Aural Robert

Staying up on what's new in music ain't easy these days, in a world short on new record stores and long on websites, social media blather, and celebrity. Asked what he listens to when he's not writing music, fast-talking septuagenarian Ray Mason exudes a teenager's eager urgency.

"I keep my ears open. I've been listening to new stuff by people I have been following for years like Nick Lowe and The Straitjackets, Rodney Crowell, Kathleen Edwards, and Lucinda Williams. And then Craig Finn. I don't own any Hold Steady albums, but I love his last two solo albums. He has a new one coming out that [Adam] Granduciel from War on Drugs produced. And The Beths of course, Expert in a Dying Field. I remember hearing [The dB's] Pete Holsapple raving about that on the web and I went, I've gotta get that album!"

During his 50-plus years of making music, singer/songwriter/guitar player/bassist Mason has, through unceasing determination, quietly become a towering if unfailingly humble musical presence, not only in musically rich Western Massachusetts but across the entire Northeastern US. He has recorded 15 albums, solo and with The Ray Mason Band; and nine more with his trio, The Lonesome Brothers. Stylistically, all his music mixes 1960s rock/pop, folk-rock, and power pop with most flavors of Americana. His latest album, 2025's You Never Lose That Grip—available streaming and as a CD at raymason.com—was produced, mixed, and mastered by Tom Mahnken in his Heartface Studios in Ashfield and Granby, Massachusetts.

"Ray's album was recorded digitally entirely in Logic, mastered with Ozone 11," Mahnken wrote in an email. "He recorded live with his rhythm guitar and drums and overdubbed the bass afterwards. Each song was no more than two takes if I recall correctly. Ray is not very hands-on when it comes to the recording process—in a good way. He doesn't belabor things. I think most of his bass tracks were one take. He is a fantastic bass player, so melodic and interesting but also straight ahead and solid when needed."

A native of Holyoke, Massachusetts, where he grew up in a public housing project, Mason began buying singles by the likes of Sam Cooke, Duane Eddy, and The Everly Brothers in 1959. But like so many other Americans of his generation, seeing The Beatles on Ed Sullivan changed his life. His grandmother bought him a 1964 Sears-brand Silvertone guitar when he graduated from 8th grade, an event captured in the photo used on the cover of his 1999 solo album, Castanets (below). Enamored with the guitar's "ringing" tone, he's been playing Silvertones ever since. The green 1965 model he plays most often these days was purchased from a friend for $20.

A question about how many songs he's written over his five decades in music gives Mason pause. "Good question, I've never counted them. Could be hundreds," he says, pivoting instinctively toward modesty. "Someone once asked me that and I said I've written two or three hundred, and two or three of them are pretty good."

Despite his many years playing music professionally, Mason has never been on a major label or had a breakout single that led to larger fame and/ or financial rewards. Today he releases his music on his own label, Captivating Music, but he admits there was a moment when he wanted more.

"When I was younger, I might've thought, 'Oh, I need to try to get on a label.' I remember flying out to California and playing one time for Restless/Enigma," Mason begins. "There was a guy at Restless who really wanted to put me on the label, take all my four-track stuff that I did in my room with the hiss and everything. The label owners watched me play, and they liked it, but it wasn't going to happen. Eventually other things came along, and people I know who own independent smaller labels would put out stuff of mine, and I really appreciate that." In 1999, Tar Hut Records released It's Heartbreak That Sells: A Tribute To Ray Mason, an 18-track collection filled with performances of Mason compositions performed by artists including Eric Ambel, Cheri Knight, Ass Ponys, and others.

Asked if the lack of larger success ever made him consider quitting music for something easier or more lucrative, his answer is quick and resolute. "No, I don't think I've ever thought about that. Even now, when I don't have the amount of gigs I used to. At one time, if I didn't play like 20 gigs a month, I thought I was slacking off."

Though content today in his definition of success, Mason keeps his songwriting muse alive and productive in his 75th year.

"You have to remain a fan of music," he reflects. "You always need to keep that. I've been playing music in bands since the '60s, but I feel like I've never lost being a fan. Playing records or going out to hear someone play, if you lose that, you lose something.

"I'll think, Okay, I wanna hear something new that just came out but at the same time I wanna hear The Notorious Byrd Brothers for the twelve hundredth time I wanna hear the new Waxahatchee record, Hurray for the Riff Raff. The list goes on and on.

"I know what age I am, but you get to a certain point where you think, I don't feel that old. But then once you wake up in the morning it's like, Yeah, I feel a little rustier than I did yesterday. Where's that can of WD 40? "