Ray Stevens: March 24th WCTE Dinner, Press Release...

Hello all...I was performing an image search of Ray Stevens about 20 minutes ago and I came across an image of a press release from a site called the Upper Cumberland Reporter. I clicked the image and was taken to an on-line newspaper website displaying a press release from PBS station WCTE. The document shown that it was written on January 29, 2020 for immediate release while the on-line site shows it was uploaded onto the internet on January 31, 2020. In the last several days of routinely searching the internet for Ray Stevens images, etc. I never once came across an image of a press release until this morning and so I decided to write a blog entry to share the link with all of you. I have written two previous blog entries about the WCTE dinner that Ray is going to perform a concert at and I included several links to information concerning ticket prices and everything else. This press release will also give you information on where to get tickets and it also includes a phone number and e-mail address. You can read the press release by clicking HERE.

CabaRay Nashville title card

The weekly television series hosted by Ray Stevens, CabaRay Nashville, is syndicated on local PBS stations across the country. The current station that handles the distribution of the series is WCTE. The weekly series is in a hiatus, as of this writing, but to date there have been 78 half hour episodes produced as well as a one hour special which often airs during annual PBS pledge breaks. I have a DVD of the documentary special from a local PBS station in my area that airs Ray's television show every Saturday night at 8:30pm. The DVD features the documentary, narrated by Bill Cody, in addition there's a lot of behind the scenes bonus footage as well as exclusive performances which didn't make the final cut from some of the special guests. The half hour bonus footage isn't part of the hour long special and can only be seen on the DVD. If your PBS station airs Ray's television series then you should be able to get the DVD through them as a donation gift or you can at least inquire about it's availability. It isn't sold on Ray's website and you won't be able to find it in any mass merchant on-line store. The webpage for a local PBS station in Nashville, WNPT, currently has this DVD special listed on their site as a donation gift. 

There is a phone number listed at the bottom of the WNPT product page for the DVD you see off to the left. Call that number to see if this DVD is actually still available as a gift. It's been a couple of years since it was released and I don't know if their gift donation page is updated...it should be accurate but call just in case. If it's still available you can pay a one-time donation or you can spread it out over a period of months. You can find all that information, including a phone number to call for more details, by clicking HERE. I don't have the time to look up the local PBS stations carrying his show because they're scattered throughout the country but I lucked out at finding the DVD listed in the Gift section of WNPT's website. It's a fascinating documentary. Although long time fans such as myself perhaps weren't being told anything revealing or new the presentation is spectacular and the footage is a must for all fans of Ray Stevens. The reverent style of Bill Cody's narration is also a plus. I don't mention that PBS television special too much in my blog entries given the obscure and exclusive nature surrounding it...but I decided to make mention of it in this blog entry just in case there are people who do not know that it exists. In the meantime don't forget to click the link at the top of this blog entry to read the press release of the Ray Stevens concert on March 24th for WCTE.

Ray Stevens: March 24th WCTE Dinner, second Blog entry...

Ray Stevens at the CabaRay

Hello once more...as several of my recent blog entries will clearly show I'm also writing this one based upon something I came across on the internet. Several blogs ago I wrote about an upcoming dinner that Ray Stevens will be performing at this year. The performance is scheduled for March 24th and it's going to take place in Cookeville, Tennessee at the Leslie Town Center. The performance is part of an annual dinner hosted by WCTE, a local PBS station, and the distributing station of Ray's syndicated television series, CabaRay Nashville. In my first blog entry surrounding the upcoming WCTE dinner I included three links to websites that provided more detailed information. If you clicked each one and read more detailed information you would've seen information concerning ticket prices. There's since been a link that's emerged on social media that takes you directly to the page detailing ticket prices and I'll be embedding that link in this blog entry. I do this because I know there's a lot of people that do not like to navigate through websites and prefer to click a link and immediately find what they're searching for. Personally I prefer to navigate. If you're familiar with events of this caliber then you'll know that the ticket prices are usually not in the price range of the average concert goer. The link I'll be providing offers a breakdown of the ticket prices and the quantity of tickets remaining for purchase. I don't know when the page was last updated so it never hurts to call the venue. There's a link contained within the link I'll be sharing...it's a link that I've shared previously. Once you click HERE you'll see a page open up with Ray at the piano inside the CabaRay. When you look below that photo you'll see the logo for WCTE television and a link to their Annual Dinner webpage. If you click that link it'll take you to a site with contact information (phone numbers, etc.).

