Years ago Sugaray Rayford took a shot on a brand of blues music that was stirring inside of him.
The longtime singer who makes his home in Maricopa, about 35 miles south of Phoenix, had sung in plenty of blues circles, but soul was calling to him. He turned his focus to soul in the blues family tree for his past few albums, and Suga has emerged as one of the best in the world.
He’s a nominee – again – for the Blues Foundation’s B.B. King Entertainer of the Year at the 45th Annual Blues Music Awards, the Grammy Awards of the blues world, when the festivities take place this May in Memphis. His 2024 album, “Human Decency,” is also up for Soul Blues Album of the Year.
