Collin Raye comes home for Runnin' WJ fundraiser

Collin Raye returns to Texarkana to help those served by Runnin' WJ Ranch with a Four States Fairgrounds concert the evening of Friday, June 9.
Collin Raye returns to Texarkana to help those served by Runnin' WJ Ranch with a Four States Fairgrounds concert the evening of Friday, June 9.

Collin Raye returns to his hometown of Texarkana to help those served by Runnin' WJ Ranch with a Four States Fairgrounds concert the evening of Friday, June 9.

Raye will perform during the 10th annual Runnin' WJ Barrel Race that runs from June 8 to 11. There's no admission charge and no advance tickets sold for Raye's concert, which will take place at the amphitheater starting at 6 p.m., but love offering donations will be collected during the concert.

Proceeds raised through donations will go toward therapeutic riding and purchasing wheelchairs for special needs children served at Runnin' WJ. A lawn chair for seating at the concert is suggested.

"I'm looking forward to coming back up to Texarkana, too," the Nashville, Tenn.-based Raye said this week while catching up with the Gazette about his recent activities. Raye appreciates Runnin' WJ and the therapeutic riding program they offer to children, so he's tankful to be involved with it again through a benefit show.

"I love what they're doing there," Raye said. He feels honored to be asked to help.

Raye loves kids and says there's no greater calling than stepping up to help out in this way, but he said the credit belongs to the people who are involved directly with Runnin' WJ. They might not want the accolades, but he'd like to acknowledge them.

"They're the real heroes in this," Raye said.

In addition to the concert a week from today, Raye fans have something else to look forward to and that's a 25th anniversary album with 25 of his hits, all re-recorded. Actually, it's 28 songs in all with three bonus tracks included. That's coming out later this year.

"We're hoping, I think, Sept. 1 is probably going to be the release date," Raye said. This album will contain all of his hits, all the way up to his last chart topper, "Couldn't Last a Moment."

It was an exciting challenge, he admitted, to head to the studio and re-cut all of these tracks. But he says with the grace of God, he's still able to sing them all. "I cut 'em because I could cut 'em again," Raye said, noting he hasn't dropped a key in all his years of singing. This album took about a year to complete.

"I'm really proud of it, and I think of it almost as a legacy record for me," Raye said, calling this project a "labor of love." It was tough work, but he said he believes now that he can sing the songs better, having lived with them and sung them so many years.

Now, Raye looks forward to returning home and playing in a city with so many memories for him. He's feeling more nostalgic these days, he admits.

"It's home. It's amazing, when you're a kid, the images and the memories," Raye said. The Texas High School grad remembers learning to drive in Texarkana.

It's a good feeling to know where everything is here, he said, and in Texarkana he learned the music of folks like Merle Haggard, Glen Campbell and Glenn Frey of the Eagles. They're musicians whose music he performs now in tribute. He remembers living in Wake Village, Texas, and playing pinball at a rec center with his brother when the Eagles "Take it Easy" came on.

"It just makes you feel like getting in the car and driving out in the desert," Raye said of that song. It's the music that shaped him and left its mark musically.

About the Texarkana show, Raye promises a lively show. "The music will be good. I can promise you that," he said.

(More info: RunninWJRanch.org or 903-838-3223.) 

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