Ocean Beach is fortunate to have many great musicians, but few have had the adventures of drummer Bill Ray. As drummer for legendary R&B pioneer Ike Turner between 2001 and Turner’s death in 2007, he toured the world and played on the Grammy Award-winning album “Risin’ with the Blues.” But that’s just a small part of a background that has seen him play as a sessions man for studio and live recordings with countless local artists and teach several generations of players.
From Sunday to Friday, June 21 to 26, Ray will be an instructor at the first Guitar Workshop Plus in the United States, at Cal State, San Marcos. Based in Canada, the music camp features learning opportunities from world-class musicians across genres. This year’s teachers include rock guitarist Paul Gilbert, bass legends Stu Hamm and Rhonda Smith, blues hero Duke Robillard, jazz legend Mike Stern and local guitar hero Wayne Riker. “I’ve taught quite a bit and still continue to teach,” Ray said. “But, I’m truly excited (about this) on a lot of levels; it’s a chance for me to do one of the things I’ve been wanting to do for a long time, be involved with a curriculum and organization, to inspire others in the field of music.” For Ray, teaching at this level is the culmination of a life that’s been immersed in music since as far back as he can recall. “I remember hearing the drums when I was about a year old,” he said. “My father was a working drummer, and I would seek out his kit. It became a game of sorts, to find the loud things. I think the first drummer I ever heard was James Gadson. It was the 2-and-4 beat of the snare drum that grabbed me. “When I was 4, I watched the local drum guru play a drum solo when he was getting his photo done at my parents’ photography studio, and from that moment, I was pretty much relegated to the fact that music was something that I would do for a very long time. And here we are, 40-something years later.”
Ray did give other instruments a try, but to no avail. “The drums chose me,” he says; “I’m thoroughly convinced. I dabbled with guitar and bugle and even took some guitar lessons. However, the guitar lessons turned into me playing the drum set for my guitar teacher, and we would talk about phrasing and tempo and all the things a guitarist would want to teach a drummer.”
Fast-forward a few decades, when Ray found himself backing a cultural icon. Playing with Turner was filled with many highlights, including meeting and playing for Paul McCartney, Ron Wood and Brian Johnson (of AC/DC), playing the Montreux Jazz Festival and “all the big European things,” Ray said. As much fun as it could be, Ray points out the hard work involved in such a gig. “(It was) going to his house three days a week and rehearsing for three hours a day for about a year,” Ray remarked. “It was school. Ike Turner University. I graduated with the title Drummer of My Soul.’ I’m gonna own that one.”
Currently, Ray performs with instrumental guitar rock trio RDG, fronted by Raymond DiGiorgio. “We’re in the midst of recording an album,” he said. “The compositions are fun and unique. It’s like Satriani meets Vai with a little bit of Eric Johnson thrown in. Raymond had a lot of material written when I joined, and as we began to play, some of my rhythmic ideas made their way to the table, and stuff got written.”
After more than four decades of playing, Ray is still happy to hit area stages or studios as needed, but he considers teaching to be something special. “I love to see the progress in a student after several lessons, and I really love it when they come up to me out of the blue and thank me for what I showed them, years later,” he said. “That’s such an awesome thing.”
For more information, visit guitarworkshopplus.com.