Ten years ago, Rebekah and Gabriel Craft of married folk-rock duo Linen Ray found themselves living parallel lives as musicians. At night, while Gabriel was out gigging as an in-demand pro drummer, Rebekah would compose songs in the privacy of their bedroom. Each didn’t realize their romantic life partner was also their musical soulmate. Coming together, the two discovered untapped artistic potential. 

Today, Linen Ray has emerged a critically-acclaimed folk-rock/Americana band that is releasing its second studio album on May 13, 2022. On The Mend is an earthy but elegant 12-song album produced in close collaboration with longtime artistic ally British producer Patrick Jordan (Young Rebel Set, Cattle & Cane, Matt Wilde). It’s inspired by hope, healing, and the couple’s new hometown of Nashville, Tennessee. 

“We have a story to share, and we’re hoping that we’ll help others through our music,” Rebekah says. “Our songs are vulnerable and thought-provoking, and they take the listener through a journey of healing and recovery.”

Linen Ray pulls influences from 1970s Laurel Canyon folk-pop, 1960s and 1970s rock, alt-country and traditional country, and gospel. The duo features Rebekah’s pristine and soul-tinged vocals upfront, ably backed by Gabriel’s subtly dexterous drums, conjuring the pocket and clever syncopations of Mick Fleetwood. The pair fill out the sound with ace musicians playing nuanced and intuitively, letting the songs and Rebekah’s vocals luxuriate in sympathetic and restrained musicality. Lyrically, Linen Ray writes with raw candor but always nestles messages of hope in its stirring songs. “We write about our personal and life experiences. We do a lot of soul-searching while we write, and we want to be as transparent as possible,” Rebekah says. 

Linen Ray has previously released a studio album, a keepsake live album, an EP, and a series of singles leading up to On The Mend. In addition, Rebekah appears on Patrick Jordan’s solo album, Silver Linings. Recent career highlights include the single "Love Ain't Easy" being chosen as Lt. Dan's DJ Pick of the Week on Nashville's Lightning 100, and the song being selected to appear on Relix March 2022 CD Sampler as an artist-winning entry. The couple have also been featured in Authority Magazine as rising Nashville stars, and in UK’s classic rock hub thestrangebrew.co.uk.

Rebekah and Gabriel have been married for 18 years, and met at work when Rebekah was Gabriel’s boss. Up until then, the two had divergent paths in music. Rebekah grew up with a family of musicians, and she got her start singing in the church where her father was a pastor of a multicultural congregation. There, she was exposed to traditional hymns, gospel, and Contemporary Christian. “When I would sing in church as a child, I would notice people really responding.  I knew then that I must be willing to share what I have with others,” she recalls.

Prior to meeting Rebekah, Gabriel founded, recorded, co-wrote music, and toured with the popular trip-hop band Cloud Nine Music. He has also been a lifelong musician, rising the ranks from garage rock to embrace an eclectic array of genres, including heavy metal, world music, fusion, reggae, hip-hop, jazz, and odd-meter prog rock. 

“I experienced a lot of heartache as a child, and music was a way for me to release my feelings,” he shares. 

After marriage and having two kids, Gabriel remained active as a drummer, but Rebekah found herself a little lost, and left music behind. “I decided to get a fulltime job, and be this family lady,” Rebekah says, laughing playfully. 

It was her brother who jolted her out of her suburban slumber. “He believed in me doing music—and he believed in Gabriel, too. He reminded me never to forget what I had inside,” she says. Rebekah’s brother encouraged her to take songwriting classes at a nearby college, and Rebekah asked Gabriel to join her on the journey. 

One fateful day when the couple was struggling in the wake of the 2009 market crash where they lost almost everything, Rebekah went to the grocery store. When she returned, Gabriel had written the rousing and reflective country-tinged ballad “It’ll Take Time.” Previously, Gabriel had never written lyrics nor had he played acoustic guitar, but his talents for arranging and humming ideas from behind the drum kit came to the forefront while taking that songwriting class. 

In July 2018, Rebekah and Gabriel embarked on another adventure together when they relocated their family to Nashville. It was a bold move for a couple with two kids and a highly engaged local following from their comfy Michigan hometown. But there was a powerful pull to Nashville that transcended Music City’s vibrant scene. As a kid, Rebekah had spent time in Tennessee every Christmas on her grandfather’s farm. 

Linen Ray’s latest, On The Mend, is themed around personal healing in close relationships, finding balance, forgiveness, and spirituality. The songs were written in a transitional period in Linen Ray’s life as the couple adjusted to living in Nashville from moving from Michigan. A butterfly’s metamorphosis metaphorically embodies the spirit of On The Mend, as no other life form beautifully represents the power of soaring after a prolonged period of inner transformation.  

The 12-song collection is a masterful folk-rock Americana album lavished with elegant roots music touches like pedal steel, harmonica, folkie acoustic guitars, twanging electric guitars, and well-placed percussion. Throughout, Rebekah’s vocals are dynamically expressive, her range sweeps up from sensual soft tones to full-voiced soul singing with a warm and wide vocal vibrato. The album opens with the single, “Try,” an inviting country-rock tune with a poignant message of empowerment. Here, Rebekah’s vocals feel every word, especially when she sings the chorus: I try, I try, I try and fail, but I won’t stop loving myself/When I need to cry I’ll let myself go cause healing comes when I’m vulnerable. 

The stately piano ballad title track features vocals that emote like they have a heart-in-your-throat flutter. Here, the music frames the message with tastefully dramatic percussion, and hauntingly beautiful ethereal textures. “That one is super sensitive and packed with emotion,” Rebekah says. “It sums up all of the thoughts, feelings, and moods on the album. The words here are it’s always-darkest-before-dawn redemptive, and one standout verse is: One ray of light breaks through my night / but rain keeps/ pouring in/A part of me / the hardest thing / to forgive/ but/ not forget/(Pre-ch) Now I’m trying (hold) to decide / oh if it’s time to say goodbye (go up here)/(Pre-ch) Should I give it one more try (go up) / before I say goodbye? (straight). Other album standouts include the triumphant gospel-soul of the previous single, “Love Ain’t Easy,” and the smoldering Fleetwood Mac style pop-rock grooving single, "In The Fire.”

Besides the joy of discovering their intuitive bond as musicians, for Gabriel and Rebekah the Linen Ray path has been meaningful in that it’s granted them access to deep connections with others. “People coming together over our songs is sacred to me,” says Gabriel. Rebekah concludes: “Music is this unbiased universal language that exchanges emotions between people. It’s a powerful gift.”