Biography

“I plan to carry this music forward to the twenty-second century.”
Eddie Ray Buzzini’s bold declaration is not so far-fetched, as he was born in 2007 and may well still be picking in 2101. A second of Eddie Ray’s aspirations is to convince his contemporaries that bluegrass and particularly banjo music is cool, up-to-date, and should be considered legit. Confirming his commitment to both intentions, the music on Eddie Ray’s solo debut album covers well over a century of compositions. Ranging from “When You and I Were Young, Maggie,” composed in 1864, to several new songs written by Eddie Ray, the disc offers a wide array of American music in the bluegrass style.
Eddie Ray, whose given name is Ettore, lives in a multi-lingual household in Mooresville, North Carolina where his Swiss-Italian father and East-Tennessee born mother offer him a vibrant mix of European and Appalachian culture. He plays his grandfather’s banjo and listens to Flatt & Scruggs and Reno & Smiley as well as many of the contemporary bands that are playing today. Eddie Ray’s musical tastes are not limited to bluegrass. Country classics, Latin Jazz, and the guitar of Eddie Van Halen are all on his listening and playing agenda.
The three original compositions on this project prove that Eddie Ray is already on a trajectory to become an inventor as well as conveyor of widely varying musical styles. His “Ragnarok,” composed at age eleven, is a saga of the battle that brought an end to the great Norse gods, including Odin and Thor. “Cash Don’t Sleep” is the emotive tale of an undocumented immigrant who runs into some serious difficulties trying to get to his family in North Carolina. “I’ll Try Not to Care,” cowritten with Mason Via and producer Tom Mindte, focuses on classic “boy meets girl” drama – their parting leaving the boy with a bad case of teen angst.
Joining Eddie Ray on this project instrumentally are Danny Knicely, Marshall Wilborn, Patrick McAvinue, and Willie Marschner. Mason Via and Tom Mindte are featured on several numbers singing harmony vocals.
As a special treat, Southbound 77, a bluegrass band of young pickers that Eddie Ray regularly performs with, gathers for the final offering here.
Sit back, relax, and enjoy this presentation of Eddie Ray’s wide-ranging musical gifts - his first – and it won’t be the last!