Ray Drury (piano/organ)
Whilst living in Germany with no TV to entertain, Rays father bought a bontempi single-manual chord organ which he played vigorously from the age of 9, this was Rays introduction to the world of music.
Needless to say, the Bontempi was soon out-grown and Ray progressed onto bigger and better keyboards through his teens.
Ray joined his first band at the very tender age of 17 - a very naiive, very much green-behind-the-ears youngster playing in the Southampton-based 60's soul/stax band 'Rufus Stone'. His first gig, coincidentally, was an interval slot during one of Bob Pearces' legendary Onslow gigs. This was Rays introduction to blues and soul and, due to restrictive funds at the time, his 'Hammond' was a Korg Poly 800 played through a borrowed VOX AC30 - nice!
None-the-less, the band gave Ray the experience of playing in some great venues (The Marquee, Royal Albert Hall and various theatres across the South Coast) and support to some fabulous soul stars.
Following on from Rufus Stone, the blues took its natural course in Rays playing and he played in several different line-ups playing a mixture of blues, funk and soul in the UK and Europe. Essentially an organ player, Rays gear was upgraded several times, and has included a Hammond C3 and Fender Rhodes 73 Mk I piano.
This was, in Rays eyes, the ultimate set-up, but he was finding that he was always the last to leave the gig - and his fellow musician 'friends', one-by-one, learned the art of sneaking off before it was time to load the van.
After time, the 'Hammond C3' became a Korg CX-3 Mk I and the Fender Rhodes became a Yamaha P120 - both easily manageable and Ray regained all his musician 'friends' back again.
During Rays music career, his path has crossed many times with Bob playing the odd gig and sitting in on recording work here and there. He played on Bobs two most recent albums produced at Fuzzy Pig records.
Steely Scam
Steely Dan tribute band
The Producers
Award-winning Blues Band
Rays MySpace page
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