THE EXPANDING VISION OF DAVID GRAY HE'S PICKING UP THE PACE WITH `LIFE IN SLOW MOTION'.Byline: Fred Shuster Music Writer David Gray David Gray can refer to:
New York City’s famous cinema; home of the Rockettes. [Am. Hist.: NCE, 2338] See : Theater were followed by an all-access invite to see U2 at Madison Square Garden Current arenas in the National Hockey League Western Conference Eastern Conference . ``Oh, they were fantastic,'' Gray said. ``Playing a gigantic arena like that - you really have to be doing something special to pull it off. They didn't disappoint. It was a great show, and they packed in people of all ages.'' Gray has similar ambitions. His just-released seventh album, ``Life in Slow Motion'' (ATO/RCA), is the first of his discs to be recorded in a full-scale studio as opposed to the bedroom-size spaces he favored in the past. The results, in which Gray and his group were abetted by an outside producer, Marius De Vries de Vries. For some persons thus named use Vries. (known for masterminding orchestral-pop touches for Rufus Wainwright, David Bowie, Madonna and U2), is an engrossing engrossing, in English law, practice of acquiring a monopoly of goods in order to sell them at an inflated price. The offense was ordinarily limited to monopolies of foods. Related practices were forestalling, i.e. , atmospheric set of tuneful melancholy songs. ``You can't stay in the bedroom forever,'' said Gray, 37, who was born in Manchester, England, but grew up in a fishing village in Wales Wales, Welsh Cymru, western peninsula and political division (principality) of Great Britain (1991 pop. 2,798,200), 8,016 sq mi (20,761 sq km), west of England; politically united with England since 1536. The capital is Cardiff. . ``I needed to get away from that low-fi style of recording - the programming, computerized side of things. I really wanted to experiment, so a lot of the new songs came out of playing as a band or messing around with sounds. A lot of them were just written in the standard way of me sitting at the piano or whatever. But it became far more about playing, and we realized this was our strong point - we can actually play.'' Fans can get a sense of Gray's well-earned confidence at his show tonight at the Gibson Amphitheatre The Gibson Amphitheatre (formerly Universal Amphitheatre) is a theatre located in Universal City, California, USA. It was originally built in 1972 as an outdoor venue, but was remodeled and converted into an indoor theatre in 1982. at Universal CityWalk Universal CityWalk is a part of Universal Studios Hollywood, Universal Orlando Resort and Universal Studios Japan originating from Universal's first park, Universal Studios Hollywood. , where haunting Texas singer-songwriter Jolie Holland Jolie Holland is a Texas-born singer and performer who combines elements of folk, traditional country, jazz, and blues. She is one of the founding members of The Be Good Tanyas. Labelmates Tom Waits and Sage Francis are both outspoken fans of Holland's. opens for him. Gray is also booked to perform today on ``The Ellen DeGeneres Show,'' broadcast at 4 p.m. on NBC NBC in full National Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. commercial broadcasting company. It was formed in 1926 by RCA Corp., General Electric Co. (GE), and Westinghouse and was the first U.S. company to operate a broadcast network. (Channel 4). ``A huge proportion of music is about marketing,'' Gray said. ``I accept that, but I also enjoy getting out there and singing for my supper. I like playing to an audience. It's not just a job. It means a lot to me.'' Gray never gave up, even when there was no job and no applause. His first three albums did so badly, he was dropped by every label that had him under contract. In 1998, when Gray was sure no company wanted him, he funded his next record himself, recording on a four-track machine in his bedroom. That disc turned out to be ``White Ladder,'' which was widely released in 2000 to become a multimillion-selling worldwide hit (and the largest-selling album ever in Ireland). Sales were fueled by the heart-tugging track ``Babylon,'' which found a home at a variety of radio formats. Don't expect him to sing that breakthrough hit tonight. ``I'm not a human jukebox,'' he insisted. ``I love the fact the audience knows and loves my older songs, but I'm trying to present music I can sing with genuine emotion now - and that's my new stuff.'' Those new songs were a product of three years of personal growth, a period that saw the birth of two kids. ``Fear and doubt are huge obstacles,'' he said. ``I did lose the plot at times in some ways, as you do when you're immersed in something and you're kind of craving it stopping, but you can't let go of it either. And this is a document of what happened.'' Fred Shuster, (818) 713-3676 fred.shuster(at)dailynews.com DAVID GRAY Where: Gibson Amphitheatre at Universal CityWalk, 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City. When: 8:15 tonight. Tickets: $29.50 to $55. (213) 480-3232; ticketmaster.com. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: no caption (David Gray) Allesandro Abbonizio/AFP/Getty Images |
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