We were lucky to catch up with Raymond Flanagan recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Raymond thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Has your work ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized?
People keep calling me a singer/songwriter and I keep telling them I’m a wistful bard. I don’t understand why it is so hard to get it through their thick skulls that I am a wistful bard, or why they keep winking at me.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I grew up eating a lot of Wendy’s. I also worked at Wendy’s for almost 19 years before I jumped fully into my music career. At a certain point, you’ve just had enough Wendy’s. I played my first open mic down in the basement of some barber shop in Berea, OH. There were a bunch of shady characters down there, not a one under the age of 46. I sat in with the house band on 2 Doors songs and “Stairway to Heaven”. I was terrified. I kept returning until eventually I met Kevin Elevin, who started booking me for some makers markets he was organizing in pop-up locations near Orange Village and Crocker Park. Due to the medieval nature of the material I perform, I prefer to be known as a wistful bard. I mainly perform songs from the 1200s because I think it’s important to keep these old traditions alive.
Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?
I wish I knew horsey sauce was such a good fretboard lubricant earlier in life. These are the kinds of tricks of the trade you only learn with experience.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.rayflanagan.net
- Instagram: @rayaflanagan
- Facebook: @rayaflanagan
- Twitter: @rayaflanagan
- Youtube: @rayaflanagan
- Other: rayflanagan.bandcamp.com
Image Credits
Geno Oradini Ray Flanagan