The Into Blue EP is now available.

Andrea Stray likes to create moods.  Her last CD Vacancy was a collection of songs from spaghetti western flavored sounds to capturing the feeling of a desert rain after a hot day.  With Into Blue, the artist continues to write songs that let you get lost in the rhythms, textures and stories. Not feeling the need to stick to any one genre, Stray skirts the darker edges of Americana and flirts with Indie Noir in the manner of Neko Case and Cowboy Junkies

Playing in bands over the years in various genres of music, Stray recorded her debut album, Vacancy in Nashville in 2010.  The record found its audience in Americana music and folk rock fans.  Her second release, Into Blue in 2017 is a more raw and revealing album, both offer proof of her instrumental, vocal, and songwriting abilities. All songs were written and produced by Stray.

Her main instruments are guitar and piano. Stray recorded Into Blue in Nashville. She explains, "Nashville is a city that bleeds music. I like recording with everyone playing together with minimal overdubs. It just feels right to me to capture the way the song comes alive. The musicians are great players and easy to work with.”  

The title track, "Into Blue" has a distorted guitar intro that weaves in and out of the song.  Adding cello and piano Stray describes the intent, “I wanted the music to feel like it is creeping up on you, like the way love or lust does.” Corenflos takes the lead on guitar and helps to capture the mood.

“I wanted the jazz-tinged "Little Word" to feel like being at a noir jazz club or lounge,” she explained.  “Bending the guitar strings creates a deep slinky mood and J.T.’s electric guitar solo feels kind of sexy, yet lonely.” She adds, "I was thinking about how the mysterious little word  "love" can cause such a big sensation." 

Creating sounds and writing stories are an integral part of Andrea Stray’s life.  She usually writes her songs between midnight and dawn when she says, “the world is a little quieter.” Stray's song, “Tastes Like a Heartache” was one of the winners in the American Songwriter Magazine July/August lyric contest.

~~~~~~~~~~~
Her debut album "Vacancy" was recorded with top notch players in Nashville. Some of the players have performed with the likes of Willie Nelson, Slaid Cleaves and Cowboy Junkies. Andrea says, "I like to write songs where the melodies and tone of the instruments help tell the story. The musicians were amazing and very in tune with the mood of each song."

Andrea lived in many different places while growing up including Tucson, the Rocky Mountains and the foggy shores of California. Especially drawn to Tucson where the open spaces and mystery of the desert have shown up in her songs. She learned to play guitar on her father’s old Gibson guitar and has written songs most of her life. She has played with several bands and likes to work with other musicians on their projects whenever she can. She performs live with a full band or sometimes as a duo. She currently lives in Nashville with her husband.