There are three sets of ticket prices. Based upon when the page was last updated the VIP Tickets show only 4 remaining. Those tickets not only include a concert but also a Meet and Greet. A second set of tickets are called Table Sponsor and there are 23 of those remaining. The third set of tickets are Individual Tickets. This set are the tickets that are likely going to be purchased by the general public and are the cheapest by comparison. The VIP and Sponsor level tickets are often referred to as Corporate and therefore are priced higher. It doesn't mean you'll get better seats by purchasing the higher priced tickets...it just means you'll have a few extra incentives added that a general audience doesn't receive. The Individual set of tickets guarantee a dinner and the Ray Stevens concert. This information is also available in the link I provided above. The link is a ticket ordering site and so if you plan on attending the event there's a blank order form below the advertisement. When you open the link there will be several messages from the site that pop up in the lower left hand side of the screen detailing who's purchased tickets as well as an alert to how many tickets have been purchased within a specific time frame. If even more specific information comes along between now and March 24th I'll blog about it of course!

Ray Stevens: March 24th WCTE Dinner Performance...

Hello one and all...while doing an internet search I came across a webpage promoting an upcoming event taking place on March 24th. The event is the WCTE Annual Dinner and it'll take place in Cookeville, Tennessee at the Leslie Town Centre on March 24th. I just came across the webpage and I looked elsewhere and seen a link to the event page posted on social media site, Twitter, and so I'm posting a link on this blog page as well. I'm making the assumption that the upcoming performance will appear on Ray's social media pages later on in the month or perhaps in the days following the third season kick-off of his CabaRay showroom on March 12th...with it now being February 1st the month of March is just a month away.

You can read about the WCTE Annual Dinner event when you click HERE. Once you click the link you'll see a photo of Ray performing at the CabaRay. WCTE is the flagship PBS station of his television series, CabaRay Nashville...well, I should say, it's the distributing station. Those of you that are able to see Ray's locally syndicated PBS series across the country no doubt have seen the image show up on your television screen reading: WCTE Upper Cumberland. Well, that's the distributing station for Ray's television series. The article also contains all the ticket information you'll need if you're thinking about attending the event. The event, surprisingly, is open to the public. I say that because I had always thought that PBS events were exclusive but this one is open to the public given the link on their webpage for ticket purchases. When Ray performs at this WCTE dinner on March 24th the third season of concerts at the CabaRay will have gotten underway. The Leslie Town Centre's webpage shows images of it's interior. I don't know if posting about the event in this blog will create more demand than they have room for or not...it's not my intention to create a situation where people may be turned away for lack of space but nevertheless this is a Ray Stevens fan created blog page and I feel obligated to promote all of his public appearances in any venue regardless of capacity size. A third webpage promoting the Annual Dinner can be found by clicking HERE. That is WCTE's website and the link is to the 2020 Annual Dinner showing Ray Stevens as the special guest. A link to ticket purchases can also be accessed on their site.

The CEO of WCTE, Becky Magura, interviewed Ray at the CabaRay for her talk show. I embedded that video a couple of months ago in a previous blog entry. The series is called One on One. If you search the December 2019 archives off on the right hand side of the page the blog entry will be among the results listed. I'm anxiously awaiting any news or information surrounding Ray's music releases for the year 2020 or if new episodes of his television show will be going into production. Let's see what the month of February has to bring!

Ray Stevens: One on One Interview...

