Wisdom Wednesday feat. Zachary Ray

Welcome to Wisdom Wednesday, a weekly series where we chat with some of our favorite artists! This week we’re joined by Zachary Ray! Zachary is a music teacher and artist creating music that reflects the lessons he’s learned along the way. Join us for a conversation on what God’s been teaching him recently and how he and his family maintain a sense of “home” no matter where they are. You can check out Zachary’s music here.

Want to be a guest on the show or have someone you wish we’d have on? Email us at hello@marketingwithwisdom.com.

Kat:
Hi Instagram. Happy Wednesday to you wherever you might be joining us from. I hope that you're having a great day, and this part of talking on live always feels so funny. Oh, hi guys. Welcome. This part of talking on live always feels so funny because you don't want to say anything too important because people are going to join afterwards, but you also have to fill this kind of space while you wait for everyone to come on. So welcome to Wisdom Wednesday.

Kat:
I will be here on my own today. What with our very special guest, but... Wisdom is actually en route to Nashville right now and we're really excited. We're having a whole bunch of meetings here this week, and we're going to get to meet and connect with a lot of you and we're really, really excited about it. So welcome to Wisdom Wednesday. I'm so glad that you're here and I'm really excited for you to get to hear from our special guests today because I think that each and every person can learn so much from his life, and just what it looks like to truly follow Jesus with all you are. So I'm going to go ahead and bring him on. So everybody please say a big welcome to Zachary Ray.

Zachary:
Hey.

Kat:
My timing actually worked so perfectly.

Zachary:
That's great.

Kat:
I was really nervous about it. I was like, Zachary Ray.

Zachary:
This is actually my first Instagram live. And so I was telling my wife, I'm actually nervous. I've never done one of these. So I'm like... It works, great!

Kat:
Yeah, You did great. You're here.

Zachary:
Thanks, yeah.

Kat:
Where are you coming from right now? Where are you?

Zachary:
So I am in Boston.

Kat:
Oh cool.

Zachary:
Funny story. I'm literally in - my Dad pastors just outside the Boston area - I'm in the nursery right now. So we have two boys. And so my wife is in Texas. She's taking a 10 day class for her counseling degree that she has. And so I'm here with my two boys. Kayden will be four and Landon is nine months and we're with my parents right now. So it was like, Dad, I'm coming to the church. Can you watch them? And I'm in the church nursery right now.

Kat:
I bet it's a very calming place to do this from.

Zachary:
Oh It's really quiet. It's really quiet. So I was looking for stuff to prop up my phone, but yeah. Great. I'm so glad this worked.

Kat:
Yeah. Welcome. It's great to have you on. I guess, for people who maybe have not heard of you before, tell everybody just a little bit about who you are, the type of music that you're making.

Zachary:
Yeah. Yeah. So I've recently, probably within the last like three, four years have really started to dive into more of the songwriting and recording. Before that I taught a lot, so I taught voice classes, music theory. And so within the last couple of years, just had a couple of opportunities to really start writing, write a lot more of like pop focused music. And so that's... I think that's my strong point. Probably the last four years; three, four years, I've been really writing quite a lot and putting new music out, meeting different people and co-writing, different producers working with. But before this, I taught a lot of music.

Kat:
Cool. Well, I feel like you probably wouldn't bring this up, but I'll have to say it to brag on you, but you went to Berkeley, right?

Zachary:
Yeah, I did. So I grew up in the Boston area, and it's probably like 15 minutes to get to the college. So I just took the train in. Funny enough, my art teacher was the one that really encouraged me to apply for the school and audition for Berkeley. I'm going to date myself now, which was 2004 I started there. So I went, just gotten encouragement from my art teacher who... She played all different types of music when we were in art class. And so then when I was looking at different colleges and thinking about where I'd go, she said, "Just apply here". And so I did, got in, learned quite a lot while I was there, and now we're here in the Boston area. We travel quite a bit, but we're here in the Boston area. So it's really neat to kind of go back, and it looks completely different from when I was there. But I really enjoyed my time there.

Kat:
That is so cool. Well, I spent a lot of time in Boston right after I graduated college and love that place. Like just the whole city. And really, I think for me it was the way history is so intertwined into the way they mapped the city, and it's just so cool.

Zachary:
It's definitely a walking city when the weather's nice, so you can just walk everywhere.

Kat:
Oh yeah. Actually guys, this is not an infomercial for Boston, but maybe it is, go do the freedom trail.

