Serving Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, and other towns of the North Carolina High Country
Founded 05-05-05

Remembering Local Resident Ray Carlton

Story by David Brewer

In the April/May issue of High Country Magazine that hit streets earlier this week, a local man and ASU graduate named Ray Carlton is the subject of two feature articles. On Thursday, April 12, while vacationing in Florida with his family, Ray suffered a heart attack in his sleep, dying unexpectedly at age 56.

I first heard about of Ray Carlton in our office last spring as we discussed ideas for feature stories. Ray spent more than three decades in the music industry as a road manager and record executive, working closely with artists including The Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera and The Meters, just to name a few.

Being an avid music lover, I jumped at the chance to meet and interview the industry insider and veteran who had since retired to the comfort of Sugar Grove with his wife Sharon and teenage son Sam. I had heard stories of Ray’s “garage full of gold records,” and his first-hand accounts of hanging with the rock and pop elite.

I finally met Ray, Sharon and Sam in early February at our downtown Boone office, first having lunch with them in town and then visiting their home for a long night of incredible stories, music industry insights and, more than anything, hospitality.

Ray spent a large part of his career in the music industry working as a promotion and marketing manager for various record labels, traveling to radio stations across the country to promote his labels’ latest potential hit records, a job he relished. During his decade-long tenure with Elektra/Asylum Records, Ray was awarded both Rookie of the Year and Promotions Man of the Year, the company’s top honors. He most recently served as vice president of pop promotion for Warner Brothers-affiliated label Giant Records and for RCA Records in Los Angeles.

Upon Ray’s retirement in 2001, The Carltons settled in sleepy Sugar Grove, far removed from the fast-paced industry life. The move not only fulfilled Ray and Sharon’s dream to return to the area they loved so much during their college years, but also allowed them to spend lots of quality time with their growing son in a supportive environment.

For me, spending time with Ray and witnessing his undying enthusiasm for music was truly a special experience. But Ray did not only love his favorite artists and their music; he loved the music business as a whole, and was disappointed at the disorganized and problematic state in which it currently operates.

During the last year, Ray and Sharon put the majority of their energies into developing High Country Cotillion, a social education program specifically designed by the Carltons to help students in Watauga County develop into confident and respectful young men and women in a fun-filled environment. Ray’s plan to attract participants involved employing positive role models, while also offering fun dances to modern music that kids would enjoy. The plan was working.

“Raymond was incredibly happy with his life,” said Sharon. “He had found a way to give back to his beloved community using his experiences and talents to prepare students for life beyond their classrooms. He was really a big kid himself and loved being with the students, alternately coaching and teasing them.

“He was very content, and that gives us peace in his passing. We so appreciate the overwhelming outpour of love and support from the community.”

As local therapist David Holden explained at Saturday night’s cotillion class, Ray Carlton wouldn’t want the kids to be sad—he would do something to change that. He would want them to learn to be the best they can be and to go on dancing.

A celebration of Ray Carlton’s life will be held at First Presbyterian Church in Boone on Saturday, May 5, at 4:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers, donations can be sent to First Presbyterian Church, the Sam B. Carlton trust (college fund) c/o Smith Barney, 100 N. Tampa St., Suite 3000, Tampa, Fla., 33602, or the Ray Carlton Memorial High Country Cotillion Scholarship Fund for Deserving Students, c/o Bank of America, 1800 Blowing Rock Rd., Boone, 28607.