Stan Ray’s Soul Satisfaction brings singers and musicians together at the Tybee Post Theater on October 4, 2026. Photography by Charles Maring.
Singer, drummer, and songwriter Stan Ray brings original music, familiar soul songs, and an ensemble of Savannah area musicians to the Tybee Post Theater.
Stan Ray has spent years moving between roles on Savannah’s stages. Some audiences know the singer at the front of a tribute show. Others have seen him behind the drums with The Accomplices. At Victory North, he has helped bring local musicians together around original songs.
Ask Stan what holds those experiences together, and he comes back to the people beside him.
“The friendship of shared musical moments IS the story,” he says.
That thought runs through Stan Ray’s Soul Satisfaction, which brought a large ensemble to the Tybee Post Theater on October 4, 2026. Original songs and familiar soul music shared the program, with Dolette McDonald, Patti Kelly, and Sara Fullerton each taking the lead on a song. The performance gave individual voices room to be heard within the sound of a group.
In our conversation before the concert, Stan reflected on finding his place in Savannah’s music community, the musicians who have shaped his journey, and the original songs behind Soul Satisfaction.
Stan Ray sits down with Charles Maring for a Savannah Proper conversation about finding his place in Savannah’s music community, the musicians who have shaped his journey, and the original songs behind Stan Ray’s Soul Satisfaction. Interview and film by Charles Maring.
Feeling the Music First
Stan begins his account of childhood music with a joke about getting 12 eight tracks for a penny from the Columbia House Record and Tape Club. Then he remembers something his mother told him: as a baby, he would cry when songs in minor keys came on the radio.
“I’ve always felt music,” he says. Church was where that feeling began to take shape.
Stevie Wonder became a model for Stan as a singer, drummer, and songwriter. He remembers reading about Wonder in a book at his grandmother’s house. “He’s the bar,” Stan says.
Nashville was where Stan began seriously working in all three roles. He played with a 12 piece horn band there, and he still speaks about that sound with delight. “There’s nothing better than a group of people moving air together.”
Finding a Living and a Community in Savannah
Music was not the reason Stan first came to Savannah. In 2001, he moved his family here to open Savannah Wine Shop on Broughton Street. The business ran until 2008. He later worked in wine and spirits sales, and in 2010 moved his family to Tybee for what he calls a fresh start.
After closing the shop and leaving his sales job, he needed another source of income. In Stan’s words, he was “forced to sing for my supper.”
Stan Ray behind the drums with The Accomplices at Homegrown Summer Jam, an annual celebration of Savannah’s original music community. Photograph by Charles Maring.
Performing became steady work. It also led to creative opportunities he had hoped for and to the musicians who became part of his life here. Stan calls the area’s music community a “family.”
That family can be heard in the shows its members build together. At Homegrown Summer Jam 2026, Stan played drums with The Accomplices at Victory North. He was also among the musicians who helped create the first Summer Jam, giving Savannah’s original songwriters a stage of their own.
Another Savannah Proper story, about the Homegrown Collective’s Georgia on My Mind concert, shows Stan in yet another setting. He played drums and sang with the backing band for an evening that brought local performers together and raised money for Emmaus House. He closed the show singing James Brown’s “Sex Machine,” with the artists gathered onstage.
Those performances speak to the range Stan enjoys. “I’ve always been able to sing,” he says. “That’s really my thing and I love what the human voice can do for the soul.” Drums took more deliberate learning, and sometimes they are his favorite instrument. “I love to get lost in the groove.”
Making Soul Satisfaction
Soul Satisfaction began with a decision Stan made ahead of a Homegrown Summer Jam a couple of years ago. He put his name forward for the lineup to give himself a reason to assemble a band. He laughs about it now, though gathering the players remains the hardest part of the project. Everyone, he says, is playing all the time.
The ensemble announced for the October 4 concert included Ben Keiser, Ryan and Patti Kelly, Chris and Sara Fullerton, Dolette McDonald, Jared Hall, Brandon Walker, Dray Harris, Eric Nelson, and John Tisbert. The gathering reflected the relationships Stan has built through years of performing in Savannah and on Tybee.
Readers who want to know more about Dolette can revisit Savannah Proper’s profile and video conversations with her.
The October performance paired Stan’s original material with select covers, including hits from Stevie Wonder and James Brown. What connects those musical influences with his own writing? “Soul, brother…soul!” And, he adds, the horns.
One of the new songs is “The Bull,” which Stan wrote with Brandon Walker. At the time of our interview, they were also recording a record, with a release show planned at the Tybee Post Theater for March 21, 2027. The October concert gave listeners an opportunity to hear the original music onstage.
Stan Ray performs his original song “What’s It Gonna Be” live at Victory North in Savannah. Filmed by Charles Maring.
Soul Satisfaction Takes the Stage
On October 4, the Tybee Post Theater was packed with listeners for Soul Satisfaction. The audience’s enthusiasm extended beyond the familiar songs. Original music found an eager reception alongside the selected covers, connecting the music that inspired these artists with the work they are creating today.
The Ben Keiser Band opened the show, introducing musicians who would form part of the larger Soul Satisfaction ensemble. With Keiser on guitar, the opening performance established the afternoon’s musical foundation before the rest of the artists joined in.
The Ben Keiser Band opens the afternoon before the larger Soul Satisfaction ensemble comes together.
As the ensemble grew, the stage became a gathering of individual voices and shared experience. Stan led the performance, with room for the musicians around him to contribute their own character. Charles Maring’s photographs move between those perspectives: Keiser focused on his guitar, Brandon Walker playing saxophone, and Stan singing beside Walker at the piano.
Stan Ray and Brandon Walker share a moment at the piano during Soul Satisfaction.
Dolette McDonald, Patti Kelly, and Sara Fullerton each took the lead on a song. Their featured performances brought distinct changes in voice and personality while keeping the connection of the ensemble intact. Together, they brought to life the collaborative spirit Stan described in our interview.
Dolette McDonald takes the lead, accompanied by Ben Keiser on guitar.
Patti Kelly steps forward for her featured song at the Tybee Post Theater.
Sara Fullerton takes the lead during Stan Ray’s Soul Satisfaction.
That spirit is visible in the wider stage photographs and in the less formal moments. Sara clapping with her hands raised. Stan smiling toward his fellow performers. Musicians sharing a stage with an audience that had come ready to listen.
Before the concert, Stan spoke about the friendships formed through making music together. At the Tybee Post Theater, those relationships became something the audience could hear and see. Soul Satisfaction gave original songs a receptive room and the artists behind them a chance to share what they had built.
What Stays After the Show
Stan’s explanation of the name Soul Satisfaction is simple: he wants people to feel good while they are there, “and hopefully it sticks around when you leave.”
Stan Ray connects with the audience during the October 4 performance.
The October performance gave that hope a tangible expression. The theater was filled with people eager to hear local artists perform their own music alongside songs that have influenced generations. Onstage, singers and instrumentalists moved between leading and supporting, each contributing to the afternoon.
It gets at what Stan values in making music here. A song offers an afternoon of pleasure. The people who play it together carry that connection into the next room, the next concert, and the next original song.
Shared smiles and applause capture the spirit of Soul Satisfaction.
Story, interview, films, and concert photography by Charles Maring.