Ray Wylie Hubbard

Biography

Ray Wylie Hubbard (born November 13, 1946) is an American singer and songwriter.

Early life

Hubbard was born on November 13, 1946, in Soper, Oklahoma. His family moved to Oak Cliff in southwest Dallas in 1954. He attended W. H. Adamson High School with Michael Martin Murphey, Larry Groce, B. W. Stevenson, and Owen Temple. Hubbard graduated in 1965 and enrolled in North Texas State University (now the University of North Texas) in Denton as an English major. He spent the summers in Red River, New Mexico, playing folk music in hootenannies with a trio known as Three Faces West.

1970s

While he was in New Mexico, Hubbard wrote "Up Against the Wall, Redneck Mother" first made famous by Jerry Jeff Walker's 1973 recording, and covered by a wide variety of other artists since. Bolstered by the success of the song, he was signed by Warner Bros. Records. Hubbard then assembled a band of friends and locals and, in 1976, released Ray Wylie Hubbard and the Cowboy Twinkies. Unbeknownst to Hubbard, producer Michael Brovsky had decided to "Nashville-ize" the sound by adding overdub mixes and female backup singers to the recordings. The result was "a botched sound" that Hubbard disapproved of vehemently, but the album was released despite his attempts to block it.

1980s

Hubbard then recorded albums for various other labels for the next decade, but struggled with the sales of his mix of country, folk and blues. The last album he recorded in the 1980s was Caught in the Act (1984) on his newly formed Misery Loves Company record label.

1990s and beyond

He returned to recording in the early 1990s, and released his album Lost Train of Thought in 1992, followed by Loco Gringo's Lament in 1994. Eventually a steady following began to re-discover Hubbard's music and he has been recording steadily since.
He describes his 2017 album Tell the Devil I'm Getting There as Fast as I Can as rock & roll, though his style has become associated with outlaw country.

Personal life

Hubbard was first married to D'Ann Griffin, with whom he had a son, Cory. Hubbard and Judy Stone married on February 18, 1989. They have a son, Lucas, who plays lead guitar in Hubbard's band. As of 2024, the couple maintains homes in Taos, New Mexico and Wimberley, Texas.
He struggled with alcoholism and cocaine addiction throughout his thirties as his first marriage collapsed and both of his parents died. Ultimately he decided on his 41st birthday (in 1987) to get sober, crediting fellow musician Stevie Ray Vaughan (who sobered up approximately a year earlier) for taking him to his first Alcoholics Anonymous meeting.