Music Director / Guitars / Banjo / Vocals
Ray has been a professional musician his entire life. He started out in the nightclubs of Long Island, New York playing a wide variety of cover music and later gravitated to more civilized work in musical theater where he has played in the pit orchestra of countless musicals in most of the top theaters on Long Island including The Gateway Playhouse, The Argyle Theater, and The Engeman Theater.
In early 2014 Ray put together a power trio for Grammy award nominee Sofie B. Hawkins for a special event at The Greenwich Connecticut Country Club for a vast array of luminaries.
As an outgrowth of his involvement in musical theater in 2014 he was selected to play guitar on The Smokey Joe’s Cafe 20th Anniversary Tour featuring The Coasters. Soon after he was touring with the Fame the Musical national tour.
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees, The Coasters, hired him as their guitarist and music director in 2015. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Darlene Love hired him in the same capacity in 2017. He charted out the entire catalogue of music for The Coasters and Darlene Love for all their live shows during that time period.
Ray has also backed singers from out of town at venues on the east coast like Bridgette Valdez from The Legends of Rock (Celine Dion Tribute) and The Four Divas from Las Vegas. He has been a frequent sideman with many groups with hit records. The Capris, The Crystals, and The Duprees to name a few.
As a producer and songwriter he recently produced four new original recordings for The Coasters.
Ray holds a BFA degree in performance on classical guitar from Long Island University, C.W. Post Campus; a Master of Arts from SUNY Stonybrook in music and music education, and did extensive post graduate work in voice, choral conducting and Gospel music at the prestigious Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey.
Ray has been a professional musician his entire life. He started out in the nightclubs of Long Island, New York playing a wide variety of cover music and later gravitated to more civilized work in musical theater where he has played in the pit orchestra of countless musicals in most of the top theaters on Long Island including The Gateway Playhouse, The Argyle Theater, and The Engeman Theater.
In early 2014 Ray put together a power trio for Grammy award nominee Sofie B. Hawkins for a special event at The Greenwich Connecticut Country Club for a vast array of luminaries.
As an outgrowth of his involvement in musical theater in 2014 he was selected to play guitar on The Smokey Joe’s Cafe 20th Anniversary Tour featuring The Coasters. Soon after he was touring with the Fame the Musical national tour.
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees, The Coasters, hired him as their guitarist and music director in 2015. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Darlene Love hired him in the same capacity in 2017. He charted out the entire catalogue of music for The Coasters and Darlene Love for all their live shows during that time period.
Ray has also backed singers from out of town at venues on the east coast like Bridgette Valdez from The Legends of Rock (Celine Dion Tribute) and The Four Divas from Las Vegas. He has been a frequent sideman with many groups with hit records. The Capris, The Crystals, and The Duprees to name a few.
As a producer and songwriter he recently produced four new original recordings for The Coasters.
Ray holds a BFA degree in performance on classical guitar from Long Island University, C.W. Post Campus; a Master of Arts from SUNY Stonybrook in music and music education, and did extensive post graduate work in voice, choral conducting and Gospel music at the prestigious Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey.
