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𝖐𝖓𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙 𝖔𝖋 𝕹𝖎

@knightof_ni

3 months ago

Photo of Brian smiling and playing the guitar. Text: Brian Ray “I really feel that everyone needs to be encouraged to continue playing music and continue bringing light into the darkness.”

You’ve been playing professionally since you were a teenager. Has it ever started to feel like work at any point? “No, it has never really felt like work. I mean, not to lean on my boss Paul too much, but he says something great, “You don’t work music. You play music.” I’m so lucky to be able to do for a living that which I wanted to do as a four-year-old. I was just completely enamored and buzzing, it was completely unrealistic, like, what the hell? And somehow I am still doing that thing. That’s crazy. So I would need to be smacked in the face if I called it hard work. It’s lovely and I’m lucky and I get to do it with lovely, lovely people.”

On adjusting back to normal life after a tour: “... There’s definitely a thing about coming home. I’ve likened it to taking a step off a moving train. You know, it’s still kind of going and suddenly you’re home and it’s trash night. Reality kicks back in. ...”

On Paul McCartney’s songwriting approach: “He tries to sit down and write, whether it’s a finished song or not, nearly every day. It’s just a part of his life. He wants a piano near him, he wants a guitar near him and he’s likely to pick one up and just start going. He’s very free. He follows things through, doesn’t shove an idea aside. And I think that’s a strong message, whether it’s from Paul or not. If you start something, go ahead and follow it through and finish it. You shouldn’t be the judge of it — that comes later. Follow your muse, if you will, and just be in the moment.”

“I would say people who are willing to make a little bit of a stand with social commentary will get traction. You’ll also get detractors, but who cares? You don’t need them anyway. I grew up with people who took a stand politically, socially and culturally on everything, so I always love it when I hear artists doing that now.”

Read the full interview on knightofni.com (link in bio)

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Posted On: July 31st 2026, 02:12 pm

Brian is a musician from California who got his start as a guitarist for Etta James while still in his teens. He began working with Paul McCartney in 2002 after getting a chance to play alongside him during a pre-game Super Bowl performance. On tour, Brian plays guitar and fills in on bass whenever Paul is playing another instrument. When he’s not on the road or in the studio with Paul, Brian keeps busy with songwriting. He co-founded The Bayonets, composed film scores and released three solo albums, including the compilation album My Town.

Read the full interview in the third issue of Knight of Ni! (link in bio)

Photo Credit: Jeff Daly/WENN

#brianray #paulmccartney #ettajames

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If you want to actually be happy, start by taking less personally.

Most of what people do has nothing to do with you. The short reply, the energy shift, the person who stopped reaching out. They are usually carrying something you cannot see, and you have been building whole stories around it.

Release what you cannot control. Let things go before they take root. Let people be who they are instead of waiting for them to become who you need.

Then put that energy back where it belongs. Your mental health. Your spiritual life. Your body. Your money.

You only get so much attention in a day. Stop spending it on things that were never yours to manage.

Focus on you. Everything else gets lighter from there.

Forever grateful for the support and respect the game has given me 🦁🙌

𝖐𝖓𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙 𝖔𝖋 𝕹𝖎

@knightof_ni

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