A chance discovery walking home from school one day led brothers Corey and Chris Gray to an avocation that’s garnered them notice in the local music community.
Someone in their Franklin Township neighborhood threw a beaten-up acoustic guitar in the trash. They retrieved it, cleaned and painted it, and did what they could to restore it to a semblance of a musical instrument.
“We found it in the garbage, so you know it wasn’t a prize possession, but we made it work,” said Corey Gray, a 1995 graduate of Riverside High School who now lives in Ellwood City.
Chris Gray learned to play the guitar, but Corey Gray said he wasn’t interested until some time later. He decided to play the bass guitar because not many wanted to play it.
“It was a good decision. I get a lot of work because there aren’t many bass guitar players,” Corey Gray said.
Their father, Richard, teased Chris that if he learned to write a song, he would get him a real guitar. As Chris got a better guitar and the playing became better, it became a family joke that someday Dad would get them real guitars.
Five years ago, the joke became a reality when their parents, Richard and Nancy, gave Corey a rare 1973 Fender bass guitar and Chris received a one-of-a-kind, custom-made Girl Brand guitar.
“We are blessed with great parents,” Corey Gray said. “They have always supported us and encouraged us.”
The Gray brothers are members of The Sparrows, a group that plays pure, simple, Americana music.
“We play music that reflects on who we are and it relates to growing up in a small town,” Corey Gray said.
They named the group The Sparrows mainly because they couldn’t settle on a name.
“All year long, even in the winter, you see the sparrows. They are always here. The robins go away in the winter. So we are here and we have to just keep trying,” Corey Gray said.
The Sparrows also include Tom “T.C.” Davis from Wayne Township, who plays guitar and is the lead vocalist, and Dave Cable, a drummer from Patterson Township, who recently joined the group.
“It is hard to find guys devoted to this. There’s no big money in it; you just have to love what you’re doing,” Corey Gray said.
Since 2008, The Sparrows have been opening for nationally known groups and playing all over the tri-state. Upcoming gigs include appearances at Kelly’s Riverside Saloon in Bridgewater Jan. 14 and Feb. 4.
The band is working on a CD due for release soon.
Before The Sparrows, the Gray brothers played with Alisium, a rock group that went on to win the Graffiti Rock Challenge Battle of the Bands in Pittsburgh in 2005.
“Winning that seems to be cursed. We broke up after winning,” Corey Gray said.
Recently, The Sparrows joined The Americana Rock Company, a movement that prides itself on its dedication to performance, promotion and management in an effort to honor Americana music.
The collective is made up of The Sparrows, The Robbie Joy Band, Katianne Timko and Jordan Keith Robb.
Corey Gray said The Americana Rock Company is a musical brand that originated in the Rust Belt — music inspired by country, rock ‘n’ roll, folk, bluegrass, and soul, with a touch of the blue-collar work ethic of northeast Ohio and western Pennsylvania.