Zachary:
My father-in-law and mother-in-law, they're coming out here to visit and they're huge history buffs. So I've been going over all this stuff and I was like, I don't think we can see everything. There's like a ton of just... Paul Revere, where he was buried. It's just a lot of different things. Come to visit Boston if you can. Yeah.

Kat:
But you guys don't live there full time, right?

Zachary:
No. So we... And this is kind of a little bit of our story. Funny enough, I just had a friend just write something, but we've lived in India for 10 years. And so I just had a friend who's watching and he wrote, "Please smile when you're on live". So I guess I'm not smiling enough.

Kat:
He's critiquing you.

Zachary:
Yeah. He did a lot of the sound at the church that we attend there. But hi Ruben, if you're watching. We lived in India for 10 years. I met my wife there, she was working there too. And so we met each other there. Our first son was born there. And then last year, our second son was born here. We're kind of in a holding pattern right now, just because of everything that's happening there.

Zachary:
So we were going to head back this June, but we'll probably in the fall, when we head back. I taught music there, worked with a music school. We attended a great church that was there in the city of Calcutta and love India. So, visit Boston and visit India if you guys can, those who are watching. So we've traveled this past year. We've traveled quite a bit. And hopefully in the fall, we'll be able to head back and kind of be there. And honestly, the music that I've been writing, the past few songs were all written in India. And then just the opportunities for me to record was because of meeting people that have come to visit India, if that makes sense. So like the first opportunity; and you can stop me if I'm talking too much, because I don't.

Zachary:
Yeah. Yeah. So the first opportunity that I got where I was super excited about it, those of you guys who know Avalon the gospel recording, it's always funny. Because I grew up listening to Christian music, just growing up as a pastor's kid and pretty much this is what we listen to. And so Avalon was just huge for me. So there's one of the singers in that group that came out to work with us for two weeks, Jody McBrayer, if you guys know him. So he came out for two weeks and then had an opportunity when we were looking at coming back to the States for a bit to write and record, and through that met other people in Franklin and Nashville and started writing more.

Zachary:
So it's been a really fun, fun journey to get back into the songwriting. And rather when I'm teaching a lot, I guess you kind of lose your artistry a little bit. You're just focused on teaching, and students, and helping them, so the art that you create or the song that you create kind of get put on the back burner. So this has been a really nice season just to be able to focus on songwriting and stuff.

Zachary:
Yeah. Well, I love the idea of just people being in India and that's how you connect with them, but then you end up coming back to the States and end up working with them. Just seeing the way God ordains things is always so interesting.

Speaker 3:
Yeah. Even now the songs that I'm working on now and that the producer... Another plug, Brandon B incredible producer, incredible songwriter; He is producing the music that I'm working on now. And I met him probably eight years ago in India, and we just stayed connected throughout these years. And then when I was kind of writing for more, he was like, "Hey, I'll produce it". And so I was like, "Great. Let's do it". So yeah. So it's been a neat journey kind of into the whole song writing thing.

Zachary:
Yeah. Gosh, I love that. What do you feel like it was this time that told you it was time to start focusing more on your own music again, instead of just teaching, or instead of just the work you guys were doing in India?

Speaker 3:
I feel like there was definitely a season of we just felt like the Lord was shifting some things for our family, and 2018 towards the end was when we really felt like that shift was happening. And so right around then had a conversation with Jodi, we have this opportunity to start writing, but I would have to come back to the States. And it was right around the same time me and my wife were feeling like we just needed a break, or kind of come back to the States and be with our family and kind of just be here. Because we were in India quite a long time, and so we just wanted to kind of be back here and everything. And so that all happened at the same time. So we just felt like it was the Lord just kind of opening some doors for us.

Speaker 3:
And so then 2019, spring, we moved back to the States. And so we've been writing. And a lot of what I really love to do is kind of that side of the world, and this side of the world, when I'm working with musicians and artists, worship leaders, songwriters producers, is to kind of bring both of those worlds together. And so I love to introduce songwriters in India to producers here, songwriters here to songwriters in India, and kind of just see a really cool collaboration happen through just whatever songs or recording. So while I've been writing this last year, year and a half, two years, I feel like the purpose here too, is connecting with musicians and artists here to help connect with artists, musicians in India. So that's kind of what I'm focusing on too.

Kat:
Yeah. Well, and you're so uniquely positioned then to kind of have a foot in both of those worlds, and respect from people in both of those worlds, and being able to bring them together must just be so life-giving.

