Ray Longchamp

Welcome to Ray Longchamp's website.

02/10 - Greetings Folks,

Thanks for your support last month at all of the gigs - especially the huge turnout & tremendous response at the Peach Project gigs at the Turning Point and Shortways. You folks are inspiring us and we have more to come. We will be at Mexicali Live February 6th with our friends Reflections - an excellent Grateful Dead - Jerry Garcia tribute. Should be a great vibe - see you soon. RRL

01/10 - Greetings Folks,

Happy New Year and hope you had a great holiday. After some needed time off things are heating up in the new year. We added a Peach Project show at the Turning Point in Piermont NY on Fri Jan 8th. New Venue- Joey's in West Milford. Great Italian restaurant-come early. Look forward to seeing you out there soon. RRL

12/09 - Greetings Folks,

We have lots of good stuff coming up for the holidays- Two big Peach Project shows- this Sat 11/28 at Mexicali Live sharing the bill with an excellent Grateful Dead band, Wigjam (we're on 1st so get there early) and a post Christmas show at The New Rock in Suffern on 12/27 (nice early 7:00 start time). Lot's of acoustic shows as well- we're back in my hometown Ramsey at the Country Club on Thur 12/10- also an early 7:00 start. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving & we'll see you out there & play our hearts out for you. RRL

11/09 - Greetings Folks,

Thanks for coming out & supporting us at the Peach Project gigs at the Warwick Valley Winery and the Turning Point. You inspired us & made them the joyous musical experiences they were. Our mailing list & following is growing daily & we're really psyched for the future of the Peach Project- a lot of cool BIG things are in the works. Big Thanksgiving weekend gig coming up at Mexicali Live on Nov. 28th with Wigjam, a very good Grateful Dead band- should be great fun. Also a lot of solo gigs & duos w/Vinnie and a Ray Longchamp band gig (5 piece) at the Lampost on Nov. 13th, as well as two local J&A gigs.

See you out there- RRL

9/24 - Greetings Folks,

We have some very special shows coming up for the beginning of fall. This Friday 9/25, we are at Mexicali Blues with the Peach Project. Sharing the bill with us is The "Band" band- they do an excellent trubute to (what else), The Band. It's a perfect mix of styles so come on out and we will play our hearts out. Other big news- our full 10 minute video is up now- check it out. Some audio of a smoking show at Caffe Dolce from last month also will be up soon. The Peach Project will also be at the Warwick Valley Winery on 10/18. It's one of the most ethereal places to visit in the fall- a great setting, great food & wine, and, of course, some incendiary Allman Brothers music. Vinny& I will be doing our acoustic duo at an old haunt with new owners- Legends Steak House in Midland Park,NJ. (Special guest Artie Toufayan).

In other news, Jay and the Americans, who I tour with in their backup band, have released two CD's of new material produced by Gary Katz, who produced several of Steely Dan's major albums among many others- great stuff. I play on several tracks- you can hear me on Hey Girl, Walking in the Rain, and Blue Jean Blue in particular. Look for local gigs coming up in November and for the touring schedule to heat up in the new year. For more info, check out Jay and the Americans website on our friends page.

See you out there. RRL

9/18 - New Live Video Posted!! Click here to watch The Peach Project Live @ Cafe Dolce

Greetings folks. Hope everyone had a great summer. Thanks to all who came out to our last Peach Project gig at Caffe Dolce and supported us so enthusiastically. The band was truly inspired by you. We'll be hard at work this fall with some notable gigs. The Peach Project is back at Rhodes Thur Sept 3rd for a pre-labor day fest. We'll also be at Mexicali Live again Fri Sept 25th and have the whole night to ourselves. We'll start early, and "play all night" as the anonymous fan yelled out at the Fillmore East in 1971. We're working on more classic ABB material. and evolving the show. We'll also be recording some original material for those who are interested. Hope to see you out there soon.

- Ray Longchamp

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Ray Longchamp began playing the guitar at the age of 6, when he "appropriated" the Sears guitar his older brother got for Christmas and began picking out melodies by ear. He started taking lessons, and when he saw the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show about a year later, he was hopelessly and irrevocably hooked on Rock and Roll.

Flash forward to the teen years and various tenures with "garage" bands. Ray's early classic rock influences such as The Who, Jethro Tull, Hendrix, (and of course the Beatles and Stones) began yielding to the more improvisational music of The Grateful Dead and The Allman Brothers. He also developed an appreciation for such singer, songwriter, acoustic fingerstylists as James Taylor, Jorma Kaukonen, and Chet Atkins.

Flash forward to the present. After a college education in music and literature, and graduate work in education, Ray has been a working musician for 25 plus years. Along with varied recording projects, he continues to perform live extensively.

Lately he has maintained a frenzied pace, playing solo acoustic gigs, duos with Vinnie Manzo, trio and full band work, and "sideman" gigs with some of the areas top musicians. Ray has been the "opening act" for such artists as Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead, and Dave Nelson of the New Riders of the Purple Sage. During the day he teaches about 45 to 50 students per week.

College exposed Ray to Jazz, and as he continues to grow musically, he is working to incorporate the greater complexity and sophistication of that genre into the roots-based music that he and the band are exploring (and on a good night, reinventing).

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ray@raylongchamp.com

973-229-3972