Ted Wray, solo acoustic artist, deft fingerstylist, clever songwriter.
Influences
--Behind the guitar: Laurence Juber, Tommy Emmanuel, Pete Huttlinger, Leo Kottke, Sam Pacetti, Sal Ditroia, Terry Premru;
--Behind the Pen - Lyricists: Beatles, Paul Simon, Flanders and Swann, Shel Silverstein, Neil Peart, Stephen Lynch;
--Behind the Pen - Authors: The Dalai Lama, M. Scott Peck, Joseph Campbell, Don Miguel Ruiz, Michael Crichton, Peter Straub, David Allen, Eric Maisel, Stephen Covey;
--Pop Bands: Better Than Ezra, Ben Folds, Oasis, Fastball;
--Behind the Voice: Stephen Tyler, Paul McCartney, Freddie Mercury, Gary Cherone, Chris Cornell, John Lennon, James Taylor
In brief:
Ted Wray is one of the founding members of the Tampa Bay Fingerstyle Guitar Guild and the usual host of the Weekly Fingerstyle Showcase.
Aside from the Guild, Ted is a full-time professional musician who performs all over the Tampa Bay area and is known for his vast repertoire of classic and contemporary pop, and his own clever novelty songs.
Since the late 1990’s, he has made several television appearances, including Daytime on WFLA-TV News Channel 8.
Ted’s strong right-hand attack drives his rhythmic, steel-string compositions, which are reminiscent of Leo Kottke, Laurence Juber, Pete Huttlinger and Lindsey Buckingham.
A Beatles fan since his early youth, Ted has an innate talent for composing strong, memorable melodies.
In 2002, Ted won the Best Singer/Songwriter award in the Weekly Planet (Creative Loafing) Best-Of-The-Bay Readers’ Poll.
Further:
Ted’s musical journey has been long and diverse. After leaving a Heavy Metal band in New York in the late 1980’s, he turned his taste back to the acoustic folk-rock styles of James Taylor, Crosby Stills & Nash, Neil Young, and Simon & Garfunkel.
Yearning to pull more sounds from his Washburn dreadnaught (his first guitar), he stumbled upon some discs by Leo Kottke (his first Fingerstyle “hero”), and changed his whole approach to the guitar.
Ted started attending open mikes in 1997 where he was encouraged to “quit his day job,” which he finally did in June of 1999, after 12 years in the printing industry.
Ted’s recent clientele includes The Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, the Ritz Carlton Beach Club (Sarasota), The Blue Martini, the Florida State Fair and Tropicana Field/Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
Teddy Wray...I miss you my love. I'm gonna come see my favorite guitarist in the world soon. I like the Sunday texts for Daquari Deck. Splash is right around the corner from me. Next time you're there, I'm there.
