EXCLUSIVE: Joe Cummings’ Tonic Rays Looking To Release CD Soon
Word is Coolhand Joe Cummings or Joe Ray as he is better known nearer the timber line, has crafted a very special unit together gigging their hearts out in the foothills of heaven and in the process has put his band the Tonic Rays into the full glare of major possibilities. Joe tells us exclusively that they are tracking up big time with label possibilities and are going into the studio on 18 June, with a rough-cut version of their first album ready circa July 1. That done they are planning a mini-tour of Bangkok , Samui and or Krabi or Phuket, just to “celebrate the recording and get a buzz going.”
The album should be mixed down and mastered by the end of July or by mid-August latest, Joe says, at which time the real push gets underway.
Rob Gordon who recruited the Red Hot Chili Peppers to EMI and produced their breakthrough album ‘Mother’s Milk’, has provided a rough recording design for the Tonic Rays debut and the good news is that Gordon now has his own label, W.A.R.
Joe first met him backstage at a James Taylor concert in Colorado, then later at JT’s house on Martha’s Vineyard, and they’ve since become friends. The Gordon stable includes some of Joe’s all-time rock composer heroes including Frank Black (ex-Pixies), and venerable funk pioneer Maceo Parker.
Rangsan Rasidib will record the Rays at his Chiang Mai studio where he recorded and produced his own first album a couple of years ago and earned Album of the Year and Best New Artist in the annual Season awards, the first person outside Bangkok to ever win either.
If any one can pull the star line off, it’s Joe and he’s way cool enough to pull it off - and talented too.
They have a great chick singer Marie Dance on lead vocals and guitar, Joe on lead guitar and vocals, Nong Ray on drums and vocals and Chakkaphan Satthaphan on bass, so let’s hope the material burns them a bright future. Check out the look and feel of the band at www.thetonicrays.com.