Share the music of Dave and Jess Ray on NoiseTrade!

We are happy to announce an easy new way to download and share the latest music from Dave and Jess Ray!  Using NoiseTrade you can either tell five friends about the album and get a free download, or pay whatever you think is appropriate for the music.  If you click “Tell 5 Friends” you’ll be asked to fill in five e-mail addresses of friends who would like to hear about the music and you’ll get a code for a free download. (And they will get an e-mail inviting them to do the same.) Or you can simply click “Pay What You Want” and pay anywhere from $1 to $25.  So check it out by using the widgets below and help us spread the love!

Thanks to 90.9 The Vine!

Sometimes good things come unexpectedly, as was the case yesterday.  There is a new Christian radio station, WVYN 90.9 The Vine going up in the area of Jess’ hometown, Mt. Vernon, Illinois.  They began broadcasting online yesterday, March 3, and are well on their way to going out over the airwaves across southern Illinois.  Some of the guys at the radio station are acquainted with Jess’ family, heard our CD, and want to put one of the tunes on the air, so sometime soon you should be able to hear “Be Glorious” on WVYN.  So if you’re in southern Illinois, give them a call at 618-315-0178 and tell them you want to hear “Be Glorious” by Dave and Jess Ray.  If you’re not in southern Illinois, well, tough cookies.  Maybe someday you’ll get to hear Dave and Jess on the radio, too.  Until then you’ll just have to listen to the CD.

“Light of the World” to be featured in Song Discovery!

We’re excited to share with you that “Light of the World” off the new album will be featured in the November/December issue of Song Discovery, a compilation CD of new music that accompanies each issue of Worship Leader magazine.  The magazine has 40,000 subscribers, and past issues of Song Discovery have included artists like Chris Tomlin, Michael W. Smith, Third Day, David Crowder Band, Paul Baloche, Big Daddy Weave, Fee, and many others.  Now, I’m guessing most of you aren’t regular subscribers to Worship Leader magazine, but if you want a taste check out www.songdiscovery.com.  (**As of this post, the new Song Discovery issue had not yet been put on the website.**)  As for us, we’re very excited at the thought that somewhere in America this Christmas someone that has never met us before might be singing Light of the World!

E-Card

Haven’t seen the e-card yet?  Click the image below to find out more!

Help Us Get the Word Out

Hey everybody!  Today we are sending out an e-card to let people know about the album and give them a chance to find out a little about us.  It has a short bio, some photos, the video for “Face of God,” and an audio player that lets people listen to clips from the album.  It also has a section called “Send to Friends” that allows you to forward it to some of your friends that you think might enjoy the music.  This could be a great way to get the word out on a grassroots level, but we need your help.  When you receive the e-card think about a couple friends that might like to take a listen and forward the e-card to them.  If for some reason you don’t receive the e-card e-mail just click here to link to it.  Thanks for your help!

Now Available at iTunes and IndependentBands.com!

We are finally up and running online through IndependentBands.com and iTunes!  If you’re interested in getting the album and the artwork (you know, one of those “old school” types) you can click here to visit our IndependentBands.com page.  If you’re just interested in the mp3s for your newfangled gadgets and the latest trendy Apple products you can find it here on iTunes.

One note about IndependentBands.com: they are working with us on consignment, and with every new artist they only start with 10 units in stock.  Once those sell out they will put your name on a notification list for when they receive more inventory from us.  We are close to selling out, but there are still a few available.  It would be great for us to sell out as soon as possible, and even to have a few names on the notification list, so if you’re interested in the album you might head that direction.  Don’t be dismayed if you end up on the notification list: we’ll get them more product as soon as possible.

Enjoy the music!  (And leave us a good review or two on the sites!)

Release Concert Pics

At long last, here are a few of our favorite photos from the release concert, courtesy of Clay Wisner.  (Thank you, Clay!)

Our logo on the screen before the show.  Don’t think for a moment we weren’t crazy nervous backstage!

Great work by Vincent Young, Kyle Smith, Miguel Ortiz, and Gary Revis to get the stage looking incredible!

A new friend: bass player, James Gregory.

An old friend: guitar player, Clint Milburn.

And appearing on second guitar: Dave Donahoo.

