Mr. Ray came up from Lafayette to play Saturday night at the EOH. He jammed into late Friday night with some of the best of New York Finger Lakes musicians (Susi Mills and Billy Henrie on fiddle; Betsy Fuller on guitar), and on Saturday night they were primed to keep both the dancers and the close listeners happy.

Ray gave a little workshop to myself and another fella from Syracuse: didn't take long for him to humble me right out. He is a seriously articulate and soulful player: PhD and then some! He encouraged me to use more octaves and chords (but not all the time) to smooth out my playing, and showed off the shine on his ultra-utilized #7 button.

Mr. Ray is a class act all around, and I want to thank Roger and Buffy for introducing me to him a couple of years ago, and Russ Roberts for encouraging us to make the connection and loaning his musical comrades in the "All Night Ramblers" for the occasion.

Billy and Betsy stayed over at my house and we jammed 'til 2 AM, a rare treat for moi...best Cajun-style jam in which I've ever had the priveledge

I attended the Friday night practice with Ray and the band, and confirm everything Steve says about Ray being a great guy and superb musician. Listening to him play, watching how he rehearsed the band, and talking about music with him made for one of the finest musical evenings I've ever had. If you have a chance to work with Ray out in California, or to look him up in Louisiana for a lesson, you're going to reap some real benefits.