Early Ray's Vast Basement performances began in 1999 as a one-man show[3] that incorporated music, sound design, video, storytelling, dance and tableau vivant.
[4] Subsequent shows added a full band that toured the United States numerous times in support of two cassette releases and three full-length CD's.
[5] Ray's Vast Basement shared the stage with many of today's leading indie folk figures, including Jolie Holland, Horsefeathers, The Mountain Goats and Thao with the Get Down Stay Down.
The band contributed to a variety of compilations, most notably the Verse Press audio book Isn't It Romantic which featured Richard Buckner, Jeff Tweedy, Jason Molina and David Berman.
[9] It features contributions by Nate Query from The Decemberists, Warren Huegel from Citay, Tim Cohen from The Fresh & Onlys and Black Fiction, Dominic Cramp from Evangelista and Jason Kick from Maus Haus.
[13] The Exray's song "Hesitation" was used in the soundtrack for David Fincher's major motion picture The Social Network, about the controversial founding of Facebook.
Howells Transmitter is home to a stylistically diverse group of artists: Charles Atlas, The Fresh & Onlys, Exray's, Michael Zapruder's Rain of Frogs, Black Fiction, Scott Pinkmountain, Window Twins, Ray's Vast Basement, Modular Set and contributors to the Wiretap Music Compilation.