With a gentle, easygoing demeanor, and a genuine sense of humor, Ray Price has the presence of man at ease with his legendary status, along with a striking reverence and appreciation for the life to which he’s been privy. Like many of today’s country music legends, he's has been long forgotten by mainstream radio, but there’s no doubt he's had made his own indelible impression on the face of country music, and there's a hope that the impact will still continue as he gets ready to release his newest project: 'Time.'

With hindsight being 20/20, it's more than obvious Ray Price's varied exposure to music when he was young, influenced him in later years. "My Mother and Dad separated when I was 3 years old." he recalls "My Mother wanted to be a career woman, my Dad couldn’t do anything but farm. He took my brother because he was older. My Mother couldn’t afford both of us, she kept me because I was the baby. I grew up in Dallas and spent my summers with my brother and Dad on the farm. When I was in town I listened to things like Bing Crosby, the Ink Spots, those kind of people. When I was in the country I heard Jimmie Rodgers, Ernest Tubb, and all of those. I had an education on both sides. I was blessed and I think that’s what kind of guided me. I’ve always loved good songs."

Although he attended college in the hopes of becoming a veterinarian, it was music that was destined to be his lifelong career. "When I was going to college I was staying in the naval barracks on the GI Bill of Rights. In WWII I was a Marine and I wanted to be a veterinarian. There was a group in the barracks where I stayed that had a small band. The guitar player wrote country songs and asked me if I would be on a tape for a publishing company. Of course I  agreed.  I sang all the time, I just didn’t sing country. When we went to the publishers the second one said to come back the next day. I went back and he said I had a contract. I decided it was what I really wanted to do. Of course, now I wish I was a vet. I’ve got horses and it would save me a lot of money. " he laughs " If I was a vet I’d be a rich man."

In the early days of his career, Ray made an acquaintance that would have a lasting impact, when his paths crossed with that of Hank Williams." In Nashville, on Friday nights, they had what was called the Friday Night Frolics and when the stars came into town Friday some of them had radio shows. Hank had one for Duck Head Overalls, I believe. A friend of mine in the promotion business, Troy Martin, got me on his show."

The pair hit it off and the business side of things soon evolved into a friendship that saw Ray and Hank become roommates. "At that time he had Audrey had gotten a divorce and he wanted me to live in the house with him. I lived upstairs and he lived downstairs." he recalls "He was a great guy, certainly there was none of this 'I’m a star, you’re not' sort of thing. He was just a regular person."

Citing him as a mentor as well as a friend, Ray learned first hand from one of country music's masters. "I watched him on stage a lot. I watched how he worked the stage, how he carried himself.  He was really down to earth. He talked between songs. I tried to expand on that but I never did talk much. I just sang songs. He’d say why don’t you talk to the audience? I’d said well they don’t buy me talking on records." he laughs "Later on I learned to relax a little bit, and talk to them. I enjoy it now that I do it."

Despite the legendary status that Hank William's life has achieved, Ray feels some of it can be attributed to Hank's untimely death,  "The legend was built up by a lot of publicity and by the record companies. They've built up things in people’s minds. I don’t think Hank would have liked it like that." One thing Ray is sure of, sadly enough : "If he had stayed with us, he would never had made it on records anymore than anybody else."

Country music has changed many times over the span of his career, and indeed Ray's been an integral part of more than one of those changes. But sometimes with changes and shifts come losses.

Ray had gotten wind of Audium's interest in him by way of a booking agent." He mentioned that there might be a chance I could get on the label and of course that’s what I did. I haven’t had a label in a long time and the fact that it was a record label that could get my records played, meant more to me than anything. For a long time I haven’t been able to."

When asked why he thought that was, the legendary Texan pulls no punches. "It’s the old story. It’s payola. From what I understand to get played on the stations that count, it’s close to a million dollars." he says matter-of-factly, pointing to the changes in policy that occurred during the Clinton administration. "A few years ago, instead of having just six or seven radio stations they were allowed to buy thousands. Of course the big business man heard about it, bought them, built corporations, tied into the big record companies and said 'you will play these and not others.'"

The consolidation of radio ownership, when added to other industry variables has led to the proliferation of, what he refers to as bubblegum rock', on today's mainstream radio. "Rock and roll in the 70’s died. They had all these plans, the big boys did, when they bought all the stations and they had to do something so they came up with this music, but they didn’t know what to call it." he explains. "At that time country music was the top music in America, and they tried to make everybody believe (the new music) was country. Of course if you say anything enough some people will believe it, but the dyed in the wool country fans never believed it, but they weren’t allowed to hear the music they wanted to hear. They denied them that, the ones that made country music popular, they denied them the right to listen to it on the radio."