Hello all...and yes, if you read my previous fan created blog entry, I mentioned that it would probably be the last one to appear until I compose a blog entry re-capping 2019 in the career of Ray Stevens but I looked on the lower right hand side of my computer and seen that today's date is December 15th and I wouldn't...more precisely I couldn't...dare to bring myself to not write any blog entries until after Christmas. I did mention that I'd probably write a blog entry if breaking news happens or if Ray uploads an audio track of one of his Christmas songs. In addition to not wanting to create a long drought of no new blog entries I decided to create a blog entry that specifically gave his television interview on WCTE proper attention. I provided links and discussed facts surrounding the interview but it's among a lot of Christmas themed writings in my previous blog post and so the link to the WCTE television series could easily get overlooked. A promo article published on December 5th by the Upper Cumberland Business Journal centering around Ray's December 12th WCTE appearance can be found HERE. I post that link because it's sort of like an appetizer for the main dish of Ray Stevens. Located below is a screen cap of Ray seated in the balcony area of his CabaRay showroom. The interview on WCTE, as you can tell, takes place inside the showroom.

2019

The interview is featured on a television series called One on One, hosted by Becky Magura. It's a local television program and given that I live several states away from Tennessee I don't receive this channel in my area and didn't know of the program's existence given it airing locally. However, the PBS station that carries the interview show, WCTE, is the presenting station for the Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville television program and so I knew of that PBS network because the PBS station in my area that carries Ray's show, WCVN, displays an on-screen distribution credit for WCTE prior to the start of each episode. I came across another website which features the Ray Stevens episode of One on One and you can watch the video by clicking HERE. The video itself is rather large...I prefer videos to be a bit more smaller. I clicked the settings for the video while at the website but the video box didn't change it's size but nevertheless it's the full episode and I'm assuming it'll remain on-line. I don't think it's one of those limited availability postings which vanish without warning and so if you come across this blog entry days or weeks from now the link should still take you to the Ray Stevens interview.

Those of you that live in the WCTE area this One on One episode will repeat at 6:30pm today (December 15th) also, for those that get WCTE in your area, the episode of CabaRay Nashville airing today at 3pm will guest star Williams and Ree.

As a reminder, and it's totally your decision, think about making a donation to the PBS stations that air Ray's television program. If your local PBS station carries his television program, regardless of the time of day it airs, as a thank you give a donation to them. On all local PBS websites there's a make a donation link...you don't actually have to wait until a 'pledge break' to make a donation.

Ray Stevens and Christmas Season 2019...

Hello one and all...we're in the middle of Christmas season...well, as I see it...we're here on December 14th and there's just 11 days left until Christmas and so it's fast approaching. In my previous blog entry I made mention of Ray's Christmas CDs and one of his recent YouTube uploads, "Xerox Xmas Letter", and he's since provided audio clips for his versions of "Frosty the Snowman" and "All I Want For Christmas is My Two Front Teeth". Each of those songs were featured on two of the three Christmas CDs he's released: Christmas Through a Different Window (1997) and Mary and Joseph and the Baby and Me (2016). A third Christmas CD, Ray Stevens Christmas (2009), features 10 recordings and one of them, "White Christmas", was made into a music video in 2012. He recorded a comical rendition of "Blue Christmas" in 2012 and made a music video out of it but previously he had recorded a non-comedic rendition of the song for his 2009 CD, too.

I placed two asterisks next to the songs that have become traditional music videos on YouTube; by that I'm referring to the songs were made into music videos rather than those that have been uploaded as audio tracks only. "Santa Claus is Watching You", featured on the 1997 CD, is a re-recording but yet a music video exists of the 1985 recording of the song. "Nightmare Before Christmas" became a music video in 2010. "Redneck Christmas" became a music video in 2012 followed the next year by "Guilt For Christmas".

