The Ray Gradys Street Team Detroit, Michigan

History Of the Ray Gradys- 1996: Jon and I decided to kick the drummer out of our old band that we started in spring of '95. We wanted to do only punk rock music, and he didn't like the idea. We said "SO LONG" ! and we weren't talking about his cock... So therefore began the legacy of the Ray Gradys. Now where did we get the name "the ray gradys" you might be asking yourself. Half the time when people ask me about it, I just make up a sci-fi answer. But here is the real deal. We had been trying to think of a name for our new band for a couple of weeks. There was this fucked up guy that walked around our hometown and his name was Ray. He looked like something from shakesphere, but he wore a work uniform and was half retarded. Grady is a guy off Sanford and son. We used to call my Grandmother that I don't like very much "grady" because she had hair like him. So I stop to fill up my car one day after we had practiced (w/ no drummer) and while I was filling my tank, It popped in my head... THE RAY GRADYS... at first I thought it was kinda dumb ( which I still do ) but I told Jon, and we decided it kinda rolls off the tounge. By the winter of 96 we had recorded our first demo as "the Ray Gradys" I played drums as well as guitar, Jon played bass, and sang one song that I would love to put on myspace but he would kill me for sure. and you can be sure that none of you will ever hear that first demo, because i will not be humiliated publicly like that. ( that's mike yak's department.) 1997: We have always had a hard time finding drummers. It's our curse. So we had a great idea... STEAL THEM FROM OTHER BANDS ! Hey it works! We used to jam with this guy named Troll. He was a hidious little fella, but he was great when you were bored outta your mind. (his chronic lying made things more interesting) He played guitar and bass ( not very well ), but he gathered up some of his little buddies and started a band. We ended jaming with troll at some kid's birthday party, with his other band. And that's where we met him ! SIMMONS! he played drums for troll's band. He was 16 and amazing. At the time he wasn't as good as me on drums, but these days he blows me away on drums ( and i'm pretty damn good ). So we convinced him to come over and play drums with us one day. And that was it. We started booking shows now that we'd found a good drummer. Our first show as the Ray Gradys was at the "first Avenue club" in Hickory North Carolina. We did a bouncing souls cover, ramones cover, and a queers cover. all the rest were originals. Also at the time I ended up playing drums for a band called PNX, we played all over the southeast, and I met these guys from Myrtle Beach. They played in a band called "Dead Center", They were a lot of fun. So we decided to take "the Ray Gradys" to Myrtle beach, SC, and ended up making lifelong friends with these crazy guys from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. We recorded our first cd with simmons called "the tables need turned" We also had this guy named Sid Hanging around all the time, he would come with us to all our out of town shows. hmmm we could use another guitar player. 1998: Sid Joins the band later in the year and plays second guitar. This was great because it freed me up and allowed me to not be so goddamned perfect on guitar. We recorded our second cd/ep with sid called "40 hour slave". We played a lot of shows and had a lot of good times. We'll always remember Greenville and Asheville. For some reason they always wanted us to come back ? Asheville is where we met Aaron Cometbus ( writer of the famous Cometbus Zine ) He also played drums for Pinhead Gunpowder. Now the first time we played Asheville we didn't know that was Aaron Cometbus, but we did a pinhead gunpowder cover. hmmm Anyways, Before I go rambling on and on about our fun times and great shows. we'll skip to 1999. 1999: Simmons was missing more and more shows because of his school, and family obligations. So we'd have to get fill in drummers when he couldn't play. One time we got our friend Ed Blub to fill in drums @ the Cat's Cradle in NC. It was so bad that I walked off the stage. Dead Center's drummer "Chip" was nice enough to fill in for us several times. He once drove 5 hours to my house, and the rode 4 more hours with us to Tennesee. But one of my favorite last shows with simmons is the time we played for this Charlotte, NC Radio Show.It was the local Rock station throwing the show and we played with an Ozzy Cover band.So the DJ Dude ( who wore a wig ) Gave us a t-shirt and was all buddy buddy with us before we played. Then we played and I started talking shit on commercial radio. Then we weren't his friends anymore.( We had about 30 kids outside who couldn't get in the show because they weren't 21 ) So I gave them the T shirt, we pissed all over it, threw it in the building and then we left. So by the end of '99 we let guy by the name of Brian Smallwood try out drums for us. We decided we better hurry up and get a regular drummer because of Y2k. But it never happened... 2000: Early 2000 we recorded our last cd with Simmons and played all songs by bands that inspired us. ( of course we threw in a few originals ) but the cd was titled "Spokespersons/Musicians for the doomed generation" It's a really well thought out recording and if you ask us really nicely we'd sell you one, even though they're outta print. Shortly after this cd was finished, Sid decided to leave the band for personal reasons. Hey Sid, sorry you had to leave and this 40oz of Old English is for you ! At this point I was dating a girl that now sings in a hardcore band called "the undying" It's really funny, cause when we first met her, she was total christian punk, and It's nice to know that I played a role in corrupting her. So anyways, we wanted to do a summer tour. Who else to tour with? Our good friends "Dead Center" of course. That tour was the most fun 2 months i've ever had. We had our piece of shit 83 Chevy Stagecoach van. But compared to Dead Center's Van we were riding in Luxury. When they would pull up for a show they would all stumble out of the van with the smoke coming up inside the van from the motor. We played shows from South Carolina to New York, and had some crazy times. Whitewater rafting in the James river without rafts, sleeping in pep boys parking lot, and surfing in New York. (thanks Stan!) But the biggest impact this tour had on our lives was when we stopped in Philadelphia to meet this guy... ( Joey Vicious ) We had a great time, ended up playing in his basement and I played drums for his band. Hey Philadelphia, it's close to New York, Close to DC, and inbetween everywhere else up north. Maybe we should move there one day. Before the end of 2000 we recorded an EP with Smallwood called, "Godsmokescrack E.P." TO BE CONTINUED Stay tuned for.... 2001: