grayman

Grayman

Q & A

Stanfield Gray of Grayman answered our questions on 1/31/02, via E-mail

Q: What is your favorite historical figure?
     A: "We're all Jesus, Buddha, and the Wizard of Oz"--XTC
Q: What are your musical influences?
     A: "Dylan, Tom Petty, Elvis Costello, Stones, XTC, Bill Monroe, Emmylou Harris, Clash"
Q: What are your favorite foods?
     A: "Anything cooked by Sunny Rakestraw, especially her sweet tater pie"
Q: What is your favorite venue to play?
     A: "Corner of King and Cannon"

Grayman is:

Stanfield Gray -- Vocals, guitar
Brad MacLean -- Guitar, vocals
Mike Watson -- Drums
Aaron Levy -- Rhodes organ, guitar, vocals
Josh Goodwin -- Bass guitar

Website: www.graymanmusic.com

Genre: Rock & Roll

CD: "The Flawless Dandy," available at 52.5, Millenium, and Cat's Music

Return to the "Artists" page
Return to the Main page

www.CharlestonRocks.com
Copyright 2002

Band Info

Q: What is your guilty pleasure?
     A: "Too pleasurable to give away"
Q: What is your favorite CD/Record?
     A: "Tie: Exile on Main Street and Blood on the Tracks"
Q: What is your favorite beverage?
     A: "Tie: Bush Mills Irish Whiskey and a Rocky Road Milk Shake"
Q: How long have you performed in this area?
     A: "That's a mighty personal question"
Q: What are your favorite things about the Charleston area?
     A: "Shufflin' about the streets and chewin' the cud"
Q: What is your favorite song to perform?
     A: "Fisherman's Blues by the Waterboys"
Q: What is the origin of your name?
     A: "Beaufort T. Justice of the Law came to me in a dream and said, 'Son, henceforth thou shalt be known as Grayman. If, for no other reason, than I said so.' And that sounded good enough for me."

Review

Stanfield Gray, lead singer for Grayman, emailed us back when we were a little hatchling nearly a year ago. He religiously sent us emails and provided schedule information, but each time we penned he and his compadres into our little black book, we were foiled--the flu, floods, and frantic work schedules kept us at bay.

Therefore we were ecstatic to finally catch Grayman at Cumberland's--and they were definitely worth the wait. Stanfield and his crew have morphed over time from creating "Americana roots rock" to simple, yet snazzy, rock n' roll. This style change has some to do with a rotating lineup of Charleston all-stars, which now includes Aaron Levy (Rhodes organ, guitar, vocals), Brad MacLean (guitar, vocals), Mike Watson (drums), and Josh Goodwin (bass guitar). Stanny Gray (ya dig where the name came from?) does the honors on lead vocals and guitar.

Grayman isn't splashy, but instead sells self-confidence and some rock n' roll righteousness. I can say now that I've had the honors of listening to a song that cherishes resting next to a "good lookin' corpse." Their lyrics aren't cliched, and beg to share your focus with the music itself. Stanfield performs with a hint of irony and a touch of class, and quite a bit of mystery, if you ask me. Aaron, Brad, Mike, and Josh all play in symphony, with the same je ne sais quoi--they play precisely, but also without boundaries. I got the impression that Grayman is a musical collective that is as much a piece of art as it is beer-battered rock and roll.

Grayman does not play often (hence our difficulty in catching up with them), but this is part of their mystique. They often ask friends and musical guests to sit in with them, and have no qualms about mixing up their style and repetoire. They are an integral part of the Charleston music scene, and will be so for a long time.