Favorite son Early Ray home to play at Luke’s in Rock Hill

He’s back, one of the area’s favorite sons – Early Ray – aka Rayen Belchere, live Saturday night at Luke’s Sports Bar & Grill in Rock Hill – returned from his “getaway” to the west Coast to hang with family, friends, fans but only for a week or so, since his brief vacation has morphed into bi-coastal residency – for now.

“It began as a short trip,” Belchere explained, “after 20 straight years of a steady often heavy, music performance schedule. I needed a change of scenery – just a getaway for 3 months or so.”

But, opportunities and new horizons have kept him in the Los Angeles area much longer as illustrated by his popular “You are Here” running photo tour on Facebook of LA/Hollywood landmarks.

Shot in that half-face, wide-eyed “Blair Witch” mode, the photo ops have found Belchere all around town in the Los Angeles area. Clever and upbeat, he’s sharing the path traveled, not necessarily the destination, but really it’s all intertwined – the career, the experience, with the “stuff” along the way.

During in those 20 years, Belchere has been amassing impressive career credentials and accomplishments that have taken him to “tour the world, record/release several albums, appear on MTV,” and into a variety of worldwide antics.

As further proof, he has gold records on his wall including one from England, just doing that thing he does. To his credit, Belchere is very pro-active, seeing the “big picture,” how it’s all music-related and audience oriented.

He knows keeping an audience means making things interesting to everyone – himself included – whether it’s in front of 2 or 2000 people.

Ultimately, Belchere is just a hometown guy, returning once more to his stomping grounds. A Rock Hill native, he’s looking forward to the rocking reunion at Luke’s with “his crowd” as he easily refers to the folks found there.

“It’ll be spicy and fun,” he promises, “it’s always a party and a good time get together with friends,” or as he envisions, “a band and a fishbowl of people with a fun party mix of songs.”

That mix includes anything from country to rock and whatever in between along with his own original material. The audience is there for all of it.

“It’s just a blend,” he says, “half come out to hear their favorite covers while half know my music and want to hear those originals.” The originals include his country ditty “Fried Pickles” which has picked up a lot of popularity, air play, and notoriety for Early Ray.

He’s headed back to L.A. soon to start work on new a new album. Hang with Early Ray and all his rowdy friends live, Saturday at Luke’s Sports Bar and Grill, 465 S. Herlong Ave., Rock Hill. Call 327-2701 or check lukesbarsc.com for show info. Find more on the music at earlyray.com and on Facebook.

Upcoming

Friday: All of a Kind at McHale’s on Main, Rock Hill; Khaos Kings Acoustic at The Handlebar Tavern, Catawba; First Friday with Zach Ludlam, Stephen Adkins at Walter Elisha Park, Fort Mill; Whiskey Prophets at Creekside Bar and Grill, Liberty Hill; Olde #7 Band at Pineville Tavern, Pineville; The Get Go at Bike Night, McKoy’s Smokehouse, Charlotte; Colossus, Everthrone, Old Scratch, The Body Bags at Tremont Music Hall, Charlotte; Hysteria: Def Leppard Tribute at Amos’ Southend, Charlotte; McGroover at Promenade on Providence, Charlotte; Coddle Creek, The Hashbrown Belly Boys at Visulite Theater, Charlotte; C2 & The Brothers Reed at Double Door Inn, Charlotte; Slingshot Dakota, Shell, more at Snug Harbor, Charlotte; Bobby Ray Bittle, Out of the Blue at Coyote Joe’s, Charlotte; Umbra, Shadow of the Destroyer at Milestone, Charlotte; Alan Gilbert Band at Puckett’s Farm Equipment, Charlotte; Christina Perri at The Fillmore, Charlotte; Mark Battles at Chop Shop, Charlotte; Shaggy and Friends at Neighborhood Theater, Charlotte; Quincy Mumford & The Reason Why, Matt Mackelcan at Evening Muse, Charlotte; Dixie Still at Bootlegger’s Saloon/Dance Hall, Charlotte; Lady Antebellum, Hunter Hayes, Sam Hunt at PNC Pavilion, Charlotte;

