Tom V. Ray is an American
bassist
A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a Bass (instrument), bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboar ...
living in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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. He was born in 1965, and grew up on a farm in
Vincennes, Indiana.
Ray’s professional musical career began in 1983, when he began performing with local
bluegrass,
country
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...
and
classic rock
Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, primar ...
cover bands. In 1990 he moved to
to join
French Quarter legends Augie Jr. and the Big Mess Blues Band. During this time he met the iconic bluesman
Willie Dixon
William James Dixon (July 1, 1915January 29, 1992) was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. He was proficient in playing both the upright bass and the guitar, and sang with a distinctive voice, but he ...
, who gave him a lesson in
slap bass technique. Ray toured in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
for a year with the Big Mess Blues Band following the release of its self-titled debut album in 1990.
Subsequently, Ray moved to Chicago and began collaborations with many of that city’s leading musical lights, including
Uncle Tupelo’s
Jeff Tweedy
Jeffrey Scot Tweedy (born August 25, 1967) is an American musician, songwriter, author, and record producer best known as the singer and guitarist of the band Wilco. Tweedy, originally from Belleville, Illinois, started his music career in high s ...
and
Jay Farrar,
Jon Langford of
the Mekons
The Mekons are a British band formed in the late 1970s as an art collective. They are one of the longest-running and most prolific of the first-wave British punk rock bands.
The band's style has evolved over time to incorporate aspects of ...
, the
performance art
Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...
ist Brigid Murphy, and
Poi Dog Pondering’s Frank Orrall. In 1991 he started the Chicago underground
jug band
A jug band is a band employing a jug player and a mix of conventional and homemade instruments. These homemade instruments are ordinary objects adapted to or modified for making sound, like the washtub bass, washboard, spoons, bones, stovepipe, ...
Devil in a Woodpile
Devil in a Woodpile is a band from Chicago, Illinois. Although they routinely give a fresh sound to 80-year-old songs, their repertoire and instrumentation categorizes them as a country blues or jug band.
History
Rick Sherry and Tom V. Ray firs ...
with Rick Sherry, and in 1993 co-founded
the Bottle Rockets
The Bottle Rockets were an American rock band formed in Festus, Missouri in 1992, and was based in St. Louis, Missouri. Its founding members were Brian Henneman (guitar, vocals), Mark Ortmann (drums), Tom Parr (1992–2002, guitar, vocals) and To ...
with
Brian Henneman. Ray was also a founding member of the Langford-helmed combos
the Waco Brothers and the
Pine Valley Cosmonauts
Pine Valley Cosmonauts (PVC) are a musical ensemble from Chicago, Illinois.
History
The group was initiated by Jon Langford (also of the Waco Brothers and The Mekons) as a covers group, with both repertory and cast of backing members constantly ...
.
From 1997 to 2008 Ray was the first chair
Chapman Stick player with the
Blue Man Group
Blue Man Group is an American performance art company formed in 1987. It was purchased in July 2017 by the Canadian company Cirque du Soleil. Blue Man Group is known for its stage productions, which incorporate many kinds of music and art, bot ...
of Chicago at the
Briar Street Theater. Since 1999 he has been a member of
Neko Case’s band, which he continues to tour and record with, contributing to such releases as Case’s 2009
Grammy-nominated album
Middle Cyclone
''Middle Cyclone'' is the fifth studio album of American alternative country singer-songwriter Neko Case, released on March 3, 2009, on the ANTI- record label. Her first solo effort in three years, Case stated that "it took a very long time to m ...
. Ray’s first solo album, featuring the musician on
ukulele
The ukulele ( ; from haw, ukulele , approximately ), also called Uke, is a member of the lute family of instruments of Portuguese origin and popularized in Hawaii. It generally employs four nylon strings.
The tone and volume of the instrumen ...
, is scheduled to appear in the fall of 2010.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ray, Tom V.
1965 births
Living people
American double-bassists
Male double-bassists
People from Vincennes, Indiana
Musicians from Indiana
21st-century double-bassists
21st-century American male musicians