Craymo

Craymo was born Craig Stephen Raymo in Massena, New York and grew up in nearby Ogdensburg, a quiet little city on the St. Lawrence River bordering Canada.  Music seemed to possess his soul from an early age as he had always tried to imitate the singers and bands emanating from his little 45 rpm record player.  In 3rd grade he picked up the alto saxophone taking lessons from Kenneth Van Winkle, father of future Grammy winner Dixon Van Winkle. Craymo continued taking lessons and played in elementary and Junior and Senior High Bands and the school Jazz Rock group. Craig wrote his first song when he was 16.  He sang in the school choir from elementary through high school.  The young performer craved the stage and graced it every chance he got joining the local vaudeville style minstrel group Showtime. Craymo performed in community theatre and high school drama and musical theatre productions.

As a senior in high school he took interest in DJing and got a job spinning at Big Ed's Dallas Lounge and also at a local radio station where co-workers first started calling him Craymo.  Craymo went to Fredonia State University majoring in Broadcasting with a minor in drama.



Feeling the call of the big city, Craig left college and moved to Los Angeles to pursue his dreams. He soon landed acting gigs in the TV soap operas General Hospital and days Of Our Lives, most recently in The Watchman’s Edict (2017), The Misadventures of Walt’s Frozen Head (2017) and the HBO original film Recount.  All the while focused on his music Craymo wrote hundreds of songs and started recording demos in Los Angeles recording studios.  He auditioned to be the lead singer for several bands but ultimately realized his destiny was to be a solo artist.  The determined young man took vocal lessons with R&B great Bobby Womack and recorded a demo of one of his songs.  Craymo then met record producer David Longoria who took him under his wing and they recorded his first professionally recorded song Love Touch and filmed his first music video.  Then they went on to create several more songs including Craymo's first EP entitled Be My Girl who's title track was licensed in the indie film Paper Thin Immortals.  The next video was Take It Slow with a sixties beatnick vibe and the song was licensed in the indie film Accidents Don't Happen.  Craymo appeared as a male vocalist on Star Search 89 with Ed McMahan.  He formed several backup bands performing at the Whiskey A Go Go, The Roxy, Genghis Cohen and opened up shows for Smashmouth, The Plimsouls and Fishbone.  He then met record producer Chris Irwin and recorded several songs in his Malibu studio. Craymo then ran into his old friend, songwriter and producer Brandon Jarrett.  They went into the studio and magic happened.  Combining their song catalogs into one company, Moho Productions, LLC.  They recorded One Love One World which became a worldwide phenomenon being featured on the United Nations project UNESCO web site www.newsongsforpeace.org.  School teachers all over the world downloaded the song, taught it to their students who then performed it at their schools in the USA, Canada, China and Australia! The opening scene in his music video One Love One World features students in Pang Liu Village in China who were taught to read English using the words and music to his song.



Craymo is a multiple award-winning songwriter winning Best Indie EP for his latest release "Love Power" in the Fall 2020 Clouzine International Music Awards. He was also a Finalist Best US Male Songwriter in the 2020 ISSA Awards (Indie Singer Songwriter Association).  Craymo won Best Alternative Video and Best Easy Listening Video for December Rain (Carol Of Love) in the 2019 Indie Music Channel Awards at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles, California. Craymo won Best Rock Song for December Rain in the Fall 2019 Clouzine International Music Awards.  December Rain was a Semi-Finalist, Adult Contemporary Category, in the 2019 UK Songwriting Contest.  Craymo won the Bronze Medal Award for Male Vocals, December Rain, in the November 2017 Global Music Awards. He won Best Male Easy Listening Artist in the 2017 Indie Music Channel Awards for his beautiful ballad “So Far Away.” Craymo won Honorable Mention in the Comedy/Novelty Category of the 22nd Annual USA Songwriting Competition for his song “Passion For Fashion.”  Craymo is also an anti-bullying advocate who recently won back to back Worldwide Music Contests, in Version 3 he won Best Song for “Be Myself,” his anti-bullying anthem and in Version 4, Best Video for “One Love One World (We Are One),” another anti-bullying anthem that also promotes equality, tolerance, brotherhood, human rights and world peace.  Craymo won Best Alternative Recording in the 2016 Indie Music Channel Awards for “Moment,” a song promoting suicide prevention awareness. His song “Love You More” won Best Alternative Recording in the 2015 Radio Music Awards and was a Finalist Best International Song for “Moment” 2016 Australian Music Oz Awards. Craymo has been a semi-finalist and finalist in several songwriting competitions including the 2012 Australian Music Oz Awards ,”Passion For Fashion” 2012 Hollywood Music In Media Awards Unisong, the Hollywood Spiritual Film Festival, UK Songwriting Competition, Pacific Songwriting Competition and the Artist Undiscovered Competition. His songs have been licensed in the indie films, Lucky Dog, Culture Shock, Gabe The Cupid Dog, Cinnamon, Super Southern Sweet Sixteen, Miss Castaway, Leaving Hollywood and Successful Failures 2.  Craymo has licensed several songs in television including The Mysteries of Laura (NBC), The X Games (ESPN), The Orlando Citrus Parade (SYND), Sinbad's Reality U (pilot), Toddlers and Tiaras (TLC) and Chris and John To The Rescue (Canada). Craymo is currently receiving airplay on commercial and internet radio all over the world.



His influences include Duran Duran, George Michael, The Beatles, Morrissey, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, David Bowie, Elton John, Sting and The Cars.