Mudvayne and Hellyeah vocalist Chad Gray discussed his decision to test audiences by performing as a solo artist during a conversation on The Logan Show. He opened up about his upcoming U.S. tour, which marks his 30-year career.
Gray explained that his earlier solo shows performed well. However, he said his full solo tour represents a bigger challenge, since it will show whether fans will turn out for him without the backing of his established bands.
“Well, the pressure is that I know that if I go play a Mudvayne show that people are gonna be there. I knew that when I went and played a Hellyeah show, people were gonna be there,” Gray said. “And these first [solo] shows that we’ve done, the first five, three of them were sold out. Two of them did fucking phenomenal. One of them sold 200 less tickets than when Mudvayne played that venue, which was amazing. So, I have the idea stuck in my head that people do wanna see this.”
Gray went on to describe the uncertainty tied to bringing his solo act to new cities across the country.
“But now that I’m doing a full tour, this is kind of the big test. Like, do people really wanna see this? Like, if I go to f*cking Paducah or fucking wherever… I don’t know why I mentioned Paducah, Kentucky. But if I go to Cleveland or if I go to fucking Minneapolis or if I go to wherever America, am I gonna have people standing in front of me or am I gonna be standing in front of 100 f*cking people? It’s, like, ‘Well, ’cause it’s not Mudvayne, it’s not Hellyeah, so it’s just Chad Gray.’ All I can say to people is that the f*cking band I have backing me is insane,” he continued.
He closed by emphasizing his connection to both bands’ catalogs despite performing under his own name.
“Yes, it’s not Mudvayne. Yes, it’s not Hellyeah. But it’s me. I’m the voice of both of those bands and with an incredible backing band. So if you like these songs, you’re gonna get these songs,” Gray said.
Gray’s solo tour is set to test how fans respond to his music outside the context of Mudvayne and Hellyeah. The tour will make its way through cities across the U.S.
That test is already taking shape under a specific banner. The trek carries the title “30 Years Of Madness.” It’s built around a set that draws from both the Mudvayne and Hellyeah catalogs rather than any new solo material, giving fans a career-spanning show even without either full band on stage.
The U.S. leg is stacking up with dates across the country, including stops in Bloomington, Kansas City, Cleveland, Huntington, Milwaukee, Nashville and Charlotte, where Gray is booked at The Underground. The run is also picking up international momentum, with Gray set to bring the “30 Years Of Madness” show to Australia’s Good Things Festival for stops in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane in early December.
A backing band built from familiar faces in the Mudvayne and Hellyeah orbit, including touring guitarist Marcus Rafferty and drummer Devin Attard, is supporting Gray on these dates. This gives the material a direct link to the bands it’s drawn from, even as Gray fronts the show solo.
The scale of the test is already visible in venue numbers. Gray has pointed to one show in particular to illustrate the gap he’s trying to close: “Then we went to Epic Events Center and we put 1,500 in there and Mudvayne sold 1,700.” That comparison underscores just how close his solo draw is getting to matching the bands that built his career. This holds true even as he heads into unfamiliar markets on the full tour.