Christmas Through a Different Window:
1. Guilt For Christmas**
2. I Won't Be Home For Christmas
3. Greatest Little Christmas Ever Wuz
4. Home for the Holidays
5. Redneck Christmas**
6. Xerox Xmas Letter
7. Nightmare Before Christmas**
8. The Annual Office Christmas Party
9. The Little Drummer Boy-Next Door
10. Bad Little Boy
11. Santa Claus is Watching You**

Ray Stevens Christmas:
1. Let it Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow
2. White Christmas**
3. Winter Wonderland
4. Silent Night
5. The Christmas Song
6. Blue Christmas
7. I'll Be Home For Christmas
8. Deck the Halls with Teardrops
9. Jingle Bells
10. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Mary and Joseph and the Baby and Me:
1. Mary and Joseph and the Baby and Me**
2. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
3. Frosty the Snowman
4. All I Want For Christmas is My Two Front Teeth
5. Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer
6. Claws (A Cat's Letter To Santa)
7. All I Want For Christmas is You
8. Merry Christmas**
9. Christmas Will Be Just Another Lonely Day
10. Christmas Bells in the Steeple

Did you notice that for the 2009 and 2016 CDs Ray took on two different approaches to Christmas music? Now, of course, the 1997 CD is completely comedic but in 2009 he filled the CD, mostly, with traditional, iconic Christmas standards. The Ray Stevens penned, "Deck the Halls with Teardrops", is the lone original on the CD; then, for the 2016 CD, Ray gave us his renditions of several more iconic Christmas songs but by and large it has a completely different feel to it even though, like 2009's CD, the one released in 2016 is completely serious too. I think a lot of that has to do with the presence of several contemporary songs such as the title track as well as "Merry Christmas", Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas is You", "Claws (A Cat's Letter to Santa)", and his version of a song he wrote, which had been a hit for pop music legend, Perry Como, "Christmas Bells in the Steeple". The presence of those songs gives the 2016 Christmas CD a more contemporary flavor even though, as you can see, there's plenty of Christmas favorites as well. In 2016 Ray uploaded a brief clip where he talks of the song he wrote for Perry Como...



I hope some of you reading this blog entry had a chance to attend the Christmas concerts at the Ray Stevens CabaRay showroom this year. The Christmas concerts began on November 1st and they wrap up on the 28th. According to his calendar there isn't going to be any concerts scheduled next weekend (December 20th and 21st) but he'll resume the following weekend (December 27th and 28th) and then wrap up the season on December 31st during his second annual New Year's Eve show. You can purchase tickets and read about the final concerts of the year by clicking HERE.

Shifting gears a little...several days ago an interview of Ray Stevens appeared on-line. The clip is from PBS television station, WCTE, the flagship distributor of Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville to local PBS stations across the country. I believe this to be his third presenting station during the course of the last several years. OETA and WKNO preceded WCTE. A television series that airs on WCTE, One on One, is hosted by Becky Magura. She interviewed Ray for her television show and the interview appeared on-line a couple of days ago. There isn't any link provided for the actual interview but there's, of course, a link to the show's main page. Once there you'll have to search for Ray's interview. It's a commercial free interview and it's nearly half an hour long. Ray speaks about his career and several of his recordings as well as the CabaRay. He mentions that he's several weeks away from putting the finishing touches on a recording system where he'll be able to tape more television shows from the CabaRay in-house without having to park one of those large trucks outside and string cables all over the place. I took it as a hint that brand new episodes of his television show will soon be in production and if I'm correct that's welcome news to hear! Here's the LINK to the One on One television show.

Now, then, a completely out of left field announcement arrived back on December 12th regarding "Mississippi Squirrel Revival", a classic in the recording career of Ray Stevens, released in 1984. Buddy Kalb, one of the writers of the song, created a full scale musical built around the concept of the song and it'll be performed at Chaffin's Barn Theatre, a venue in Nashville, Tennessee, next summer. As of this writing it'll be hitting the stage beginning May 14, 2020. You can purchase tickets when you click HERE. The production is being billed as a Ray Stevens musical and I'm sure this was done simply for name recognition/publicity purposes...as of now I don't know how involved Ray happens to be in this musical...but because it involves one of Ray's inner circle (Buddy Kalb) and the fact that it deals with a song Ray recorded I feel you should go see the musical when it opens next May. You can also click HERE to see the main page for the musical. The more we get to May 2020 the more I'll blog about the musical. This has certainly been a jam packed blog entry!! In my next blog entry, more than likely, I'll be wrapping up the calendar year unless there's more video uploads or tidbits of information that trickle out into the on-line forum.