Episode 33: Ray Anderson (Musican)

RAY ANDERSEN GREW UP IN WEST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY IN THE HOUSE THAT LEGENDARY SONGWRITERS, CAROLE KING AND GERRY GOFFIN LIVED. RAY WAS INSPIRED AT A VERY EARLY AGE TO START SINGING, PLAYING PIANO, GUITAR AND DRUMS, AND START CRAFTING HIS OWN SONGS-WITHOUT A SINGLE LESSON. FOR MUCH OF THE 80S, RAY WAS A MEMBER OF THE NOTABLE ASBURY PARK NJ, STONE PONY HOUSE-BAND, CATS ON A SMOOTH SURFACE. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN PLAYED WITH RAY AND THE BAND SO MUCH, HE OFTEN RAVED TO THE PRESS WORLDWIDE, THAT THEY WERE HIS FAVORITE GROUP OF MUSICIANS TO JAM WITH WHEN HE WAS OFF TOUR. IN 1994, HIS WIFE AT THE TIME, WHO WAS PART-TIMING AT A PRE-SCHOOL, ASKED RAY TO COME IN AND PERFORM SOME SONGS FOR THE KIDS. IN NO TIME, HE BECAME KNOWN AS “MR. RAY,” HOLDING AN EYE-CATCHING, COLORFULLY-STICKERED GUITAR. THE KIDS (AND RAY) WERE QUICKLY HOOKED. IN 1998, RAY GOT A CALL TO PLAY GUITAR, KEYBOARDS & SING BACKUP FOR INTERNATIONAL ROCK STAR, MEAT LOAF. BESIDES GIVING HIM THE THRILL OF PERFORMING IN SOME OF AMERICA & EUROPE’S GREATEST VENUES, RAY, AS PART OF MEAT LOAF’S BAND, DID A LOT OF TV SUCH AS DAVID LETTERMAN, JAY LENO, TOP OF THE POPS, TGIF, VH1’S STORYTELLERS, HARD ROCK LIVE AND MANY MORE. ON DECEMBER 6TH, 2006 THE FIRST-EVER RAY COMMERCIAL AIRED ON NICKELODEON & CARTOON NETWORK IN THE US. IN SEPTEMBER 2008, RAY PARTNERED WITH A VERY HIP INDOOR PLAYGROUND IN CHELSEA NYC CALLED APPLESEED’S, BY WRITING & LICENSING ORIGINAL SONGS FOR THEIR MUSIC FOR KIDS PROGRAM CALLED SONGS FOR SEEDS. CLASSES LAUNCHED IN JANUARY 2009. ON MARCH 19TH 2009, RAY WAS INVITED TO SING AT THE UNITED NATIONS IN NYC FOR AN EVENT CALLED A SEASON FOR NON-VIOLENCE. HE WAS BACKED UP BY 15 CHILDREN SINGERS, PERFORMING JOHN LENNON’S ‘IMAGINE’ ‘GIVE PEACE A CHANCE’ AND TWO ORIGINALS, ‘MUSIC’S A LANGUAGE’ AND ‘MAKE THE WORLD SAFE.” HE PERFORMS EVERYWHERE FROM FESTIVALS TO PARKS AND LIBRARIES, AS WELL AS MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL FANFEST, CHILDREN AFFECT BY AIDS FOUNDATION AND MANY OTHER NOTABLE LOCATIONS. AS A PART-TIME MEMBER OF BOB BANDIERA’S JERSEY ROCK N’ SOUL REVUE, RAY PERFORMS FROM TIME TO TIME WITH FELLOW NEW JERSEYANS, BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & JON BON JOVI. SONOMA ENTERTAINMENT COMMISSIONED RAY TO RECORD 150 PUBLIC DOMAIN KIDS’ CLASSIC SONGS, WHICH ARE CURRENTLY AVAILABLE IN BEST BUY, WALMART, K-MART & 9,000 DOLLAR GENERAL STORES NATIONWIDE. RAY HAS RECORDED, SANG & PRODUCED FIVE (5) COVER VERSIONS OF HIT SONGS FOR PUBLISHERS CLEARING HOUSE NATIONAL TV COMMERCIALS. INCLUDING, THIS MAGIC MOMENT, HOW SWEET IT IS, YOU MAKE MY DREAMS COME TRUE, THE ROCKY THEME AND JACKSON 5’S “I WANT YOU BACK”. ALONG WITH ALL OF THESE VENTURES, RAY RECORDS, PRODUCES AND SINGS ON NUMEROUS CLIENT PROJECTS FOR STARTING FIVE MEDIA. ONE OF THESE PROJECTS WAS A BLACKBERRY COMMERCIAL WHERE RAY PLAYED ALL THE INSTRUMENTS AND SANG THE ETTA JAMES’ CLASSIC, “AT LAST”. TO SEE BLACKBERRY EXECUTIVES LIP-SYNCING THE COMMERCIAL: HTTPS://YOUTU.BE/2P8NK5KWLT0 RAY ANDERSEN WEBSITE: HTTP://MRRAY.COM/RAYANDERSEN_BIO RAY ANDERSEN YOUTUBE CHANNEL: HTTPS://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/CHANNEL/UCG8GJVYSX0CT1WSC0GEHITW ANTI-BULLYING PROJECT: HTTP://HARDROCKHAVEN.NET/ONLINE/2015/08/INTERVIEW-WITH-RAY-ANDERSEN/