Big News about Ray Condo’s Rock’N’Roll Party!

Topics in this post:

  1. Update on the book – THE BOOK IS DONE!!!!!
  2. May 16th Book launch in Toronto at the 3030 (3030 Dundas West).
  3. By the Way With Ray

1) THE BOOK IS DONE!!!!!
I uploaded RAY CONDO’S ROCK’N’ROLL PARTY to the publishing site yesterday!
FirstBookIt will be delivered by May 13, in time for the release party at the 3030, which is excellent, because a release party with no book would be kind of silly, although the musical line-up is more than worth the visit. I didn’t mean for it to be so close to the wire, but students of life will understand.
The wonderful Lily Frost has written a beautiful foreword to the book, which is laid out across 7 pages, illustrated with 6 photos related to the text.
It’s beautiful…and not just like a mother would love, There are 63 pages , and 62 have images on them. In all, there are 130 images, some black and white, some colour. The book is laid out in a series of two page spreads. in graphic novel format. Each spread relates to a particular show, era or venue, with a table of contents at the front to help review favourite images and an afterword from me about the book.
This is much larger than the campaign promise:

“This 40 page book  would include 50 – 70 images, personal recollections, and shared stories about Ray and the community around him.”

I just didn’t feel the story could be told in fewer pages. I tried to include all the important shows I had recorded, the release parties, big events, personal photos, special people. I missed a few, but not for lack of trying.
Over the last few days, the search for negatives that I was sure existed led to the development of 14 rolls of film from the freezer (after carefully thawing it in stages). I was looking for the last New Years Eve show at The Marine Club, and a photo of Ian Tiles to include and some better pictures of Steve Taylor.  Sadly, I think that roll got destroyed when my camera was broken and the tech opened it without realizing there was film inside.
It’s been a personally wonderful thing to relive this most exhilarating period of my life and there have been many exciting discoveries, like finding the falafel picture. It comes with a long story, so you’ll find that below.
It would have been nice to post regular updates about the progress of the book design as it was taking place, I always enjoy doing that and getting feedback, but this has been a most unusual few months. There were some obstacles along the way, so it was a long forced march to get the book done on time for Ray’s birthday, so updates were jettisoned in favour of concentrating on production.
Screen shot 2014-05-01 at 1.46.25 PM
2) Rockabilly Shakeup #17 is May 16th and is the Book launch in Toronto!
At the 3030 (3030 Dundas West).
Rockhouse T.O. presents: Rock-A-Billy Shake-up #17!
There is a long list of great musicians coming to that show, including performances by:
Lily Frost, Teddy Fury, Matt Allen (The Swingin’ Blackjacks), Colonel Tom Parker, Alex Pangman, Big Rude Jake, Steve Good (Tennessee Voodoo Coupe), James Henry (The Millwinders), Alistair Christl, Mr. Rick, Julie Seddon Faris, Billy T (The HellBent Rockers), Eric Sandmark (original Hardrock Goner!), plus special guests from Montreal, The Bobby Dove Band, and spinning wild rockin’ wax, DJ Rockin’ Dave Faris!
3)  By The Way With Ray

By The Way - Falafel

By The Way – Falafel


I’m absolutely THRILLED to have found my single favourite picture of Ray! This one has eluded me for almost 25 years.
It was shot the first time he stayed at my place with the band (he’d usually crashed with someone else before then), and he…(more)
 

The campaign is done, but there’s more to come!

CBC Article

Canadian rockabilly star Ray Condo inspires crowd funding campaign

 The Indiegogo portion of the Ray Condo-a-gogo campaign is done, but you can still order a book, tshirt, animation cel, and/or exhibition print here.I’m working on the book design starting Monday, November 4..

My goal is to have the book launch on May 16, 2014, which would have been Ray’s 64th birthday, and falls just 10 years after the anniversary of his death.

If you are interested in knowing more about the book project, please read this excellent article on the CBC website, written by Teona Baetu.

I’m going to declare the campaign a success, even though it fell short of my full financial goal. The ultimate purpose of the book is to provide another vehicle to keep Ray Condo’s name visible and draw attention to his music and his art. To that degree, the campaign was an overwhelming success all things considered.

1) Media coverage: One CBC feature news story, 2 radio interviews (CIUT, IndieCan…which is carried on Sirius), 2 radio show spotlights (WhatWave, BluzFM).
2) Social media; 600 fans in the Ray Condo’s Rock and Roll Party group, 78 funders in the Indiegogo campaign, and a featured position on the Indiegogo main page.
3) The inspiration…even though the campaign falls short of the goal, it was wonderful to see how many friends and total strangers were supportive of the objective.
Thanks to everyone who contributed, shared the links, wrote notes of encouragement…and who generally believed in me and my integrity to complete the project.

Ray Condo-a-gogo is LIVE!

Ray Condo-a-gogo

Day 22 of the Ray Condo-a-gogo campaign.

The indiegogo campaign to support the book Ray Condo’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Party! has been launched, and the first contributions are coming in. Perks include: The book, exhibition prints from I wish that it had been a dream, Gayle Hurmuses tribute photo show about Ray Condo and animation cels from Barroom Crazy, each signed and with certificates of authenticity, a limited edition t-shirt, a ‘Zelig edition‘, a photo-shoot, a certificate of appreciation, a special Ray Condo postage stamp, and more coming in!

Ray Condo Photo Book and Walk of Fame

KickingCmaronRay

This page exists to maintain the legend of the late great Ray Condo, a Canadian Country-Swing/Rockabilly musician, who earned a fan base throughout the world.

The first projects are:

  1. An IndieGoGo campaign to make a photo-memoir book about Ray Condo and to celebrate his legacy.
  2. A star on Canada’s Walk of Fame in 2014, the 10th anniversary of his passing. You can help by nominating Ray here.

Meanwhile, you can email me at gayle@raycondo.ca

Thanks for your support! 
Gayle Hurmuses – August 11, 2013