|
|
|
Biography  Article written by Anne Becker and published in the Palo Alto Weekly, on line 6 September 2002. |  Simon Dray touts himself as the only French-American singer-songwriter in the Bay Area
Simon Dray knows he deserves to make it big.
And he's not afraid to admit it.
"They say if you can do it, you're not bragging about it,"
he said during an afternoon coffee at Cafe Borrone in Menlo Park.
"I might not sound good saying it, but I don't know a lot of other French people around
who do what I do with the same intensity and consistency.
I haven't heard anyone around singing with the quality that I do."
After more than 25 years in the Bay Area singing his own songs and others' in French and English with 20 of those years spent hosting and producing a
French-American radio show for the University of San Francisco's KUSF Dray has earned the right to brag.
The 56-year-old transplant from Bordeaux, France, has been strumming his guitar
and belting out tunes in the Bay Area since he moved to San Francisco in 1976.
A self-trained musician, Dray has produced four of his own CDs and performed scores of gigs around the area.
He currently performs regulary at Café Borrone and the BBC in Menlo Park.
Now if only Dray could get the musical break he's been waiting for.
"You know when you get to the spot of being frustrated as an artist," he said.
"You know you have what people want and you know you want to give it.
I'll be 57 next month, but I can still see myself signing with a record company and taking it from there."
Dray, who writes material in French and English and adapts American songs to French,
considers himself the only French-American songwriter in the Bay Area, and said there is a lack of recognition for bilingual singers like himself. |
|  "There's a lot of songwriters in France and they remain completely unknown in America
and these are big stars in Europe," he said.
"That's why I want to be the French-American singer around here.
I'm trying to develop this music for people.
Dray cannot exactly put his finger on the genre
of music he plays ("I'm kind of a pop-rock-blues singer,")
but he said his style is virtually extinct both in America and France.
"Most people in France, even the street performers,
are rap and techno," he said.
"My style's not 'yo' and all this rap stuff. I'm an endangered species,
a guy playing a good song with rhythm and lyrics."
The jovial Dray, whose round face is most often seen
under a hat from his large collection
("I don't know why I wear them I used to have long hair,
but you have to change a little")
has worked part-time at Radio Shack, obtained a computer science degree from Heald College,
and even lent his distinctive French voice to a George Lucas IMAX movie
("Niagara, Miracle, Myths and Magic") in 1986 all in the pursuit of financing his music career.
He currently works part-time behind the counter at Old Knickerbockers Tobacconist in Menlo Park.
"I've got a passion, but unfortunately when you're an artist with a passion or two, you've got to survive," he said.
Dray started playing guitar on the streets of Paris after he moved away from home at age 15.
He left France to work as an entertainment programming director at Club Med resorts worldwide, earning two of the chain's vacationer-comment-card-elected "Oscars" for shows he produced.
"It's actually very prestigious, it's quite a recognition, and I did it twice," he said.
When some friends talked about driving cross-country from New York to California, Dray could not refuse going along.
"When you're a musician in Europe in my generation and you go to rock festivals, all you hear about is California," he said. "We stopped in San Francisco, I pulled out my guitar at Fisherman's Wharf and started playing, and the people loved it. I said, My God, this is America. Here I stay.' And I did." Dray knew no English when he took a job at a San Francisco bistro, and introduced his songs by reading off index cards a friend wrote for him.
Many hard-studied episodes of "M.A.S.H." later, Dray finally picked up the language and has been promoting bilingualism ever since.
"People were laughing at me when I tried to read English they loved it," Dray said.
"They thanked me for trying to communicate.
I'm 100 percent for bilingualism in any country. It's very important."
Dray took an opportunity to promote bilingual singing when the host of KUSF's French radio show asked him to fill in for a few weeks 20 years ago.
He now hosts and produces the two-hour "FM French Connection Bistro," which airs once every three months and features musical guests and a little of Dray's own music.
"After 20 years, you get a following but if I would play every week,
people would get bored," he said.
Dray is currently most excited for a statewide solo tour he's planning to begin in mid-September, organized around branches of Alliance Française, an association devoted to promoting French culture in America.
