Ray Fulcher has made a name for himself, having co-written some major hits with Luke Combs. He is crafting his own path out in the genre, with his raw and gritty songs about real life. Ahead of his Opry debut this week and the release of three new tracks, we interview Ray about his journey so far.
What a huge week for you, with the Opry, the singles coming out! It must be a lot to take in – how are you feeling about it?
It is, I was telling somebody last night, ‘It’s here, it’s the week. There’s a lot of stuff happening – music coming out, we have our first event with my mental health awareness foundation on Wednesday, and then the music and the Opry on Friday. Then, of course, I have people coming in from out of town, so it’s a whole lot, but it’s great.
It’s kind of the culmination of the dream. Everyone always sees the success, but they haven’t seen the years of work to get to where you are now – the years of grafting.
They always say it takes 10 years to make an overnight success.
I mean, the singles, I love them, I think they’re great. You’ve always shown in your music and your songwriting that real life. Is that something that’s always been really important to you?
Yeah, I mean with ‘Girl In It,’ it’s kind of the reasons I love that one so much. It’s  just the human condition in one song – the falling in love, the being in love, but then also the heartbreak, which most people are going to experience over the course of their life – all that stuff and finding a way to wrap those emotions into one song. We started that song with that in mind. I’m really proud of that one, because it’s just honest – you’re going to fall in love, you’re going to be in love and there’s probably gonna be a time where you’re going to mess things up and that’s okay because we all do.
These songs to portray the whole spectrum of life, you’ve got ‘Way Out’ which is very different from ‘Girl In It’ which is different from ‘Bucket List Beers.’ The last one resonated so much, because we’ve all had moments over the past year where we’ve felt like we’re missing out on those moments. I think that one has so much emotional resonance to it.
Right! Because we got those taken away from us for a while. With ‘Way Out,’ I remember that push-pull feeling, I’ve kind of been around the country and stuff and now when I look back at my hometown, it’s become a little more romanticised than it was before. I’ve always loved my hometown, but now I realise more than ever that it’s a really special place to me. I always wanted to write a song about that push-pull feeling – it being a special place but still need to go. The hook really comes from when I was on my way to Nashville to move, I remember being like, ‘what am I doing? I’m leaving a comfortable life and have it all set up back home. Why would I ever want a way out of there?’ In that case, I’m glad I kept driving to Nashville, but that’s kind of where that comes from.
For these songs, I know you’ve worked again with Jonathan Singleton, who you’ve worked with in the past. Can you talk about how that partnership evolved and what he has meant for your music?
It’s been invaluable. So Jonathan, I met him when I first moved to town and there was a song that was on the radio when I first moved called ‘Diamond Rings and Ole Barstools’ that I absolutely loved and he wrote that one. So, I started digging into what he had done and he wrote so many songs that I love, like ‘Why Don’t We Just Dance’ and ‘All The Way Down The Line.’  Every time I saw him play live, at all these writers’ rounds, I was like, ‘my gosh, this guy’s an absolute badass’. So, I got to meet him through Luke Combs and then we started writing songs together. I really just love his vibe and love being around him.
One day, I just said, ‘hey, what if we just work some songs for me? You know, what if you produce?’ And he’s like, ‘I’m gonna wait on you to ask me that’. We started the partnership that way, but my gosh watching his mind in the studio, he gets that kind of grit of the songs – he’s from West Tennessee – and he brings a little bit of that West Tennessee Memphis thing, where there’s always something moving in the song, even if it’s in the background. He has a lot of soul in his playing and what needs to be done in the song, he’s really one of the best – if not the best – when it comes to that kind of stuff. The songs would definitely not sound the way they do, track wise and feel wise if it wasn’t for him.
Obviously someone else who’s been instrumental in your career has been Luke Combs. How important was it for both of you to form this partnership where you wrote the songs that you wanted to create and this sound that wasn’t there before?
For us, when we came to town, we didn’t have anything going on and we were writing a lot together and we were talking about how we don’t know what Nashville really wants to hear and what sound we’re supposed to chase – that’s so exhausting. So, we thought why don’t we just write songs that we’re just going to love and be proud of, and do our own thing and then see where that lands us? On his side first, it happened to be the songs that everybody had been wanting to hear – that first record broke so many records and then the second one did the same. It’s all the same kind of sound and what was important for me is finding a way to still write those same type of songs that said things in the same sort of way, but sounded different sonically from what Luke’s been doing. These first three sound very different, though the authentic message is the same.
Well your vocals are so different. I mean the heart is the same, talking about real things and real people but your vocals are so different. I also wanted to talk to you about your Pretty Good Ball Fund – you’ve got stuff going on this week with it, can you talk a bit about it and how people can get involved?Â
So, Pretty Good Ball started as an idea for me, I knew I wanted to start some sort of charity foundation – I didn’t know what that would be, but back in the fall, I just hadn’t had time to come reflect and all during the pandemic. I was looking back and thinking about what are some of the things I can do for myself that I had done before. I had talked to some people about therapy, and for me, it was just like,  let me learn about myself a little bit more and how can I better myself and learn some things about me that maybe have been holding me back in relationships and everything. That was so helpful for me, but we moved into this next chapter talking about a charity and I  told my manager Neil. I just got thinking about how hard this town is and there’s a lot of people – musicians and songwriters and stuff – who even if they’ve needed therapy, or are going through something or whatever, they don’t go, maybe because they can’t afford it. So,  one half of the fund is a fundraising thing for that, but the bigger part is being just the normal guy in town who hopefully helps break the stigma and makes it okay to talk about the fact that it’s okay to not be okay. When something’s wrong with your car, you take it to the mechanic, people aren’t any different and so, it’s getting that conversation out there and making it okay to talk about it. Hopefully, people think ‘Ray’s just a good old boy like us, if he’s okay talking about it, if he’s been in therapy, then if I’m feeling some type of way, it’s okay too.’ This is coming from a guy who didn’t know about mental health at all. I got myself through with willpower and then next thing, you’re still feeling the same way six months later. So, hopefully just making the conversation more okay to be had and breaking the stigma, but also we team with Musicians Health Alliance and they have the infrastructure to put any funds that we raise into place and so people can apply for help and stuff, and then they can help get you started in therapy and give you someone to talk to anonymously. I think that it gives people a real tangible outlet and helps continue the conversation.
I think it’s amazing what you guys are doing, so thank you so much for taking the time to chat with me today and good luck with this epic week you’ve got ahead!
Thank you for having me.
