Hot Club Sandwich

Ray Wood passed away peacefully at home on November 14, 2024. We know he always wanted to stay at home, and we send our condolences to his family and also friends who miss him dearly. We are grateful for the support everyone provided both near and from afar, especially his family for caring for him as he aged in place for the past few years. First responders were on the scene when Ray’s gaze drifted off for the final time.

A memorial will be held on Saturday, January 18 from 12-4pm at the Olympia Eagles #21, 805 4th Ave E, Olympia, WA 98501 — there will be a potluck and jamming among friends and family. A memorial celebration will also take place during the National Old-Time Fiddle Contest in Wesier, Idaho in June in the Stickerville Camp. Weiser Friends of the Fiddle, Inc.(501(c)3) is accepting contributions in Ray’s memory. On the Stickerville website, you can donate to the Ray Wood Memorial & Scholarship Fund.

Ray Wood’s first radio performance was in Bremerton as a child, he joined Arkie Shibley and his Mountain Dew Boys on their live performance of “Hot Rod Race No. 1”, cited as the first groundbreaking hot rod song, also the precursor song to “Hot Rod Lincoln”. Ray was present for rehearsals of the song in his parents’ living room (his parents were big country music fans, and stars would stay at their home). The rehearsed band recorded the famous song in Seattle, it was released in 1950 when Ray was eight years old.

With his brother, Chuck, Ray was a founding member of the Rhythm Rockets, one of the Northwest’s first rock and roll bands in the 1950s. In 1959, Ray lied about his age to a recruiter to tour USO halls in the Far East, backing up artists like the Delmore Brothers, The Coasters, and Sir Lancelot. Ray toured for several weeks with Tommy Duncan of western swing fame, and Ray backed him up on guitar and often led a house band whenever one was available. After spending the 1960s in places like Taipei, Saipan, Seoul, and Okinawa, Ray returned stateside and held several standing musical residencies over the years. Ray played rock guitar on Bourbon Street in New Orleans in the 1980s, and in Northeast Portland at a bustling country music club (when Ray departed from that daily gig, he was replaced by the legendary Jimmy Bryant).

Ray Wood was literally a walking archive of music, and our band, Hot Club Sandwich, first met him as a teacher. One day, we invited him to street perform with us at the NW Folklife Festival (on tenor guitar). Ray would remind us that we made him an honorary member of the band that day — eventually Ray joined Hot Club Sandwich and recorded on our 2005 Green Room album. Our next album, And if Only (2010) included an appearance by Dan Hicks and featured Ray’s composition as the title track.

Likewise, Ray and Vann Cantin, his songwriting partner at the time, composed the title track to our 2018 album No Pressure, which turned out to be Ray’s debut performance of lead vocals on a recorded album. No Pressure captures a special moment in Ray’s musical journey, including several compositions he brought to the group. David Grisman offered production advice and played on half of the tracks, and Ray always spoke about how he loved the process and how it turned out.

Over the years, we have been compiling a “Ray List” of songs which Ray loved to sing. It’s in the hundreds. Please send us a message if you remember one of his favorite songs, and we’ll add it to the “Ray List”. Feel free to send an email to hotclubsandwich [at] gmail.com.