Ray Mason - Vocals/Silvertone Guitar
Frank Marsh - Drums/Vocals
Stephen Desaulniers - Bass/Vocals
Tom Shea - Guitar/Vocals
James Weeks - Producer, Multi Instrumentalist(accent on the mentalist)
Ray and his road-worn 1965 Silvertone guitar have been tirelessly touring since 1982. Starting his first band in 1966 and averaging over 100 shows a year, he’s like a teenager with forty-plus years of experience! Between 1983-1990 Ray released five critically acclaimed (cassette only) albums. He followed them with a single on his own Captivating Music label and has appeared on numerous compilations from such labels as Signature Sounds, East Side Digital, Shimmy Disc, Sound Asleep (Sweden), Dren Records and Paisley Pop.
1994 saw the initial release of his first “official” CD (Between Blue & Okay), followed by Missyouville, Old Souls Day, Castanets, When the Clown’s Work is Over, Square Crazy, Three Dollar Man, Idiot Wisdom, Old School, A Man and His Silvertone, Don’t Mess With Our Routine, and the latest, Like Bugs Chewing on Paper. He has also recorded seven albums as a founding member of the Lonesome Brothers (with whom he appeared on “A Prairie Home Companion” and at the 2007 Newport Folk Festival), was the original bass player with the Ware River Club (Bad Side of Otis Ave.), played bass on Cheri Knight’s first solo album (The Knitter), appeared on Cliff Eberhardt’s release (Borders) and Lloyd Cole’s Music in a Foreign Language, and plays bass with J Mascis on J’s contribution to the NRBQ tribute album on Spirithouse Records. He also plays bass on all three Wolf Krakowski CDs, including the latest, Goyrl: Destiny, produced by Frank London of the Klezmatics and released on John Zorn’s Tzadik label, and played bass with The Kennedys in their side project the Stringbusters. Ray has had a tribute CD released by Tarhut Records (Boston/Chicago), with artists Eric Ambel, Charlie Chesterman, Ass Ponys, the Incredible Casuals, Cheri Knight, and many others covering his songs.
Throughout the years he has opened shows for NRBQ, The Band, Fountains of Wayne, the Flatlanders, Laura Cantrell, Amy Rigby, Marshall Crenshaw, Bill Morrissey, Graham Parker, Robbie Fulks, Yo La Tengo, They Might Be Giants, Steve Forbert, Chris Whitley, Nils Lofgren, Warren Zevon, Joan Osborne, Freedy Johnston, Alejandro Escovedo, Geoff Muldaur, Joan Jett, Blue Mountain, the Bottle Rockets, Junior Brown, Marah, Ass Ponys, and James McMurtry—and that’s the short list!
Ray’s tunes follow no trend while keeping an upward slide on the songwriting scale. It’s rock with the roll! One man with his Silvertone!! Kick back and enjoy!!!
I edited my profile with Thomas Myspace Editor V4.4 (www.strikefile.com/myspace)
Dear Ray Mason/Ray Mason Band, It's after Halloween and the busy holidays are approaching. Take a break and drop by to listen to my featured songs. You may find my music to be just the calm you need during this hectic time of the year. I appreciate your friendship and I hope you enjoy the music. I wish you much joy and peace.
I'm proud to give you "Heavy In The Beats Vol. 1 - A Different Drum", the first installment in my FREE mixtape series dedicated to drums and percussion. "Volume 1" focuses on the avant garde side of the instrument, and features pieces from Billy Martin (of Medeski Martin & Wood), myself, and others!
(YOU HAVE TO COPY AND PASTE THE LINK on myspace for some reason)
Come by and listen to the new song "Losing Streak" from my record "One and Only Maybe", produced by Michael Eisenstein, available for purchase from my page. Peace. Seth.
Hey friends, my carbon fiber bow for fiddlers, The Fiddler's Bow, is on sale this month $40 off! Every bow comes with a FREE cake of Fiddler's Rosin! http://fiddlersbow.ning.com to order
Hello! Just wanted to drop in and let you know that pre-orders for my new jazz standards album "Bittersweet" are now taking place! The first 100 pre-orders will receive a signed and numbered copy! Release date is set for May 19th, but you will get your copy a few days earlier! Kate and I are very excited about the record, and we can't wait for you to hear it. Head over to www.bittersweetthealbum.com to pre-order! Thanks! ~Mark
Welcome to Billy's Bunker (Music Reviews)! It's been busy in the Bunker.
The latest review is of Wussy's self-titled CD released this month. That album is folk honest and rock hard. Chuck Weaver's guitar sound should be patented as "Wingéd Agony." This album by Wussy is a sexy, spiritual, human experience with folk honesty and cluster bombs of rock 'n' roll.
Online!
