Venture Rays: News

Hey all!  We are hard at work learning new songs and brushing up old songs.  We look forward to seeing you at Kahill's in South Hill for St. Patrick's Day.  And once April hits, we're off and running for an increasingly busy wedding season.  Keep an eye on the Calendar page to see when we'll be near you...

We'd also like to send a huge WELCOME to our latest addition, Scott Harris, on bass guitar/vocals/turbo long hair. And as if his playing, superfluous follicles and general presence hadn't warmed us enough, his lovely daughter drew the lovely picture that now graces the splash page on this here website.  AWESOME!  So, welcome Scott!  

That's all for now... back to work! 

-VR 

Hello Venture Ray Website Visitor!  Happy 2012 to ya.  We are very excited about this upcoming year, as we expect it to be our busiest and best to date.  We have recently welcomed Dave "Sully" Sullivan on lead vocal duties, and we will soon be debuting a new bassist as well.  A little hint as to who it might be:  his initials are TBA, and he's cousins with TBD.  

Please take a moment to peruse the calendar page to see where & when we'll be playing near you, unless it's a wedding reception, in which case, if you weren't actually invited to the wedding, you can't come.  Sorry, we don't make the rules, we just follow them... Otherwise, see you soon!  

Best wishes for a happy and prosperous year... 

The Venture Rays 

PS.  Check out this super awesomely nice letter we received from a happy bride (you might have to turn your head, or your computer).  Thanks Marija & Mike!  Congratulations again!  

 

Hi all - The band is enjoying a much needed lull as summer winds down.  But we'll be back at it this fall, with gigs that take us from Maryland to Georgia.  Also, look for us to return to The Otterhouse (Fredericksburg) and Kahill's (South Hill) later this year.  And we've already begun booking for 2012, so if you're looking that far ahead, please don't wait to get in touch!  Click the Contact/Booking tab to the left for all related booking info... 

Thanks for stopping by, we hope to see you soon...

 

VR

Please come join us at The Republic (www.therepublicrva.com) on St. Patrick's Day (March 17th, 2011)... Drink some beer.  Listen to some tunes.  Kiss the Donny Stone.  We will be debuting some new tunes, including some Irish-appropriate numbers... Come celebrate with us!  

 

~VR 

Hello All - As the days slowly get longer (summer solstice, here we come), we wanted to duck in to say 'thanks' for 2 great shows these past few weeks (The Republic here in Richmond and Kahill's in South Hill).  And we are very much looking forward to our return visit to The National (FEB 18th - like, 2 days from now).  After that, it's off to DC next week for a private function, and then back to The Republic on March 17th for a very VR St. Patrick's Day celebration.  That show is free, and we'll play 7-10 pm.  Shepherd's Pie and Guiness for all our friends... 

see you soon! 

VR 

Now that the days are shorter and the weather has turned cold, we here at VR headquarters would like to wish you and yours a splendid holiday season.

The band will be at The Republic (www.therepublicrva.com) on JAN 25th to help you muddle through your post-holiday doldrums.

And we're playing a very special show on FEB 25th at The National (www.thenationalva.com) with our good friends The Word Brown and The Velvet Marias. More on that to come!

That's all for now. Be well, stay warm!

like an overstuffed stocking oozing with holiday love,
the venture rays

We'll be playing a Halloween party here in Richmond at Amber Grove Inn (www.ambergrove.com) on Saturday, OCT 30th. TIX are $25/couple, and includes finger food and beer (cash bar also). Set times 7:30 pm - 11:30 pm. Come hang out with us!

Oh yea, COSTUMES REQUIRED!

-VR

Summer 2010 was grand for the band, and we're looking forward to an exciting fall/winter... We'd like to welcome our latest and greatest additions: Nate Brown (The Word Brown, Oregon Hill Funk All-stars) on keys and vocals, & the fabulous Tod Ellsworth (from Steve Bassett's great band) on electric bass, upright bass, and vocals. The band sounds better than it ever has.

We have 6 new songs for you to check out. A special shout out to Palmer Wilkins of Millwright Sound (Richmond, VA) for helping make us sound as good as we can...

New recorded songs include:

Magick (ryan adams)
Cecelia (paul simon)
Gone, Gone, Gone (robert plant/allison krauss)
Safety Dance (men without hats)
Come Dancing (the kinks)
Crazy (gnarls barkley)

And a big THANK YOU to Rick Kidd (Rick Kidd Photography) for our groovy new pix. Rest assured, we sound better than we look (not that these pix don't rock your eyeballs)...

