2026 – Conquest Music
Release Date : July 1, 2026
By Phillip
Smith; July 4,
2026
I’ve been a fan of Vince
Ray’s work for a long time. I love
the way he incorporates rockabilly themes, zombies, voodoo, pinup girls, and
hot rods into his art. I have pieces of
his work scattered among my t-shirt, and cd collection representing several of
my favorite bands and musicians (Stray Cats, Reverend Horton Heat,
The Cramps, and Bob Corritore).
It wasn’t until this sixth record of Vince’s Back in the Shack,
that I was made aware of his music though.
Under his new persona “One Man Bandit”, Vince serves up a dozen ripping
tunes performing in a one-man-band format on vocals, guitar, bass drum and
maraca pedal, all in a style he refers to as “rock and roll voodoo”.
In explosive fashion, Vince kicks the doors in with an up-tempo blues-soaked rocker about taking one’s own life by car crash called “Rocket USA”. Originally recorded by the band Suicide in 1978, this version is stripped down to a furious beat and smoldering harmonica. Vince also includes another stellar cover from Suicide “Ghost Rider”. I love the back-woods juke-joint vibe this one has. His take on Tommy Tucker’s 1963 twelve-bar-blues “High Heel Sneakers” is downright riveting. “Everybody Smokes in Hell”, a song which had previously landed on Vince’s 2006 album Voodoo Rock ‘N’ Roll recorded with his band The Boneshakers, is served this time one-man-band style and sounds great. It’s fun to hear Roy Orbison’s hoodoo love song “Castin’ My Spell” brushed off and re-invented. Vince sings it like he means it, bringing an authenticity to the song.
Revved up with an ominous, raw and unbridled energy, Vince Ray’s Back in the Shack is definitely a hip-shaking good time.
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