David Gray: Inspirations

As a singer/songwriter, David Gray evokes the mystical folk weaves of Nick Drake and John Martyn in his spiritual longings, while Nina Simone's "Wild Is the Wind" demonstrates how the soul of a pure vocalist transcends the limits of a medium. Traffic, Lou Reed, and David Bowie accompanied Gray through his youth. Meanwhile, the glorious cadences of Panda Bear, the ethereal tones of This Mortal Coil, and the punk vibe of The Gun Club and The English Beat provide wildly different paths to freedom.