Michael Ray is climbing the country music charts with his song “Whiskey and Rain” – but he has a little something extra for his fans as he released a new song called “Just The Way I Am.”

The track is available now, along with the video – which was shot in his hometown of Eustis, Florida.

Whether it’s the video for “Just The Way I Am,” “Picture” (another recently released song from Michael) or his current single at country radio “Whiskey and Rain” – Michael Ray shares, “I actually love making music videos, there’s a big part of me that if the timing was right I would love to dip my toe in acting, of some sort, so I think music videos help me kind of scratch that itch, but also I think making a video, is such a cool process.”

He adds, “My favorite process is seeing lyrics come to life. And seeing this director’s, vision, sometimes our vision with the director, of how they got the song, and how they say the vision of it playing out in a three minute movie. And I think that’s just so cool, it’s kind of like writing a song for me, but in a movie form.”

And there might be more music videos on the way as Michael also just announced his new EP, Higher Education.

Michael says “I felt like a student of Country music growing up in Eustis, FL, and playing in my family’s band for whoever would listen. A lot has changed since then, but I still feel like that same kid who’s just trying to soak it all in and learn from songwriters, musicians and… luckily for me… some of my biggest heroes in this genre. I couldn’t be more excited to share a little bit of what I’ve learned along the way in this new music.”

Pre-order for Higher Education now and you get the track, “Just The Way I Am”, with full EP dropping on August 27th

Here’s one of the songs you’ll find on Michael Ray’s upcoming EP, this is “Whiskey and Rain”…

Headline Credit: Sean Hagwell

Additional Photos Courtesy of Michael Ray