DRAY
SIMON
DRAY
FC
PRODUCTIONS35
1235
Jefferson Avenue, # 300,
Redwood City, CA 94062
650-701-0303
650-823-2228
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 55-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
three of his own CDs and performed scores of gigs around the area. He
currently
performs at Le Pot au Feu restaurant in Menlo Park, where he performs
Thursdays
through Sundays. 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 56 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 French songwriters in America
and
they remain completely unknown -- 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.
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Last revised, August 10 2003