some recent quotes:
John York of the byrds called him "a honky tonk Ezra Pound"
John Doe has called his songs "timeless in nature and classic in stance."
Ben Harper : saw "Sinner/Songwriter" for The Aim Recording Company as "The Bomb!", including Brayer's "secret hits" in his top ten albums of the year in Rolling Stone Magazine's year end issue of 1996 and included him on his 1997 Virgin Records CD The Will to Live.
Alison Krauss : sees him as no less than "today's prime dreamer" winning 3 Grammies and a gold record for her album So Long, So Wrong whose title track was written by Brayer.
Stuart Duncan : viewed him as "Norman Rockwell driving his chopper through your mobile home", and in his 1994 grammy nominated solo record as being the very sound of the restrained rules of life cracking.
Michael Hedges cited him as "the father of catholic and western music" and due to his prolific output, as originating from "the planet of prolifia".
Hilleary Burgess: "Michael and I plotted every conceivable possibility, from Hedges covering Brayer's tunes, to a duet album, to Hedges producing Brayer's album. I have no doubt that Michael would have tried them all, had he been around long enough."
Darol Anger : "The same strain of American lyrical mad genius as Bob Dylan, William Burroughs, Neil Young, and... that's about it."
Michael Manring : "Americana Revolator"
Robert Morrow: of "City of Quartz" fame said, "Brayer does for the art of songwriting what the lava lamp did for light."
we'd like to dedicate this newlsetter to the candle of loving memory of Ralph William Brayer, Dick Barnes, Norma Dickey, Eric Schiller, and Frizz Fuller
back to homepage
to discography