Steve Ray

Experience

1. Program Specialist

   Texas Music Office

   Aug 2001 — Present · Austin, TX, US

   Ray began his career in the music business in junior high school stocking 8-tracks in his cousin\'s record store. He spent several years working in a variety of record, and later CD, stores, including Fantasia Records, Sound Warehouse and Sound Future. At Dallas independent label Carpe Diem Records, Ray worked in both CD sales and merchandising for Dallas favorites Course of Empire and Pop Poppins.A native of Vernon, Texas, Ray graduated from Vernon High School in 1980, and from the University of Texas at Arlington in 1991 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature and a Minor in Business Administration. While attending the University he served one term in Student Congress.Ray and his wife, Sahar Arafat-Ray are owners of Fred\'s Corner Grille, Vernon\'s oldest restaurant (continually operated since 1961) and co-owners of the town\'s Plaza Theater, an Art Moderne-style movie theater built in 1953 that exhibits both current and classic films. In his free time, Ray enjoys listening to 45 rpm vinyl records and working on his 1970s-era Seeburg Matator Jukebox. He has taken the Rhino Records\' RMAT (Rhino Musical Aptitude Test - a music trivia quiz) each of the six times it was offered, both online and in person, and consistently places fifth.