VonRay

Vonray was a modern rock band from Orlando, Florida. The group formed around singer/songwriter Vaughan Rhea, originally from Tennessee, who had come to Orlando playing as an acoustic coffeeshop act. Inspired by grunge music, Rhea put together a band with his brother, Dave, and began playing somewhat harder sounding tunes, though still acoustic-based. Soon after, the band was opening for Third Eye Blind and Seven Mary Three, among other national acts, and released an independent debut album, Panes, as VonRay in 1997. A second independent album release, VonRay, followed in 1999, and a third, Fame, came in 2001.
As major-label attention increased, the band scored a high-profile slot opening for fellow Florida-based rockers, Creed, in summer of 2002. The band was signed to Elektra Records in late 2002 and, under the moniker «Vonray,» saw their first major label release on Elektra Records in early 2003 (April 8). The band charted a single hit in the US in 2002 with the song «Inside Out,» which was featured on the WB Network’s television show Smallville, on which the band made an appearance, and its soundtrack; «Inside Out» subsequently peaked at #32 on the Billboard Adult Top 40 chart and at #31 on Billboard’s Top 40 Mainstream chart. A second single, «I’ll Show You,» followed but received little promotion from the label and failed to chart. Due to Elektra Records then merging with Atlantic Records, promotion for the band all but ceased, and the band was dropped from the label soon after. A casualty of the merger, Rhea and the band went on hiatus in October 2003.
After a longstanding online fan petition, Vonray reunited for a free and final «farewell» show on September 1, 2007 at the Hard Rock Live in Orlando, Florida; the entire performance was later featured on the local Orlando, FL-area cable channel Orange TV’s television show, Livewire, which won a Telly Award in 2008. An official DVD release of the farewell performance was planned but never saw production. Since the farewell show, vocalist Vaughan Rhea has continued to perform sporadically around the Orlando, FL area, where he is still a current resident.