Staple on valley’s music scene
Relatively new to the Valley, musician Sean Bray has forged a valuable name for himself and has become a staple player on the Okanagan music scene. Not only as a first call guitarist for gigs, recordings or studio sessions, but Bray also plays integral roles as front man and member of four working bands.
He's the founder of the Sean Bray Peachtree Trio, musician for the country music show The Songs of the Southern Belles, a member of The Saga Jazz Quartet and of the popular-Celtic inspired Cod Gone Wild.
Born in Fort St. John, Bray moved around a lot as a child as his father worked the oil business and the family lived in Alaska, Scotland, Colorado before returning to Calgary fro Bray's later teenage years.
He always wanted to play music and started piano lessons at age five. But it was watching the Buddy Holly Story in Denver at age 12 that inspired Bray to take up the guitar.
“I love the guitar, I play for a living, I play for a hobby and l am holding one right now," he says pointing to his PRS McCarty 594 guitar.
It's one of approximately 20 other guitars that he owns, most of which are carefully on display in the temperature controlled basement that he transformed into a recording and rehearsal studio space.
In his high school graduation year, Bray decided to bring this determined dream of being a rock star to his hard-working parents.
He recalls that after his parents picked themselves off the floor from laughing, they settled on a compromise that if their boy was to be a musician as his career choice, he would have to go to school, learn the ins and outs of music; how to read, theory, arrangement, scoring charts et They all agreed and Bray moved to New York City where he was accepted into the Manhattan School of Music.
After graduation and with difficulty obtaining a U.S. green card, Bray moved to Toronto.
“Of course, I wanted to be a rock star, he muses, “but my study choices were more jazz based, I also found myself listening to the Doobie Brothers, Steely Dan, music that had harder, more intricate and intelligent structure.
Toronto proved a good move, Bray was teaching, writing, gigging steadily and he tells me how proud he feels that he did and still is financially able support himself, his wife and two children as a musician.
The recent move to Kelowna was a relatively easy choice to make. Both his daughters were in university, his parents had already moved to town leaving Calgary, and on a visit, he called an old friend Loni Moger, to perhaps set up some gigs while he was in town.
This is where I come into the picture; I organized a gig for Moger and Bray to play at a restaurant that I regularly sing at in Lake Country, which went over very well.
On the back of that, I invited Bray to perform a song at a fundraising event that I also organized and performed at— to raise money for a local musician who needed a heart transplant.
Bray got to meet and perform with the best jazz musicians the Okanagan had to offer. He saw how high the bar of talent was in the valley and felt confident that there was work to keep him employed as well as musically challenged.
Another connection: my husband build the house that Bray and his wife purchased.
Since his move to Kelowna, Bray feels proud of what he has already accomplished. One performance in particular was when he was invited by Rosemary Thomson to play with the Okanagan Symphony Orchestra for a series of concerts during the Canada 150 celebration.
During those performances, he met and friended violinist Susan Aylard, who was also the fiddle player for Cod Gone Wild.
When the band were looking for a new guitarist, she put his name forward and “it just fit” he said.
The Cods are just finishing their Christmas album and gearing up for a December tour. Bray wrote the song I’ll Never Be A Come From Away, which will appear on the album.
Bray is also gearing up for a couple of shows in November of the Songs of the Southern Belles.
“The shows are magic, I am humbled by the reaction of the audience and the love and connection they feel from our song choices," he said.
The Songs of The Southern Belles will be performing in Kelowna Nov. 15-16 at the Rotary Centre for the Arts, 421 Cawston Ave., Tickets can be purchased through the box office: 250-717-5304 or through online Facebook links.
You can read more about Bray through his website: guitaristseanbray.com or