There will be many who will quickly point to the countrypolitan era of country music, and say that  Ray’s successful venture from honky tonk to the more polished, uptown style is on par with shift from neo-traditional country to the current pop/country mêlée. Ray Price doesn't think the two are even worthy of comparison. In his eyes there's a lifetime of difference between the music of Patsy Cline and Faith Hill. "Countrypolitan was pretty music. The music you hear today on radio is just noise. The singers can’t sing without screaming and it sounds like only one person makes every record. There’s no creativity at all. The object of making a record is to sell more records and 'countrypolitan' sold more records."

"It makes me sad to know that they're not listening. It all started with Danny Boy. It sold millions of records, and  went over onto the pop charts. I had four or five different hits that did. That wasn't the intention, but I was glad it did because it sold more records. The way I sing, I'm a country singer, but you can call it anything you want to, as long as you call it good." he explains with a chuckle.

When Nashville's historic country radio station, WSM 650, was set to change it's format to sports/talk earlier this year, Ray Price had already seen the writing on the wall long before. "They don’t understand what country music means to the people. They don’t understand. There was so much hell raised that they had to back down, but if you don’t watch them they’ll come in the back door. I don’t know if they are very rich or very arrogant but they don’t care who they hurt. The only thing they know is how to count the money. And when they die you’ll never see a Brinks truck in the procession, money won’t mean anything then."

Although some may think country music is nonexistent today, Ray looks at it a different angle: "It’s always been there, people just haven’t known about it." With a style and voice that remains distinctive and flawless, Ray Price's upcoming album is like stepping back in time. If there was ever any doubt that at the age of 76 he'd be able to pull off making an album of solid classic country songs, one listen to Time will more than take care of those misconceptions.

Scheduled to be released August 27th on Audium Records, the album is the latest in a number of critically successful releases for burgeoning Nashville label. Within the last year the label has given country music fans such solid additions to their collections as Gail Davies' multi-artist compilation, Caught in the Webb - A Tribute to the Legendary Webb Pierce as well as a couple of solid hardcore country undertakings from Dale Watson: Every Song I Write Is For You and Live From London.

Not only did Audium Records bring Ray the opportunity to get his hands on a little airplay and his music to a wider audience, it also re-connected him with some long time friends and colleagues.

"These sessions represented a homecoming of sorts," said album producer Fred Foster.  "All surviving members of the original Nashville "A" team were hired for the sessions.  All of them had worked with Ray on many of his greatest hits, and I think I can speak for everyone when I say, we have had a lot of fun and made some great music. Ray Price has one of the great voices in all of music.  Working with him was an absolute thrill."

"Fred and I go back about thirty years. Getting to work with him again was great. It was like beginning all over again and we tried to recapture things, to let people know it’s still there and can be done." Ray says fondly of his long time friend/producer. Setting out to recapture the magic, the reunion also included remaining members of the infamous A Team: Harold Bradley, David Briggs, Jimmy Capps, Buddy Emmons, Buddy Harmon, Bob Moore and Pete Wade.    "They are all old friends, and they are all good musicians. We had a ball, I enjoyed it. It sounded right and everybody was happy with it. The main thing was they wanted a country album, I gave them a country album."

The lead single will be the opening track, a song that revives Ray Price's early signature sound. You Just Don’t Love Me Anymore penned by Joe Allen and Jan Crutchfield will have the honky tonk memories flooding back. "They wanted to know if I could still do the old style so I showed ‘em I could."

Ray Price's career has been filled with one memorable song after another, but the undeniable highlight of this album is the title track, "Time" (written by Max D Barnes) which Ray refers to as a blessing, coming along just as they were bringing the project to a close. "That was when I had already recorded ten songs and we were looking for two more. The fella who wrote the song, I’d never met him, but I knew he wrote good songs, came to a session. He brought two songs with him. He played Time the first time and I said you don’t have to play it anymore, I love it. It was perfect in my mind."

The song's lyrics are stunning and compelling. "The message of the song is so true. The lyrics are deep, but not so deep that no one can understand it. Everyone’s getting older, time’s not waiting for anyone." Hoping that the cut will be an eventual single, he is energized by it's potential. "I hope It'll be a smash. It’ll rejuvenate my career. I think the country fans are ready, they are going to rear back and hit them as hard as they can hit them."

Although the remixing of the album added voices that Ray would have chosen to leave off, he's more than pleased with the outcome. The album guarantees to make time stand still for long starved country fans.

He's been a part of country music's boom years - twice, and I'm willing to place my bets on Ray Price making it three. He still has it and with renewed enthusiasm, he's still flaunting it. "To tell you the truth, with this album the way it looks, the way it’s starting out I believe next year might be the biggest year I’ve had in my whole career."