I even pulled out the electric guitar for a couple tunes.

As usual, Jess delivered a great vocal performance.

I moved to the keyboard for songs like Undone and Face of God.

Going for it on One in a Million.

Love this shot – the moment right before the final note of the concert.  Thanks, Clay for some great pics!

Face of God Video

Here is the video that accompanies the song Face of God.

More thoughts…

So it’s been a while since I (Jess) have posted anything on here, so I thought I’d offer up some reflections on Friday’s concert as well.

First of all – THANKS TO MY MOM AND DAD for making the surprise trip down for the concert!  It meant so much for us to have them there in the audience!  It wouldn’t have been the same without them.  I also echo Dave in thanking everyone who had a hand in pulling this whole thing together.  It took a village to make this happen, and how lucky we are to have each and every person that was involved. 

I’m also SO grateful for the guys that played in the band.  It was such privilege to sing alongside these outstanding musicians.  They gave this singer a major boost of confidence! 

I also want to be sure everyone knows how brilliant my husband is.  Not only did he write some killer songs, but his whole vision for the concert just blew me away – from the video that introduced the concert to the Face of God video that I’m still receiving comments on.  God has simply gifted him in a multitude of ways, and it’s so cool for me as his wife to see him using them for God’s glory.  I’m so blessed to share this project with him, and God is fulfilling one of my deepest desires by allowing us to do this together.

Finally – as we’ve released this album my prayer has simply been this: that people would encounter Truth.  Of course we’d love for the choruses to get stuck in your head, or for you to find yourself whistling one of the melodies without even knowing it.  BUT – more than that we want it to impact you on a much more personal level.  Whether it’s challenging you to view your interactions with others differently, encouraging you during times of deepest need, or simply putting a voice to the things you’ve felt before, we hope that these songs are more than just entertainment.  We hope they make you think.

Much love, my friends.  Thanks for listening to our music!

A Great Evening

It has been quite a while since we got something up on the blog, mostly because we’ve been so busy preparing for the CD release concert Friday night.  We’ve got plenty of things to share with you, but let me begin by giving you some random, non-sequential reflections on Friday night:

-  First, a big thank you to everyone who was a part of making all of this possible!  So many people were involved in this project from its inception to its release that we could not possibly list everyone.  Just know that it was incredibly rewarding for both of us to be able to create this music and then share it with our friends, family, and church on such a memorable night.  I turned to Jess after we finished and said, “That’s one of my favorite things we’ve ever done together,” and it would not have come about without the help that we received from so many of you.  Thank you!

-  Jess’ parents receive the award for Longest Distance Traveled and Best Surprise of the Night for flying in from Illinois, navigating Houston traffic and showing up for the concert.  What a great surprise!  As Jess’ mom said, “I’ve been to every one of your concerts since you were little.  Why would I miss this one?”

-  Some of you know that Friday was a bit nerve-wracking for another reason: we did not receive our product until 3:00 PM on Friday afternoon!  Believe me we were sweating it!  Due to a mix-up between our photographer and our artist the artwork was delayed which meant that we were cutting it as close as we possibly could.  I was praying all day that the UPS driver would be on time!  Thankfully I did not have to stand in front of 400 people and say, “Well, I know you thought you were coming to a CD release concert, but…”

-  What a great joy it was to share that concert with two of our closest friends in the band: Clint Milburn on guitar and Scott Williamson on drums.  Clint and I have played countless shows together and he just keeps getting better as a guitar player.  And this was our first time to play live with Scott, but what a great drummer!  No less than 10 people came up to me after the show with the following statement: “Wow!  Scott is a(n) insert superlative here drummer!”  (And if the superlative is more than one syllable it should be pronounced as slowly as possible, stressing each individual syllable, i.e. “in-cre-di-ble”.)  It was also a pleasure to be joined by two newer friends, Dave Donahoo, who has been playing guitar with us for the last couple years, and James Gregory, a friend of Scott’s.  We could not have asked for a better band.

Okay, I think that’s enough for now, but here’s a preview of some things you can look forward to on the blog in the coming days:

• Information on how to order the CD online and through iTunes.
• The concert video for Face of God
• The promo videos we used to advertise for the concert
• More reflections and pictures from the release concert

Stay tuned!