It started on Super Bowl Sunday for Paul McCartney bandmade Brian Ray

By John Katsilometes

Saturday, Jan. 3, 2015 | 3 p.m.

The song was “Freedom,” quickly written by Paul McCartney in the aftermath of 9/11. He performed it on tour and in the 9/11 tribute concert in late 2001 at Madison Square Garden.

The following February, he was asked to perform the song at the Super Bowl at the Superdome in New Orleans. He needed a guitarist familiar with six- and four-string models, and he asked his drummer Abe Laboriel Jr. to find someone to play that gig. Laboriel mentioned Brian Ray, with whom he had frequently performed. Ray was summoned to New Orleans, met with producer David Kahne and was added to the lineup.

“We played the song, during the pregame show, and I thought that was it,” says Ray, who is bringing his band The Bayonets to Vinyl in the Hard Rock Hotel at 10:30 tonight. The no-admission-fee show is part of a double-bill with guitarist Orianthi, known primarily for her work on the “Michael Jackson Immortal” world tour. “I was hanging around during the game, after Paul was interviewed at halftime, just waiting to shake hands with him and thank him for the opportunity.

“The whole time I was thinking, ‘This is amazing; no one has said goodbye yet.’”

Instead, Ray kept being invited along, to the post-event party in a nearby hotel suite with members of McCartney’s permanent band, including Laboriel and guitarist Rusty Anderson. Finally, McCartney was about to call it a night and turned to Ray and said, “Good to have you aboard. I’ll see you in five weeks. Talk to Rusty and Abe. They’ll show you the ropes. You’ll have a ball.”

That was the comment that changed Ray’s career. Thirteen years later, he is still a member of McCartney’s backing band, having toured the world repeatedly and gained worldwide recognition.

“It’s like being in a movie,” Ray says. “That’s the best way to describe it.”

The Bayonets are Ray’s away-from-Paul passion, an indie rock band he formed with co-writer Oliver Leiber three years ago in Los Angeles. It turns out McCartney is not the only famous songwriting figure to cross Ray’s path; Leiber is the son of legendary composer Jerry Leiber of the Leiber & Stoller songwriting team. They wrote and released the song “Sucker for Love,” issuing the single on Valentine’s Day 2013. “Smartphone,” which Steven Van Zandt dubbed “the coolest song in the world” on his syndicated radio show, followed.

“This band started at the drop of a hat,” Ray said.

As for the distinctive name, conjuring images of violent combat, Ray said that, too was a whimsical decision.

“We had a lot of titles being tossed around, joke titles,” Ray says, laughing. “Shag Wagon was one. We just wanted a classic-sounding name.”

He got one, which matches well Ray’s classic rock story.

Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at Twitter.com/JohnnyKats. Also, follow “Kats With the Dish” at Twitter.com/KatsWiththeDish.