Albany-raised Ray Stevens puts wraps on RFD TV show

NASHVILLE — Albany favorite son Ray Stevens put the wraps on the first season of his RFD TV variety show “Ray Stevens’ Nashville” Saturday, joined for the series finale by country star T. Graham Brown.

Over the course of its 13-episode run, “Ray Stevens’ Nashville” allowed the Grammy winner to show off the fun side of Music City while playing host to some of Nashville’s top artists. Among his guests during the series, which premiered Nov. 7, were Jimmy Fortune, Suzy Bogus, Daryl Worley, Steve Wariner, Bobby Bare, Larry Gatlin, Charlie McCoy, Bobby Braddock, Aaron Tippin, John Conlee and Tanya Tucker.

The host, who is perhaps best known for such hit comedy songs as “The Streak,” “Gitarzan,” “Ahab the Arab,” “Shriner’s Convention,” a cover of the Coasters classic “Along Came Jones,” and the ever-popular “Jeremiah Peabody’s Poly-Unsaturated, Quick-Dissolving, Fast-Acting, Pleasant-Tasting Green and Purple Pills,” introduced viewers to a lighter side of Music City on his new show while providing veteran country artists the opportunity to perform some of their classic songs.

Local music fans know that Stevens, who moved to Albany from Clarksdale, Ga., with his family as a young boy and attended local schools until leaving the Good Life City and Albany High School for Atlanta when he was 17, may be known best for his comedic records, but he won his two Grammys for “serious” songs: an Arrangement of the Year statue for his bluegrass version of the standard “Misty” and a Best Male Vocalist award for “Everything Is Beautiful.”

RFD TV is available through local providers Mediacom (Channel 240), DISH TV (Channel 231) and DIRECTV (Channel 345). Check local listings to find air times for repeat showings of the first season of “Ray Stevens’ Nashville.”