Dray said he is confident that despite his self-professed advancing age, the tour will be a success.
"I still rock and roll," he said."I don't techno, but I rock and roll . . . so to speak
I don't roll all over the stage, but I've got good stuff."
Which is why it's finally time for that big break, he said.
"When it comes to me, I'm not modest anymore.
I know what I'm doing and I'm proud of what I'm doing.
I've been here for long enough I'm almost a native.
It's time for people to notice me."
Dray recently joined forces with the group FAZZ, originally specialized in flamenco JAZZ : Two fabulous musicians, Farzad Arjmand on lead guitar and Andy Woodhouse on bass.
The new combination of Simon songs and Fazz arrangements was acclaimed by the public during their most recent appearances at Café Borrone in Menlo Park which turned out to be an unforgettable summer time concert.
They also produced a single on CD, POSEZ LES ARMES, lyrics and music by
Simon Dray and arrangements by FAZZ. |
|  Simon DRAY began playing guitar in the streets of Paris at the age of 15 after leaving his family. He worked as an animator for Club Med in the world and has twice won the "Oscars" of public support for shows that are created.
He says, "in fact, it is a great honor because it is a true recognition. In addition, I have successfully doubled. "
When friends offer to drive across America from New York to San Francisco, Simon could not refuse: "in Europe, a musician of my generation went to rock festivals, where he did speak of California. When we arrived at Fisherman's Wharf, I took out my guitar and started playing. People applauded me and I thought:''My God, it is America, I want to live here. And''I moved! "
Simon DRAY did not speak English when he started in San Francisco Bistro. He presented his songs by reading the cards that a friend had written for him. Several episodes (length) of MASH later, Simon put claim to master the language of Shakespeare and it has continued since then to promote, through bilingualism, the right to both cultures.
"People laughed when I read my cards painfully, they m'adoraient because they appreciated my desire to communicate. I'm funds for bilingualism in all countries. It is very important. "
Simon DRAY had the opportunity to promote bilingualism where, twenty years ago, the host of the program French KUSF asked to replace a few weeks, and for more than 21 years he produced and fostered the two hours of his FM weekly French Connection Bistro where he receives musicians, persanalités political, sports and other and sometimes his own songs.
He apologizes "after twenty years, I had many faithful regulars, but I could not weary them from my songs every week. "
Simon DRAY is currently very busy preparing for a tour in th antenna of the California Alliance Francaise, an association dedicated to the dissemination of French culture in America. Simon says, not without some humor, that despite his age coming, there is no doubt the success of his tour, set up with the complicity of his friends and partners in this adventure, Eddie Warner, guitar extraordinaire, Brian Brown " The Kid "has the bass, and another group of French representative, Jean-Michel Proietto a battery and percussion. He has with this group or even friendship premium on music, produced several CDs, including Mama Dray , All the gardens of the world, Ask the guns ... and more to come ...
"I still rock and roll" brags he says. "I do not but I techno rock and roll ... so to speak because I do not caper around the stage but I have other good rounds in my bag. "
He said: "It's probably a good time to make the big breakthrough. "
"For me and the risk of being immodest, I dropped the false modesty. I know what I am worth and I'm proud. I've been here for so long, I am almost a native.
It's time that people are interested in me! "
|
| |  "After 20 years, you get a following but if I would play every week,
people would get bored," he said.
Dray is currently most excited for a statewide solo tour he's planning to begin in mid-September, organized around branches of Alliance Française, an association devoted to promoting French culture in America.
Dray said he is confident that despite his self-professed advancing age, the tour will be a success.
"I still rock and roll," he said."I don't techno, but I rock and roll . . . so to speak
I don't roll all over the stage, but I've got good stuff."
Which is why it's finally time for that big break, he said.
"When it comes to me, I'm not modest anymore.
I know what I'm doing and I'm proud of what I'm doing. |
|
|
| Site Créé par www.simondray.com Tous droits réservés 2011/2012 | Last update : Sunday, December 18, 2011 |
|
|
|
