David Raymond Jr. is accustomed to performing in front of crowds, but last Saturday night was just a bit different for the Hahnville native.
“I’ve done some relatively big stuff, but it’s different when you know a few million people will be watching,” Raymond said. “It kind of messes with your mind.”
The bass player performed live on stage as part of Solange’s performance last week on Saturday Night Live. It was the first ever performance on SNL by Solange, the sister of iconic singer and actress Beyonce who recently earned a No. 1 spot on the Billboard Top 200 list with the release of her album, “A Seat At A Table.”
For Raymond, the past two weeks have felt like a whirlwind. “It was nerve wracking,” he said. “It was a lot of fun, don’t get me wrong. But I admit, I was nervous. It was definitely one for the books.”
Solange, who lives in New Orleans, held an audition in the city that Raymond and a few of his friends decided to pursue.
The next day, he received a call back.
“We learned the songs and did our thing,” Raymond said. “I was confident in my abilities, but there were a few other good bass players there as well. I was definitely overjoyed when I got the call back.”
Raymond learned to love music through his father, who sings and plays multiple instruments.
“He taught me at a young age,” Raymond said. “He started me on drums, then the piano when I was about 8 or 9. Then I heard a bass player when I was 13.
“And when that happened, I said, ‘Okay, I need a bass guitar. This is what I need to do.’”
The bass player he heard was John Richards, who played at a church revival.
Raymond said the way Richards played stuck out to him—“I’d never heard anyone play that fast. ‘I can play that fast?’ I thought,” Raymond said — and once he began to play, he quickly felt what became his calling.
“Even though it’s just one part of the music, I feel like the bass gives you power and control of where the music goes,” Raymond said. “It plays a big role. I can choose to make the music have a different feel or steer it in a different direction.”
After graduating from Hahnville High School in 2006, he began playing around the New Orleans area. By age 19, he began to seriously pursuing a musical career although initially planning to go into nursing.
“I picked up a gig here and there … the combination of that and me hating nursing school kind of led to it,” Raymond said. “I kept playing and performing and realized that was what I wanted to do.”
One of his fellow performers last Saturday night was New Orleans saxophone player Khris Royal, who Raymond has played with many times, including the days when he was first starting.
He said that experiencing the Saturday Night Live stage with Royal held special meaning.
“From the two of us playing around New Orleans for change to experiencing that with him … it was really something else,” Raymond said. “We got to experience the benefits of hard work together. It’s pretty great.”
Before taking the stage, though, he had to overcome his nerves.
“It was a bit stressful,” he said. “In a way, I couldn’t slow down and take it all in because it happened so fast. One day we’re learning one thing then we’re learning another thing, then the dance steps a day later, cleaning this part and that part up … then before you know it we’re in New York. Every second of rehearsal counted.”
He credited an exchange with his brother just before going on stage with easing his mind.
“I was in the green room texting with my family, and he just writes me, ‘You’re Jordan and it’s Game 6,’” Raymond recalled. “I was locked in at that point.”
Raymond said nothing compares to the feeling of being on that stage.
“Everything we worked on, all those individual things, came together as part of Solange’s vision,” Raymond said. “When you see everything you’ve been working mesh like it did, it makes you feel like you’re part of something really special.”
After the performance, there was one more treat to experience.
“They went to commercial and everyone finished clapping … we left the stage and walked down through those double doors, turn and see Jay-Z standing there with Solange’s husband,” Raymond said. “He’s congratulating us and telling us we were great out there. That was an awesome way to cap the night off.”
The experience still hasn’t completely sunk in, Raymond said. But it did leave him with a clear goal in mind for the future.
“Before that night, I’d never watched an episode of Saturday Night Live,” Raymond said. “I’m not a big late night TV guy. But after being there, after that night … I know I have to go back one day. I have to be on that stage again.”
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