Mr. Ray’s Concert for Kids

mr. RAY (Ray Andersen) has been writing and performing under this name since 1994, but that is only part of the story. In 1994, Ray was asked to come in and perform at a pre-school.

In no time, he became known as “mr. RAY,” holding an eye-catching, colorfully-stickered guitar. The kids (and Ray) were quickly hooked.

Singing about friendship, dinosaurs and rainbows never sounded so cool before…

He grew up in West Orange, New Jersey in the home that legendary songwriters Carole King and Gerry Goffin lived and where most of the “Tapestry” album was written. 

Ray’s love of music was apparent at an early age when he was introduced to The Beatles. 

Eventually the bug of songwriting hit him hard. Along the way, he went on to the famed American Academy of Dramatic Arts in NYC, which further emboldened his love of the arts.

In the 80’s, Ray went onto a very important journey in life as a member of the notable Asbury Park NJ, Stone Pony house-band, “Cats On A Smooth Surface.” Bruce Springsteen played with Ray and the band so much, he often raved to the press that they were his favorite group of musicians to jam with when he was off tour.

This experience led Ray to years of performing and touring with the likes of Meat Loaf, Bon Jovi, matchbox twenty and his own original band, Blue Van Gogh. All of these experiences led him to the musical galaxy of mr. RAY…

In 1995, Ray formed a pop/rock duo, Blue Van Gogh, and released an album called Hi-Fi Junkie Sonata, distributed by Edel Records. The music & and video was met with international acclaim. 

They toured throughout Germany as the opening act for matchbox twenty in April of 1998.

In 1998, Ray got a call to play guitar, keyboards & sing backup for international rock star, 

Meat Loaf. Besides giving him the thrill of performing in some of America & Europe’s greatest venues, Ray, as part of Meat Loaf’s band, did a lot of TV such as David Letterman, Jay Leno, Top Of The Pops, TGIF, VH1’s Storytellers, Hard Rock Live and many more. In October of 1999, the #1-rated VH1 Storyteller episode of all time, Meat Loaf’s, went on the road through 2000, & Ray along with Mr. Loaf can be seen forever preserved on the Storytellers DVD and CD

In January 2021, Ray was asked to be an official United Nations NGO (non-governmental organization) Representative of Pathways To Peace…on behalf of his musical work and message of kindness, anti-bullying, diversity and inclusion, with children…an ambassador of peace.

Pathways To Peace (PTP) is an international peace-building, educational, and consulting, non-political organization……put in place by some amazing people.

PTP is an United Nations-designated Peace Messenger Organization and has Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

On March 19th 2009, mr. RAY was invited to sing at the United Nations in NYC for an event called A Season for Non-Violence.

He was backed up by 15 children singers, performing John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ ‘Give Peace a Chance’ and two originals, ‘Music’s A Language’ and ‘Make The World Safe.’