Thank you for the music – tributes pour in for Ilfracombe music promoter Ray

Tributes have been flooding in for the ‘unsung hero’ of Ilfracombe’s music scene who brought Blur’s Damon Albarn to the town along with a host of top-level bands from around the world.

Retired music promoter Ray Williams passed away at North Devon District Hospital on Tuesday, February 24 aged 70 following a short illness, but his legacy lives on in the memories of countless performers and music fans.

Ray’s funeral will be held on Thursday, March 19 at 2.15pm at North Devon Crematorium in Barnstaple.  

A memorial and celebration of his life will be held at the Pier Brewery Tap & Grill on the Quay in Ilfracombe in a few weeks, with live music and fundraising to help local young people continue to enjoy and pursue music.

Above: Former Ilfracombe music promoter Ray Williams pictured in September 2020. 

Ray decided to retire and wind up his company First Step Management at the end of 2020 after the Covid pandemic and lockdowns saw the live music scene come to a sudden halt, but for many years he brought a stream of talented international and local bands to Ilfracombe and North Devon.

As well as local pub and venue gigs there were plenty of charitable events such as the Littlebridgestock festival to raise money for Children’s Hospice South West and for 10 years he ran the music stage at the ever-popular South West Birdman on Ilfracombe Pier.

Ray and his wife Jackie moved to Ilfracombe in 2006 and she supported his promotion work locally as well as touring all over the UK with various bands. Although now divorced, Jackie and Ray remained close friends until his death.

After arriving in Ilfracombe, Ray was soon organising bands for the local music scene and he ran the Captain’s Cabin record shop on the Quay for four years.

He also brought a host of big name bands to The Vault as was, including punk legends Eddie and the Hot Rods, Vice Squad and The Vibrators.

Folk legends Hawkwind played in Ilfracombe four times thanks to Ray, including as headliners at South West Birdman, which also saw The Wurzels play one year.

Above: Ray Williams pictured with his then wife Jackie during a gig in Ilfracombe.

Jackie, now Jackie LeMay, said: “We always stayed really good friends. I supported him through thick and thin, I enjoyed the travelling around and looking after all the bands that came down and stayed with us in Ilfracombe.

“He was a lovely man with a heart of gold, he thought so much of Ilfracombe and wanted to bring as much music to the people of Ilfracombe as he could, at a reduced price, which he managed to do.

“I have lovely memories of 22 years of fun and tribulations, getting out of some sticky wickets on the music scene, such as a support band not bringing their drum kit – we had all sorts of fun and games on tour.

“But we always got through it and did what we were supposed to do, not one gig was ever cancelled.”

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Greg Schofield, of Ilfracombe punk rockers Falling Apart, was a long-time friend of Ray’s and worked with him at countless events.

In a Facebook tribute, he said: “Ray was an unsung hero of the local music scene and had a heart of gold. He was amazingly supportive to Falling Apart for many years. In the early days (when we were decidedly amateur!), he gave us (and other local bands) opportunities to support well know punk bands like 999, The Vibrators and Vice Squad and The Wurzels!

“We go back 20 years. He arranged regular gigs for visiting bands at The Marlboro Club and afterwards at The Chill Bar. He contributed fairly big sums of his hard earned money to put on and arrange the music line up at Birdman over numerous years.

“He brought some fairly big name bands and names to Ilfracombe, including Space Ritual (Hawkwind) and The Incredible World of Arthur Brown.

“I think we are only touching the edge of what he did here. Famed in our world for his constant hangdog under pressure expression and regular use of the ‘rammed’ to describe modestly attended gigs, he was a true legend. RIP Ray.”

Perhaps one of the biggest coups of Ray’s long career was bringing Damon Albarn of Blur fame to the former Marlboro Club in Ilfracombe with his then latest band, The Good, the Bad & the Queen.

As well as the Blur frontman, it featured Paul Simonon of The Clash and a member of the band Toploader.

In a North Devon Gazette feature about Ray’s career, written in 2020 when he retired, he told us: “It was a warm up show for The Albert Hall and that was the only warm up they did. And it was probably the only gig in Ilfracombe that sold out before we advertised.”

In that December 2020 article, Ray talked about how it all began, when his then Sussex schoolteacher decided to create a pirate radio station and install pupils as DJs, which included Ray of course.

Music was already a big part of his life and he was a talented keyboard player as well as a violinist, playing the electric violin in his younger days.

Following school, Ray found work as a resident DJ at a London venue in Kingston and one evening the management suggested a live band might be nice.

He said: “Being 18 and knowing everything, I said I can get you a band. The only band I knew was Blackfoot Sue, so we had them on and it was packed. He said, ‘that's great, can you get someone every week?’ and I said, of course I can, so I did.

“We started at quite a high level and it just carried on from there.”

Ray recalled the highlight for him had been the chance to hear his favourite band - American rock band Love - play in Ilfracombe.

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The legendary band had called and asked if he had a slot at the then Club Phoenix in the town - unfortunately a tribute band was booked and their show had to go ahead because they had already been cancelled once.

Ray said: “They rang back and said if you get us a gig, can we play and so they came and played on the second stage, one of my favourite bands ever. They played their whole album the night before they played the Albert Hall. It was stunning.”

Summing up his career in that feature written more than five years ago, Ray told us: “I have worked with touring bands from all over the world and they have all played in Ilfracombe.

“I would like to thank all the venues I've worked with, plus all the bands and I hope the scene returns for you all. I'd also like to thank all the friends I've made all round the world, I've been very lucky and I'll miss you all.

“A big thank you to my wife Jackie for driving the tours, cooking on the road, being tour guide and generally being there when I needed her to keep me going.”

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