangwebsite for Ray Ray Star may be found at https://www.rayraystar.com