A native of Richmond, Virginia, Will began his musical journey at the
tender age of ten when his older siblings would play records of Peter
Paul & Mary, Leadbelly, Ian and Sylvia, Elvis and Korner, Ray & Glover.
Later on in high school, Will discovered the Beatles, the Blues Project,
Cream, the Grateful Dead and Paul Butterfield Blues Band. When he
turned sixteen he bought his first guitar and immediately started
woodshedding on the licks of Mike Bloomfield, Eric Clapton, Danny Kalb and Keith Richards.

After a two year stint in the Army, during which he did a tour of Viet
Nam, Will took a hiatus from guitar and went to college under the GI
bill. On Christmas vacation of his sophomore year, his younger brother
Enos brought home a copy of Live Dead by the Grateful Dead. Will would never be the same again. He picked up the guitar again and suddenly found what he wanted to do; play guitar! With Jerry Garcia as his new source of inspiration, Will started a routine of practicing eight full hours a day while still going to school. When he graduated he started playing in a string of local rock bands like Sneaky Weeds, Dry Ice, Mace, Abby & the Milkmen, and Saffron. Then a band named King Cotton asked him to join and Will was introduced to country rock. He began studying the styles of Roy Buchanan, James Burton, Clarance White and Danny Gatton. After being in a slew of other local bands Will joined his first straight ahead redneck country band, The Pacers. He loved it! He could finally play pedal steel licks all night long and walk away with something he never had before while playing rock - money!
By now Will began the first of what would become three day jobs working in a foundry. It was hard, dirty work but he felt like he was a true "workin' man" just like in the country songs he played and sang in the bars at night. It was during this time that he also hooked up with two men who owned a fledgling recording studio outside Richmond called Common Bond Studios. It was at Common Bond that Will first learned the art of recording. He was down there a lot playing on demos, jingles and records. He also learned about song construction, arranging and producing. On weekends Will would go in and record his own songs when the studio wasn't too busy. At night he still continued to play in various country and blues bands including The Cold Harbor Band, Westwind and the Terry Brennon Band. After five years of working jobs by day and playing music at night, Will had had enough and in 1983 his new bride Gayle talked him into moving out west to Los Angeles where he could play
music full time and she could pursue her art.

Making a living in Los Angeles was a challenge, but Will began finding
work in nightclubs and eventually the studios. He was a member of
several ground breaking 80's cow punk bands including Tin Star ,
Vanishing Breed, Candye Kane & the Armadillo Stampede , and Will Ray & the Gila Monsters. Utilizing his experience in studios, he began producing country oriented artists in the LA area including three
compilation albums, Hollywood Roundup, Detour West and Far West. It was on Hollywood Roundup that Will first recorded with soon-to-be
Hellecaster henchmen Jerry Donahue and John Jorgenson. Will and fellow co-producer Glen Mont wanted to write an instrumental on the album featuring some of the top country pickers in Los Angeles. The result was "Picker's Brawl" and it featured John Jorgenson, Jerry Donahue, Jeff Ross, Billy Bremner and Will picking up a storm. It was the first time Jerry, John and Will ever recorded together, but it would not be the last.

Two years later at the legendary Palomino club, Will and Jerry Donahue were sipping on some brews during one of Ronnie Mack's Barndances when they had an idea; why not throw together a band to do a Barndance and play nothing but guitar music? Two guitars would be good, but three would be better. Jorgenson's name came up and a few weeks later the three were rehearsing to do a one-time only show at the Palomino. John had the idea to do three way harmony parts and presto! The Hellecasters as a band was born! The boys were surprised by the attention they received when they played that night. The club was packed with guitarists and they savored every note that the twanging trio played. Ronnie Mack insisted that the Hellecasters do another Barndance, and so six months later they did another show to yet another packed house. Six months after that show Michael Nesmith came down, caught the excitement and offered the boys a record deal.

Around the same time Will had just finished producing a new artist
called Wylie and the Wild West Show. Will also began playing with
country songbird Carlene Carter. Pretty soon Will was part of the edgy
West Coast country sound while working with artists such as Steve Earle, Tom Jones, Solomon Burke, Joe Walsh, Michael Nesmith and Thomas Dolby. The Hellecasters' first album The Return of the Hellecasters became a hit with guitarists and was named "Best Album" and "Best Country Album" by Guitar Player Magazine in late 1993. The boys went out and toured the US and England in 1994 to an enthusiastic and growing following.

In 1995 the Hellecasters's recorded and released their second CD Escape From Hollywood. That same year Hipshot products began marketing an invention of Will's called the Stealth Slide. They also began manufacturing the Will Ray Model B-Bender for guitar. In addition, Will released two much anticipated guitar instructional videos, B-Bender Mania and Stealth Slide Technique on Rambo Videos.

Due to the world wide polularity of the Hellecasters among guitarists,
Fender Musical Instruments unveiled limited edition signature guitars on the three members of the band in 1997 including the Will Ray
Jazz-a-Caster. This was a dream come true for Will. He now was
designing a production guitar for the world's leading manufacturer of
guitars! The following year Fender released the Will Ray Mojo-Tele
signature model from the Fender Custom Shop. Will and the Hellecasters had finally arrived!

In 1998 the Hellecasters released their third album New Axes to Grind
on their own label, Pharaoh Records. Their fan base is ever expanding.
Fender has created more signature guitars on the three guitarists (7)
than for any other group in Fender's 50 year history.

1999 saw Will officially releasing his first solo CD called Invisible
Birds on Pharaoh Records. On it Will really pulls out all the stops by
singing and playing some of his wildest songs ever.

In 2000 the Hellecasters released their first live video,
Live...Raw...in Germany to their anxious fans. It was recorded in
Baden-Baden when they played on the live music German TV show Ohne Filter. Also that year found Will recording his second solo album Mojo Blues featuring guest appearances from John, Jerry, Ted Green, Juke Logan and many others. With a release date in late 2001 it promisses to be a much anticipated follow up to Invisible Birds.

Currently Will continues to produce international as well as local LA
artists in his studio and give guitar clinics when he's not
"Hellecasting". In the new Millenium Will promises to keep doing what
he enjoys doing best having fun on guitar while pushing the edge of
the envelope!