mr. RAY

Bio
mr. RAY (Ray Andersen) grew up in the house that legendary songwriters,
Carole King and Gerry Goffin lived in...

His Dad told the family that they'd be moving into the former home of the legendary singer/songwriters, in West Orange, New Jersey. It is the house where Carole King wrote most of Tapestry, and she and Gerry Goffin wrote the hit song, Pleasant Valley Sunday, for the Monkees. Pleasant Valley Way runs right through West Orange and the song's lyrics summarize suburban life, and mentions neighbors on mr. RAY's street.

Upon an older cousin turning him onto the Beatles, and discovering
from there the beauty of great songwriting.
Besides having his Rock and Roll idols and inspirations, Ray was always attracted to the zaniness of TV/movie personalities & entertainers like Danny Kaye, Jerry Lewis, Monty Python, Dick Van Dyke, etc. Ray to start acting in local productions and studying at New York City’s famed, American Academy of Dramatic Arts.

In the early 80s, he 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 1995, Ray and his wife, Patti Maloney, formed a pop/rock duo, Blue Van Gogh, and they released an album called Hi-Fi Junkie Sonata and video to international acclaim. They toured throughout Germany as the opening act for matchbox twenty in April of 1998.
Later that year, 1998, Ray got a call to play guitar, keyboards & sing backup for international rock star, Meat Loaf. Ray along with Mr. Loaf can be seen forever preserved on
the Storytellers DVD & CD.

Throughout all of this, mr. RAY was entering into a new musical galaxy where his critics were a lot tougher...even if they were under the age of 8! But Ray knew how to get through to them with his music & friendly antics. In 1994, his wife, 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." The kids were quickly hooked. Singing about friendship, dinosaurs and rainbows never sounded so cool before…It was such a success that parents everywhere started begging him to record these songs for those long car rides.

mr. RAY wrote and co-produced his own album entitled, START DREAMING! It was released in April 2001. He then signed with Sugar Beats Entertainment (a company owned by Carole King's daughter!). In March 2003, mr. RAY (no longer Ray Andersen!) signed a DVD/Video deal with a Philadelphia-based company, Center City Film & Video. Live footage intertwined with animation based on his songs is featured. He's been featured in Parenting Magazine, Family Fun & the New York Times, & many more. The Wall Street Journal profiled him on the front of one of their Marketplace section, with a color photo, as well.
In 2005 he was on AMC's reality-based series, Into Character, where he portrayed (as himself) a rock guitar instructor on the La Bamba episode. mr. RAY has also appeared on QVC and sold his DVD and Start Dreaming CD.

mr. RAY's second album, Songs From The Kids' Lounge was released in October 2004. The third mr. RAY album, Family Ride was released November 2006. On December 6th 2006, the first-ever mr. RAY commercial aired on NICKELODEON & CARTOON NETWORK in the US, selling the brand-new DVD, "Songs From The Stickered Guitar" It features 5 animated original songs.

In February 2007, mr. RAY Family Entertainment, the label representing mr. RAY, signed a North American distribution deal with KOCH Entertainment, that will put his CDs and DVDs into all major retail chains throughout the US and Canada.

In March 2007, mr. RAY signed with Cool Kids Music based in London. His products are now sold in many retail stores there, and can be seen on Sky Tv's The Baby Channel almost daily. In May '07, he toured throughout London. Universal Records UK, will include two of his songs for a Winter '07 Pre-School-themed compilation CD, and mr. RAY will appear in the commercial for it.

mr. RAY has the following he also dreamed of – he just never thought they’d be under 8 years old! Entire families are often seen singing and dancing together at all of his live sows. He calls what he does: MUSIC FOR THE KID IN ALL OF US.

Ray and his wife, Patti, live in New Jersey USA, and are the parents of a beautiful girl they adopted from birth…they named her Layla.