But it hasn't always been smooth sailing.

It was performing in school plays and musicals that first had Mr Ray dipping a toe into the world of music. He fell in love. Music became his devotion.

He retired from primary teaching to pursue becoming a full-time jazz musician. He chased the Sydney music scene armed with his guitar, and played with some of the most famous names of the day: Billy Daniels, Billy Eckstein, Rod McKuen, Cilla Black, Ricky May, Little Pattie, John Farnham and The Seekers.

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Yet he never forgot his first love. Fond memories of school performances inspired him to continue on to write plays and musicals of his own. He has written 15 musicals and several plays for schools, incorporated into the education curriculum. Music was his passion, profession and love. But all of a sudden, in his forties, like an elongated semibreve rest, his career paused.

A congenital condition was slowly deteriorating away his hearing, the world became more and more like a gradual diminuendo. Hearing the notes he loved became difficult-playing, impossible. He hung up the guitar in 1968, and retired from the Sydney music scene entirely in 1976. His ears needed an operation he wasn't prepared to undergo.

The guitar stayed on the stand, the strings taught but never played. Mr Ray traded the pick for the plough, becoming an asparagus farmer for 25 years.

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In 2006, he moved to Eden and began writing novels.

His first novel 'Cull' was published in 2014. It was shortly followed by his second novel 'Australian Gulag' in 2016.

But the allure of the music couldn't be suppressed.

Having moved to Batemans Bay in 2011, he met a retired doctor, who convinced Mr Ray that the required ear operation was a worthy venture. A success, his hearing was restored to a level allowing him to perform again.

In 2016, Mr Ray saw an advertisement by the Moruya's Red Door Theatre Company Inc. appealing for musicians to play in their Peter Pan pantomime. He applied.

Anthony Mayne, President Moruya Red Door Theatre Company Inc, upon discovering Mr Ray had played with The Seekers, couldn't say yes quickly enough. The role eventually evolved into Musical Director of the company, leading a talented band of musicians known as the Moonlighters.

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With the Moruya Red Door Theatre Company Inc.'s new season 'Love on the Run' beginning in January 2022, Mr Ray will again be taking to the stage to share his passion and musical gift.

Stafford Ray & The Moonlighters will play a set before Act 1 of the performance, and again during interval.