Submitted by Don Graham
Brantford, Ontario native and Canadian treasure Ray Materick is set to return to Ontario for a night of music and memories at Toronto’s legendary venue, Hugh’s Room Live on Saturday May 25th.
The show will be an incredible musical trip through Ray’s impressive catalogue of songs through the years as he and his band, The Midnight Matinees take the audience on a journey of his life through music.
RAY MATERICK & MIDNIGHT MATINEE / HUGH’S ROOM, 296 BROADVIEW
SATURDAY, MAY 25 • DOORS 7PM / CONCERT 8PM
“The show will feature songs from all my albums from Sidestreets that we released in 1972 on Kanata Records to my first album on Warner/Asylum Records, Neon Rain, in 1974, that include our first big hit, “Linda Put The Coffee On.”
Check out the hit song, “Linda Put The Coffee On” on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXPVtkPxXdw
Materick had been specifically signed by record executive Gary Muthe as one of the first Canadian artists on the U.S. Asylum Records label, formed by David Geffen and was produced by Gene Martynec. A number of albums followed throughout the 1970s: Best Friend Overnight in 1975 and Midnight Matinee in 1976, both of which were produced by Don Potter and featured musical contributions from Daniel Lanois, as well as Fever in Rio in 1978.
Ray Materick grew up in a musical household, his Dad was a preacher, who played saxophone, trumpet, and clarinet in his own dance band, during the 1940s and 1950s. Ray was surrounded by music although the big band style didn’t interest him. “ rock n Roll was happening and I didn’t want to play trumpet, a guitar was more to my liking. I ended up as a lead singer in a top forty band and then got interested in the songwriter style with the likes of Dylan and Joni Mitchell. That’s really what got me started.”
Ray took a bit of a break from music but he never stopped writing and eventually returned to whst he was meant to do. Materick returned to recording as of 2000, releasing seven albums of new material in two years, and has regularly released new material and compilations since that time. The majority of Materick’s later releases have been on his own label, King Kong Records.
In 2012, Materick was subject to two tribute concerts, in Toronto and Hamilton, respectively, by “Honouring Our Own”, an organization dedicated to honouring musicians, while living, who have made a lifelong contribution to Canadian music.
In 2010 Life And Times a double CD – and a beautiful and complex trip across 40 years of life and music – was released by Linus Entertainment.
Ray is presently back with the original Midnight Matinee players and will be performing his songs l at Hugh’s Room Live on May 25th, 2024 8pm. To purchase tickets please visit: https://www.showpass.com/ray-materick/
Editor’s Note: 296 Broadview Avenue is not yet a fully wheelchair accessible venue, with stairs between all levels. Hugh’s Room is working towards fixing that through fundraising. https://hughsroomlive.com/fundraising-campaign/