Blues singer and guitarist Larry McCray will release his powerful new album Heartbreak City on June 13

The celebrated blues singer and guitarist Larry McCray will release his powerful new album Heartbreak City on June 13, 2025, via KTBA Records, the label founded by Joe Bonamassa. To mark the announcement, McCray has released the album’s lead single, “Bye Bye Blues,” a soulful, finger-snapping nod to the past. Co-written with his longtime collaborator Charlie Walmsley, the track blends the sounds of Johnnie Taylor, Bobby Bland, and Little Milton with a fresh, funky edge.
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Produced by the Grammy-nominated duo Bonamassa and Josh Smith, Heartbreak City is a bold, unfiltered collection showcasing McCray at the peak of his powers—a fusion of gritty blues, vintage soul, Southern rawness, and hard-earned joy. The ten-track album features standout contributions from Reese Wynans, Kirk Fletcher, and backing vocalists Jade Macrae and Dannielle De Andrea, as well as guest guitar work from Bonamassa himself. The record was tracked at the iconic Sunset Sound in Hollywood and mixed by Alan Hertz.
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On the title track, McCray taps into the spirit of the club stages that shaped his early career, delivering raw vocals and a smoldering guitar solo that reflect his decades of experience. “I feel like this album captures all the different sides of who I am,” says McCray. “It’s soul, it’s blues, it’s truth. It’s everything I’ve been through.”

Throughout the album, McCray explores themes of reflection, resilience, and redemption, drawing from a lifetime of experience both on and off the stage. His voice—gritty, weathered, and full of soul—carries the weight of hard-earned wisdom, while his guitar playing remains as fiery and fluid as ever. With dynamic arrangements, gospel-tinged harmonies, and a band that matches him step for step, Heartbreak City doesn’t just reinterpret the blues—it reclaims it, reframing the genre through the lens of someone who has lived, played, and survived it for over forty years.

The release follows Blues Without You (2022), McCray’s long-awaited comeback after a seven-year hiatus. That album debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Blues Chart and was named the No. 1 Blues Album of 2022 by Blues Rock Review, reaffirming his role as a torchbearer of modern blues. In 2024, McCray was inducted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame, a testament to his deep roots in the state and his lasting impact on American music. Now, Heartbreak City builds on that momentum—a record that captures Larry McCray at his most confident and classic, yet bolder than ever.

“Larry McCray is a legend,” says Bonamassa. “We’ve known that for 30 years. He’s the last of the great blues singers from the Rust Belt. In the spirit of B.B. King, Luther Allison, and Little Milton, Larry stands among the giants. It’s time for the world to rediscover him. He’s always been here.”

​Tracklist Heartbreak City
1. Try To Be A Good Man
2. Heartbreak City
3. Bye Bye Blues
4. Bright Side
5. Everything Falls On Me
6. I Know What I’ve Done (feat. Joe Bonamassa)
7. Keep On Loving My Baby (feat. Kirk Fletcher & Josh Smith)
8. Hangman
9. Stop Your Crying
10. Crazy World