Country Singer Dean Ray Lets Numbers and Signs Guide His Music

On his debut album, Dean Ray From Texas, folk artist Dean Ray traces back the experiences that have shaped who he is, from his youth to now.

Ray, whose real name is Daniel Molina, is from Dallas. He recorded the album in a way that captures a cohesive story—a moment of heartbreak leading toward optimism about the future. At thirty-something (Ray refuses to reveal his age), Ray has done what he has always wanted—to create a sonic soundscape and set his story to pure Americana music.

A regular fixture at open mic nights and festivals like the Deep Ellum Community Arts Fair and the Wildflower! Arts and Music Festival in Richardson in mid-May, Ray is an outgoing guy who often encourages fellow artists before they hit the stage. When he’s not in performance mode, he and his wife host margarita nights with friends and neighbors, or he can converse with strangers in his living community.

On this day, we met at The Village in Dallas. Committed to his country craft, Ray is dressed in a button-down shirt and a cowboy hat as we talk over drinks. He shares stories with me of his upbringing in the church, where he sang in the choir as his mother played piano.

“They would push me up to the front of the stage sometimes,” Ray recalls, “and I’d sing a little solo.”

Moments like this instilled confidence in him as an artist. Oftentimes, Ray feels a serendipitous connection to music, regularly finding signs in his everyday life that this was meant to be.

“Sometimes I have dreams, and then I'll have a melody in my head,” Ray says. “I'm unsure if it's a song I've heard or if my brain is just creating it. And sometimes I'll hear a phrase that pops up in conversation, and it will inspire lyrics.”
The scenes in the back of Ray’s head inspired the opening track, “The Morning Pass.” The forlorn, guitar-and-percussion-driven ballad immediately jumps into the tale of an instant infatuation falling apart just as quickly as he fell in love. “I ended it on a Sunday, and she did not see things my way / So I guess I’m traveling up the mountain pass alone again,” he sings on the song’s intro.

Written with the wisdom of someone who had their heart broken several times over, “The Mountain Pass” was inspired by events that took place during Ray’s teenage years. When his parents split up, Ray briefly lived in New Braunfels, where he met a young lady at a party when he was 16.

“I met a girl at a party, and I got her number, and she texted me like, ‘Come meet me,’” Ray says. “I didn't have my car, but I decided to sneak out because her family had some land out in the country. She was like ‘come meet me at this gate,’ I was like, ‘Okay, cool.’ I waited till my dad fell asleep and I stole the family minivan.”

Upon making the nearly 45-minute trek, Ray arrived at the destination only to be stood up. Though Ray, now happily married, has no hard feelings about this particular moment, he considers it a canon event in his life—one that has revealed to himself the great lengths he will go for his loved ones. In his 9-to-5, Ray works in manufacturing and logistics — so he’s a big numbers guy. But he also finds that certain numbers recur almost daily in his life. A song called “9:49” details moments that always seemed to occur at this specific time. “It was the last time I said I loved you, it was the last time that I held you close and said that you were mine / And I know it's a memory, I keep thinking to that time when I checked the clock, and it was fine / You're with me and it's 9:49,” he sings on the song’s chorus.

“For a long time, I would look up, and it would just randomly be 9:49 — Like, I’d look at my phone, and it'd be 9:49,” Ray says. He then shares a story about an old friend he would call after work, usually around this time.

Ray finds that this has been a common experience among listeners. “I have people come up to me and say, ‘Oh, my number is 11:20,” he says.

Throughout the album, Ray isn’t afraid to lay it all out on the table. The confident and assured title track is inspired by his late friend Paco Imatzu, who encouraged him to pursue music. The joyous “Mama Was Right” is what he calls a “Mother’s Day card” to his mom, expressing his gratitude for how hard she worked in bringing him up. Dean Ray From Texas takes listeners through an emotional journey, but throughout the twists and turns, Ray himself remains hopeful. The album closes with the optimistic “I’ll Be Alright,” on which he looks to the future through wiser eyes.

“I'll be alright / Tomorrow is coming, it's crashing midnight / I'll be alright / Just give me a call if you need a ride,” Ray sings on the song’s chorus.

“It used to have completely different lyrics,” Ray says of the song. “I went to a singer-songwriting workshop class in Austin with this guy, Will Owens, and he helped me pinpoint that some of the lyrics just didn't make any sense, so I think I struggled with that one for a little bit, trying to nail down what the point of that song was and like conveying that. I'm talking to my father in the song and letting him know I’ll be alright.”

When shit hits the fan, Ray knows how to handle things. He admits that sometimes he wears “seven or eight hats” as an independent artist — who handles their marketing, social media, distribution, and bookings. But the music always offers a pleasant reminder of why he does what he does.

“Sometimes I'm having a terrible day, and then I go play in an open mic, and that flips it around,” Ray says, “Because then you get nervous and have this creative release. It's very cathartic.”