Michael Ray thrills fans with ‘Dive Bars & Broken Hearts’

Debuts entire 6-song EP at live show for fans

By Preshias Harris

What better place than a dive bar to launch a project titled Dive Bars & Broken Hearts? That’s exactly what Michael Ray and his Warner Music Nashville team did at The 5 Spot during the 50th CMA Fest in Nashville.

To be fair, The 5 Spot is more of a casual live music hangout than a true grungy dive bar, but it provided the ideal atmosphere to match the event.  The venue was packed to capacity (and then some) with fans, some of whom had been lining up outside since before daybreak.

Michael Ray walks up the steps to take the stage at The 5 Spot. Photo: Preshias Harris

The six-song EP, Dive Bars & Broken Hearts, is available everywhere June 23 (pre-add / pre-save here) with the title track released June 9. 

In the nearly two years since the release of his 2021 EP, titled Higher Education, Michael spent much of the time since then reflecting on the kind of music that he wants to make moving forward. He began talking with renowned producer Michael Knox, a CMA Album of the Year-winning producer. Knox best known for producing all of Jason Aldean’s albums as well as projects for Montgomery Gentry and Trace Adkins, among others.

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