Drexel Rayford

Drexel was born and raised in North Carolina and first got paid playing guitar in the role of one of Uncle Henry’s farm hands at the Land of Oz theme park on Beech Mountain, North Carolina. At Appalachian State University he co-founded “The New Stoney Creek Original String Band” which opened for Seals and Crofts, the Dooby Brothers, and a very young Daryl Hall and John Oates.
After college Drexel lived in Austria and toured Europe with an international folk-rock ensemble called “Sein.” His first solo recording project emerged from a sweaty week in Rome in 1977 and supplied just enough profit to buy an engagement ring for his fiancé. Upon return to the USA, he entered seminary and an obscure but steady career throughout the 80’s and 90’s writing songs, performing in a host of smoky, out-of-the-way pubs and clubs while serving as a chaplain on a psychiatric ward, pastor of three churches, a denominational bureaucrat, and a father to a terrific daughter.
In 2001, the bluegrass band Front Range recorded one of Drexel’s compositions which went to number 1 on the bluegrass gospel charts in May of 2002. (The royalties yielded a night at Dairy Queen.) From 2002-2005, he collaborated with the acoustic rock Bob Amos Band both touring and recording. Drexel’s latest project is entitled “Cherokee Road,” released in 2007 to a fan base numbering literally in the tens, or so. One of the cuts from Cherokee Road earned Drexel honors as a Mid-Atlantic Regional Finalist in the 2007 Mountain Stage NewSong Contest.