Saturday: Early Ray at Luke’s Sports Bar & Grill, Rock Hill; The Southern Experience Band at Beef ‘O’ Brady’s-Baxter, Fort Mill; SuttleBand at Wild Wing Café’ – Ayrsley, Charlotte; Pluto for Planet at Mac’s Speed Shop-South Blvd., Charlotte; Silver Wings at Comet Grill, Charlotte; Punk Rock Picnic 8 with Swell Friends, Aloha Broha, more at Tremont Music Hall, Charlotte; Purgatory 65 at Amos’ Southend, Charlotte; Whiskey Prophets at Smokey Joe’s, Charlotte; Josh Brannon Band, Kenny George Band at Double Door Inn, Charlotte; Miami Dice, Josh Cotterino, more at Snug Harbor, Charlotte; Sunny Ledford at The Rabbit Hole, Charlotte; Mint Julep (6 p.m.) at Romare Bearden Park, Charlotte; Pushh at BB&T Ballpark, Charlotte; Slippery When Wet: Bon Jovi Tribute at The Fillmore, Charlotte; Voodoo Drifters, The Menders at Puckett’s Farm Equipment, Charlotte; Justine Cross at Evening Muse, Charlotte; Roulette Band at River City Bar & Grill, Mooresville; Charlotte Sometimes: Tribute to The Cure at UpStage, Charlotte; Shotgun Saints at Youngun’s Sports Bar, Kings Mountain;

Sunday: Folklords, Yarbs, Ghost Trees at Snug Harbor, Charlotte; Failure, Hum at Neighborhood Theater, Charlotte; Peter Bradley Adams, Lisa Lambe at Evening Muse, Charlotte; Incubus, Deftones, Death From Above 1979, The Bots at PNC Music Pavilion, Charlotte;

Monday: Counting Crows, Citizen Cope, Hollis Brown at Uptown Amphitheater-NC Music Factory, Charlotte;

Tuesday: The Lonely Biscuits, Sleepwalkers at Visulite Theatre, Charlotte; Sofia Talvik, Sinners & Saints at Snug Harbor, Charlotte; Sublime with Rome, Pepper, Micky Avalon at Uptown Amphitheater-NC Music Factory, Charlotte; Howie Day, Casey Buckley at Evening Muse, Charlotte;

Wednesday: Take the Fall, Awake at Last, Shiva’s Destruction, more at Tremont Music Hall, Charlotte; Band of OZ (6-9 p.m.) at Romare Bearden Park, Charlotte; Good Old War, Elliot Root, Pete Hill at Visulite Theater, Charlotte; StereoLoud, Joneses, more at Snug Harbor, Charlotte; Math the Band, The Emotron, more at Milestone, Charlotte; J. Cole, Big Sean, YG, more at PNC Music Pavilion, Charlotte;

Thursday: Logan Brill at Comporium Amphitheater-Ann Springs Close Greenway, Fort Mill; Jarekus Singleton at US National Whitewater Center, Charlotte; The Aristocrats, Travis Larson, more at Tremont Music Hall, Charlotte; Tracy Taylor Band at Comet Grill, Charlotte; Chuck Burns & Ty Rone, Ross Adams, Nathan Storey, Wildbone at Double Door Inn, Charlotte; Shiprocked with Cazwell, Hank & Cupcakes, Bethann Phetaine, more at Snug Harbor, Charlotte; The Giggitys, Mr. Gold, Van Huskins at Milestone, Charlotte; Brandon Flowers at The Fillmore, Charlotte; Prawn, Dikembe, Aggrocragg at Neighborhood Theater, Charlotte; Foxtrot & The Get Down, Jen Foster at Evening Muse, Charlotte; Too Much Sylvia at Veterans’ Park, Kannapolis;

“And that was all she wrote.”

This story was originally published August 7, 2015 at 8:04 AM with the headline "Favorite son Early Ray home to play at Luke’s in Rock Hill."