Drop us a line if you'd like to book the band, make a song request, or just say HELLO !

- V.R.

hey all, thx for stopping by. Lots of new changes on the way. New pix and demo's coming soon. Also, we'd like to welcome Tod Ellsworth on bass and Nate Brown on keys/vox. The band is working diligently, tightening up old songs and adding new ones. We have a busy Summer on deck - check out the CALENDAR pg to see where we'll be. Till then, happy sunning.

VR

Happy Holidays everyone. We wish you a pleasant end to 2009 and a bright 2010, filled with peace, love & music. We will be in hibernation for the next few months, but look for us sometime in late winter. We will be armed with a few extra pounds and several new tunes. Be good...

-VR

Wow VR cronies, time sure flies when you're having fun, and we've been having loads of fun since we last spoke. Thanks to all the VR faithful that have made our acoustic shows nothing less than special, but we have to say, the full on rock show is something you won't want to miss this summer. As our esteemed lead mullet, JB likes to remind us, we've learned a lot of "80's for the Ladies". That's right, so if you're "Hungry Like The Wolf" then "Don't Stop Believin'" because we have the musical cure for your disease.

If you're reading this before June 26th 2009, you won't want to miss us at Grandpa Eddies BBQ next Friday. In addition to our 80's tunes, we've also mastered a few new songs by Wilco, Ryan Adam, Gnarls Barkley and Death Cab for Cutie .. that's right, we're hipper than those other guys. If you're reading this after June 26th, well, you missed a wild night of ribs, wings and great music .. a near sell out I heard.

I guess that's enough senseless rambling for one post, so stay cool and hydrated and don't forget to support your lovable Venture Rays.

xo peeps,
Team VR

Hello ALL - Happy Spring, we hope good things are blooming or blossoming or just generally happening for you. They are for us, and here they are... New tunes (you should hear our version of 'Crazy' - it's killing! And of course a little more Wilco), new PIX (now up on the pix pg.), and, most importantly, new GIGs. We are busy as bees, pollinating your ears with the sweet sounds of melodious nectar... That's it for now - stay tuned (and hydrated)!

xo,
team VR

Our good friend and longtime bass player Scott Duncan has decided to leave the band. While we will miss both Scott's presence and his great playing, we are glad to welcome his replacement, Brian Pulley. After 3 months and about a dozen auditions, we feel lucky to have found such a worthy addition to the VR rhythm section. Brian's a great guy and a tasteful, grooving player. We're very much looking forward to working and playing with him...

Recent tunes added to the setlist include Ryan Adams' 'Magick' and 'I'm Yours' by Jason Mraz. And lastly, check out the new new demos ('The Gambler' and 'Wagon Wheel') on the music page. In an effort to preserve the rootsy vibe of 'Wagon Wheel,' we recorded it all together around just a couple room mics. We hope you dig it as much as we dug recording it. (And we really hope you don't notice the lack of banjo and fiddle).

Happy 2009...

-VR

We'd like to welcome our new singer, JB Jeter, to The Venture Rays. After several intense months of Venture Ray Idol and countless butchered versions of "Buddy Holly," JB finally emerged, glorious and victorious. We are psyched to have JB in the band, and are looking forward to playing music with him.

In other news, we are dangerously close to finishing the next round of demos. A little nipping and a little tucking and we'll have a new batch of songs ready for the world to hear...

And lastly, thanks to all who came out to the Capital Ale House a couple weeks ago. And a special thanks to Louisiana Territory for opening the show - they were awesome. We highly recommend you checking them out if you missed them.

That's all for now. We hope your summer is progressing nicely...

-The VR

We are teaming up with our good friends The Jangling Reinharts for the Ventureharts Halloween Extravaganza 2008. Each band will be doing an album of their choice, in its entirety. Makeup, essential; pyro, optional. If you have album suggestions, send them along! See SHOW pg for all details...

Also, VR3 (venture rays acoustic) will be playing at Grandpa Eddie's in Richmond's west end on AUG 30. We'll be playing 9-12, and there's no cover, which means more dough for hushpuppies.

VR

Hey guys... The band will be doing a couple private shows in the coming weeks. Our next public appearance will be at The Capital Ale house in downtown Richmond (Main St. location). Please keep an eye on the Calendar page for all the details, as well as additional shows. Also, we'll soon be posting 2 new demo songs in the Music page, so look for those too. Thanks! See you soon.

-the venture rays