Zachary:
Yeah, it really is. And I, I don't know. I think there's something incredibly special that happens. I love to write by myself, but when I'm writing with people from different perspectives, different backgrounds, different cultures that have been brought up different than me, something really special happens when, when you kind of bring those worlds together, or multiple different worlds. And so, it's just a neat thing. And it's fun too, because you get to kind of collaborate with different people on different writing and things like that.

Kat:
Oh, well, yeah. I'm sure you feel like now the music you're making, there's no way to separate it from the life experiences that you've had. Right? I assume a lot of your influences are just things that are second nature to you now after having lived for so long in India.

Speaker 3:
Yeah, there is. Even just the way, when you're living somewhere different than where you've been brought up and raised, you kind of adapt to different things. And I always say not one place is better than the other, but there's great things in both worlds. And so I think adapting and using those things that I've learned living overseas, learning a different language, teaching in a different setting, it does add to that. And then all the life experiences that happen. It really kind of just is in your writing, like what you're sharing and talking about, but yeah. Yeah.

Zachary:
Okay, this is kind of off topic, but for you and your wife and your kids and even your more extended family, how do you guys think about the concept of home? You know, when you think about home, how do you define that or how does your wife define it? Is it different?

Speaker 3:
So, my wife actually grew up in Ukraine and Germany, and she's from the U.S. so she grew up living overseas. I mean, that phrase sounds corny, but "home is where the heart is". But when you're with your family, it really is. And so, especially for our boys, we try to keep a lot of consistency for them. And so wherever we're at, their morning routine and their evening routine are the same. For Amanda and I... And I will say this last year, it's been, it's just crazy just in general. But we've lived in so many different places because where we're working, or songwriting or recording, or different stuff. And then also we haven't seen family in a long time, so you want to see them and they're just spread out all over the U.S., and so you're trying to see them.

Speaker 3:
And so it's not fun all the time. It sounds like "oh, you travel a lot". It's not fun all the time. It's not easy all the time, but there's certain things that we keep really consistent just especially for the boys and kind of just make sure their routines, wherever we're at is kind of the same and stuff. So home is where family is. But we are really looking forward to getting back to be in our actual own space as a family and not living with people everywhere. Yeah.

Zachary:
Makes total sense. I guess I'm just so curious about that, because I have not lived a lot of places, but I've lived enough places now that I'm starting to feel sometimes fragmented, like there's certain people that I love so much where we just moved from. And there are certain people that I love so much who lived in Florida where I went to school, and all these things. And I just can't imagine if they were all the way across the world. I guess I'm getting at, I wonder if you ever feel like "Man, half of my heart lives over here with my family and where I grew up, and then half of me lives with these people who are my day-to-day life usually".

Speaker 3:
You do, and there are certain seasons where you really feel torn. And so for us to come back to the States a year and a half ago, that was a season that we really needed to do that. And we really felt like the Lord was telling us to do that just for our family. For me and Amanda, at that time it was just Kayden. And then we had, you know, Landon a little bit later. But there are seasons that you do feel like you're torn, you're living in two different places. I mean, even right now, where India is with COVID and everything. We want to be there with our friends and family, but we also know we really wouldn't be much help right now. And so we're here in the States, and you try to go from it where you're present, where you're at.

Speaker 3:
And so we really try to, when we're here in the U.S. we're present here, are there opportunities here? There's definitely a reason that we're here. It's not by accident. And then when we're living in India, we're present there, if that makes sense. And so, it definitely now, like these days, I think it's a little bit easier because the whole world's connected with the globalization and everything. We're just so easily connected that we can always FaceTime family when we're missing them and stuff like that. But yeah, there are seasons that you feel fragmented and you feel like "I'm half here, half here, half here", and that's when you take a break or a trip or visit and stuff like that.

Kat:
I love that perspective though, of just deciding, when we're here, we're going to be here and we're not going to worry about what's going on. We're going to be present, you know, we are trying to stick to that.

Zachary:
Yeah. And I think if you don't, you miss opportunities that the Lord has for you in certain places when you're living all over. So we always try to, when we're here, we're here. When we're there, we're there. Because you can miss out on opportunities or different [crosstalk 00:20:13]. God's kind of sharing with your [inaudible 00:20:16].

Kat:
Totally. And I guess along those same lines, now that you guys have been back for, if I'm doing the math correctly, that's almost a year and a half or almost two years in the States. Now that you've been here all this time, what do you feel like it is that God is teaching you or showing you here?

Zachary:
Definitely this last year, patience and a lot of graciousness, if that makes sense, with just people in general, I guess. So I think those two things are the major things; Patience on multiple levels because we want to go, but we can't, we want to be there, but we can't. And then even just within the last year that the U.S. has been in...Yeah. A lot of grace. So I feel like the Lord's been teaching and talking to me the last year or so here. But that's it, I think that's all I'm saying.

