The Jeff Ray Band

Jeff grew up in Ripley, WV where he was always surrounded by music. It started with his grandfather who was a gospel singer in the 1970s. He would hold Jeff on his lap while playing piano and singing.  He would also play his guitar for him as well as spend hours just playing records and listening to different kinds of music. 

At the age of 14, Jeff started playing guitar.  He immediately sunk himself into learning to play and figuring out how to play different songs.  This continued throughout his high school years.  By the time Jeff graduated high school, he had already played dozens of shows.  He spent the next several years playing with a number of bands throughout the eastern United States.

In January 1996, Jeff went to Los Angeles with his lifelong friend, Brian Nutter (now of the Keith Urban band).  They wanted to form a band and get into the L.A. music scene.  Unfortunately, they couldn’t find the right people to play the music that they were writing.  After a few months, they realized that in order to form the band they had in mind, they would have to return to West Virginia.  So, in July of 1996, they returned to WV and formed the band Mo’ Bigley with their old friends, Anders Bush, Terry McGee, and James Greathouse.  Mo’ Bigley was together for several years and played shows up and down the east coast.  Jeff said, “Mo’ Bigley is probably my favorite band I’ve ever played in.  We had a magical chemistry and sense of brotherhood”, about his former band.  Many of the songs Jeff still plays today were born during the Mo’ Bigley days.

In the spring of 2011, Jeff got the call to play for Nashville recording artist Troy Olsen who had two country top 40 hits including “Summer Thing” and “Good Hands”. Troy also wrote Blake Shelton’s number one hit, “I’ll Just Hold On” and “Love Don’t Let Me Down”, for the Country Strong movie soundtrack.  After Troy’s tour was over, Jeff returned to West Virginia until getting the call to play for the Locash Cowboys who co-wrote Keith Urban’s “You Gonna Fly” and Tim McGraw’s “Truck Yeah”. He toured with the Locash Cowboys playing shows all over the United States and parts of Europe.  He eventually returned to West Virginia to start his own band and pursue his own career of singing, playing guitar, and songwriting.

Having grown up being a fan of artists such as John Mellencamp and Tom Petty, Jeff’s music has roots in American rock and roll as well as country music.