During his late teens, the Devon, England–based tunesmith discovered Nick Drake’s “River Man,” which opened the floodgates of folk. After becoming acquainted with music by John Martyn, Fairport Convention, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Bray picked up his father’s Spanish guitar and changed his life. The young lawyer-turned-musician’s debut album, Whiskey & Wool, opens with “The River Song.” With his throaty voice upfront, Bray trims his tunes with flourishes of backing gospel vocals, sublime string arrangements, and the occasional rootsy harmonica. Echoes of Drake’s somber songwriting style emanate from “Bigger Than the Both of Us,” where flawless fingerpicking resonates over hushed cellos and Bray sings in a near-whispered croon. Bray returns to more melancholy musings after flirting with early-'70s folk-rock in “Hard Living.”