Kat:
Those are the two biggest words with the most implications but you're like, "that's it, it hasn't been a big deal or anything".

Zachary:
Yeah. And I guess when you're living overseas for awhile and then you move back, you're happy to be back, but then there's a lot of things that you're dealing with, culture shock and different things like that. And this is just one piece of like the graciousness or one piece of patience and stuff. There's one thing that you kind of remember of, not everybody has lived outside of their town. And then it's the same thing when we go back over there, you kind of re-adjust and stuff like that. But yeah, those would be the two major things. Yeah.

Kat:
I can't imagine what it was like to come back within the last two years after having been gone for so long.

Zachary:
Yeah. It was a lot, but it was good. We needed it.

Kat:
Yeah. I have a friend who always says one of her life mottoes is that she tries to believe that everyone is coming to you with their best. So even when they make a comment that just feels out of left field, or "how could you not see how that's offensive" or whatever. She just said, because of the way the Bible talks about outdo one another in showing honor, she said, "I always try to assume that people have the best intentions and then allow them to prove that to me over time, versus assuming they meant it exactly how I took it". [crosstalk 00:23:46] And it just reminds me so much of what you're saying, I think that's a huge part of learning. Graciousness is just accepting that somebody says something or hasn't had a perspective shift, maybe the way you have or whatever. And when it comes out of their mouth, they don't mean it that way. They just don't have the holistic experience to know what it is that they're saying

Zachary:
Right. That's so good. Yeah.

Kat:
When she told me that the first time I was like, "Well, I'm a terrible person because I think I've just been living off assuming that they mean it". It's such a reframing of things to try and just assume really everybody's trying to come to you with their best.

Zachary:
Yeah. That's so good. That really is. Yeah.

Kat:
I want to cry just thinking about her saying that right now, so Toya, if you ever see this, hope you know that I'm talking about you.

Zachary:
Thank you, Toya, [inaudible 00:24:45].

Kat:
Do you have anything exciting coming up soon that people should know about?

Zachary:
Yeah, so I have a full EP that's coming out that I wrote six songs. I wrote them with Brandon B, another push, listen to his music. He's amazing. But he's producing it. In January, I went out to Tacoma and recorded all the vocals and we've kind of been back and forth a little bit. And so probably summer, maybe a little bit later, I'll probably ask you guys a lot of questions and come to you guys a lot with it. But I'm really excited about it. Lately, all the songs that have been put out they're singles, which is great. I think it's also a great way to do that, especially nowadays, but this is kind of like a full body of work that's going to be put out.

Zachary:
This is really exciting, because I connected with artists through you guys. So there's one of the songs that I wrote and then decided I need to go back and rewrite it. And then there's parts of it that I wanted not just me on it, but just a bunch of different people. So Aaron David... he's going to be on it and there's another friend who's going to be on it. So it'll be this cool kind of collaboration song that we've all kind of come together.

Zachary:
So, super excited about that. And it's so crazy, because when I first started recording even just like a year ago, I'm in Franklin in a big studio and recording, and now it's like, you can do it from your home. I mean, you could do that before, but I'm going to send you all these stems of my vocals and you're in Nashville, you're in North Carolina, you're in Florida, you're in here and then it's going to come together and be incredible. So the EP and then that song, I think it's going to be a really special song. It's called "The Search", so you can be looking for it when it comes out.

Kat:
Yeah, that sounds great. We love Aaron, obviously. I can't wait. He has some good stuff coming out this year, too. So we'll have to have you both back on after "The Search" comes out, and we can talk about it.

Zachary:
That would be so cool.

Kat:
Well, tell everybody where they can find you and connect with you, keep up with you and your family's travels and music.

Zachary:
Yeah. So, anywhere you listen to your music stream, purchase your music, whatever it's kind of all over there, and Instagram, Facebook: Zachary Daniel Ray. Yeah, would love to connect with you guys. And I'm excited about new music that you guys can hear in a little bit.

Kat:
Yes! Well, thank you so, so much for getting on and sharing so much about what you guys are doing, and the music that you're making and just being willing to share with others.

Zachary:
Thank you, Kat. It was so good to talk to you.

Kat:
Yeah, you too. I'll talk to you soon. Bye Zach.

Zachary:
All right. Bye.

Kat:
Bye everybody, thanks for tuning in. We will see you next week. Same time, same place and Wisdom will be back. See you then.