- The man behind the Axe handle is none other than Ray Stinnett
, native Memphian who grew up in the shadow of Memphis Rock-N-Roll
pioneers and Blues legends like BB King, who personally told
Ray how to pull the guitar strings in 1961. Ray and drummer friend
Jerry Patterson, played at studios, clubs & honkytonks all around Memphis.
Shortly after Ray and Sandra got married in 1963 , Ray and Jerry went to
California to back a friend who had a gig. After they returned about a
month later, at Sonic Studio, Ray met up with David Martin &
Sam Samudio who were giging in town & looking for a new guitarist and
drummer. Ray provided the original hard driving guitar and vocal backup
for The group "Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs" who created "Wooly
Bully", MGM 1965. Ray as Singer/Songwriter/Artist, has
had releases on MGM, Dot & Capitol Records.
A few years after he and Sandra returned to Memphis from their 1967 Summer of Love adventure in the Bay area redwoods, Ray was featured artist/writer/co-producer for an A&M Records project directed by Memphis friend , Booker T Jones who also produced Ray as artist/writer for a tenative Budda Records deal in 1969.
In 1972 Ray put the music business on the back burner in favor of focusing his attention on his growing (now grown) family. No stranger to recording and electronics, Ray's Studio has come to include DigitalMultimedia in which Ray Loves to Create and "Hack" out CD's and Web pages; Just One More Reason to Call Him "The Axeman" , besides thats been his internet handle since 1993. His Wife Sandra , writes, plays keyboard, sings and contributed to the original SunTree recordings. Daughter Marea plays Bass and sings. Son Aaron plays Drums,writes and sings. Ray's band name from the 70's ,"SunTree", has just naturally taken root and new branches and growth rings produce new leaves of music now and in the future! Join and Enjoy the Music of Axeman & the Axeclan, Just call em "SunTree" for short. You'll have to look closely to get the whole picture but the main theme for Ray Now Is, Multimedia Publishing, Production, Promotion and Playing! Ray's catalogue of over a hundred songs will be a good start. He has always been a project man, so time in the studio usually pays off for him. He likes the whole idea of direct marketing over the internet but Ray's real deepest love with music is playing and singing up on that big stage where the audience's moods are changing with the lights and the music. " There is an awsome unity between 20,000 strangers, you and your music that I yearn to experience, always".
