Liv Cordray, a singer and multi-instrumentalist from the Ozarks, is a pot-of-coffee-by-day, bottle-of-wine-by-night kind of girl. She entered the mid-Missouri jazz scene in 2024, wooing crowds with her sweet and spicy contralto voice, her equally flavorful repertoire, and her flair for dramatic fashion. She has appeared in various combos – sometimes crashing friends' gigs to sing a standard or two on a Friday night – but she's most at home with the Liv Cordray Trio alongside guitarist Jamison Jeffries and bassist Bennett Howe.Born in 1988, Liv grew up in a rural Missouri community, surrounded by a family and church that deeply valued musical education. She started learning to read music as a child by following along in a hymnal during worship. At 13, she began teaching herself guitar. Inspired by the 2000 film "O Brother, Where Art Thou?", she and her siblings started exploring folk and Americana music, and she learned to harmonize. At 14, she joined her church worship ensemble, where she would perform every Sunday until she went to university. To pay for school books, she sold copies of an album of hymns she recorded in her attic.Liv continued to serve in music ministry at her college church from 2010 to 2019. In 2016, realizing a long-held dream with her band the Reliquaries, she wrote and recorded The Juniper Tree, an Americana concept album inspired by the Grimms' fairy tale of the same name. Using the story of infanticide, cannibalism and revenge as a frame, the album mythologizes a childhood of alienation and neglect and envisions a sweeter future after the conflagration of "the end." The band debuted at the True/False Film Festival in Columbia, MO in 2017. Their single "This Is My Design" enjoyed moderate success on Spotify.Seeking new challenges, she turned her attention to jazz. In 2024, she led the Franzel-Cordray Trio alongside Sean Franzel on piano and her father-in-law Kerry Cordray on alto sax and clarinet. In early 2025, she met guitarist Jamison Jeffries and bassist Bennett Howe through their music instructor, Loyd Warden. They have been playing together ever since.For booking inquiries, please send an email with the subject line "Booking inquiry."
