Ray Holland

Hello Everybody...In 1965 Ray picked up a bass guitar and began playing in a band with his brother, Carlisle, called Buddha & the Bear Rugs. They worked extremely hard at making their band a success in the Houston market and succeeded with performances at such legendary venues as:
The Catacombs, the Love Street Light Circus, the Hulabaloo,
the Houston Astro-Hall, the Cellar, the Joe Ford TV Show, 
They played all around Houston at clubs and parties.
Of course all bands break up and when his brother graduated high school and headed for college Buddha & the Bear Rugs went away. 2 years later, when Ray also graduated, he moved to Austin and again he and his brother played together in the Beefeaters , a popular party band at UT. Playing at Austin clubs: Nero's Nook, the Jade Room, the New Orleans Club. His brother decided to go to med school , so Ray by chance ended up in an original band called Cedar Frost. Named after the street that their practice place was on, Ray, goin by his nickname of Lumpy, played with Doug Harman, Bill Gossett, & Bruce Truitt and had success performing at the Armadillo World Headquarters , on KLRU TV,  Laguna Gloria Art Museum Music Series 1973 & 1974,  the Austin Opry House, the Chicken Ranch, the City of Austin Summer Park Series 1972, 1973, 1974, They toured Colorado and Texas. Cedar Frost guest hosted a radio show on the Houston underground radio station KPFT, Soap Creek Saloon, the Alliance Wagon Yard, Toad Hall, numerous clubs in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and Austin. Bruce Truitt left and Hank Alrich joined the band. When Doug Harman left the band to tour with Michael Murphy, Cedar Frost broke up. The Doak Snead Band came next , where Ray took over the bass duties from Woodie Ray Lawson recording Doak's first album at the legendary Sugar Hill Studios in Houston run by Huey Meaux.Some time during this period the Doak Snead Band did a special for KLRU. Ray then joined  Fork in the Road. With a line-up consisting of Ray, Gurf Morlix, Mark McKinnon, Alton Tew, and Homer Walters, they headlined at the Houston Opry House and performed most clubs in the Austin area. They played New Year's Eve at the Houston Opry House with the Flying Burrito Brothers. Fork in the Road kept busy going back and forth to Arizona where they played  club dates. Fork in the Road morphed into In Cahoots. Gurf and Mark were gone and  Michael "T-Bird " Jackson came onboard. They toured Texas, they also were a favorite at the Split Rail a long gone Austin Legendary Bar, Ray toured with the Desperados for awhile along with Geezinslaw Brothers' pianist, the famous Larry Telford.   L.T. recruited Ray to play bass for Kinky Friedman on his "Polish Army" Tour..........
Ray moved to the bay area of California. He immediately was busy doing some TV and live performance. With Chris Hawk, he  opened for Hank Williams Jr. at the Marin County Civic Center. He did parties at Stanford and played the World Famous Palomino Club. After extensive rehearsal with Dino Valenti, the lead singer for Quicksilver Messenger Service, the band they were trying to put together never really jelled, so Ray took a job playing at the Village in the north bay area. The drummer in this band was Willie Cantu,who had while a teen, been recruited to be Buck Owens drummer. This was a 6 night a week band that kept Ray very busy. Buck himself came and played with us at the club. As a side story, one night  the President of the Northern California  Country Music Association came and wanted to sit in. He chose Blueberry Hill as the tune he wanted to sing & Ray played piano on the tune instead of bass. Imagine his surprise when later that year, his name appeared in the nominations for piano player at the Northern California Country Music Awards. Ray didn't win, but he made the finals. He still wonders why since he was mainly playing bass at the time and did not consider himself a piano player. 
After a couple of years in the Bay Area, Ray returned to Austin. 
His timing could not have been better and  the Sardines fell together.  With old band mate Bill Gossett on drums, Scotty Crooks on guitar, and Mike Reed on keys the Sardines packed them in at their house gig at Toulouse on 6th Street. People would drive from other states just to hear their brand of rock & roll. With sit-ins  by musical friends including Elvin Bishop, the Sardines consistently delivered outstanding performances  at a wide variety of venues :
Austin Aqua Fest, KVET Christmas Party,Fiesta Gardens,
 the Beeville Shootout, the Erwin Center ( for then Governor Bill Clements' daughter's birthday), for Ronald Reagan's Texas Victory Party, and their favorite, The Pier on Lake Austin, as well as private parties, clubs, and corporate events all over the state. The Sardines played on the Steve Fromholtz Radio Hour and were well known for their stage show. Mike Reed would play his piano upside down , Ray and Scotty would play their guitars behind their heads or backs.
After the first year Johnny Richardson, a guitar virtuoso, joined the band to add his signature guitar playing to the mix. Eric Johnson named Johnny as one of his main influences when he was learning to play. Ray, Bill, Scotty, Mike, & Johnny rocked every house they ever played in from the Gulf Coast to the Deserts of West Texas.
The Sardines packed them in!!!!!!!