Ray LaMontagne - Biography
Ray LaMontagne, perhaps the most intensely private musician this side of Thom Yorke, has a sound that is more comparable to Nick Drake than to Radiohead. When he first arrived on the scene, it was tempting to write him off as yet another Jack Johnson. Since then, LaMontagne has revealed himself to be a very thoughtful and genuine singer/songwriter with one of those heartrending voices that seem to express actual, lived-in pain. The singer claims to have an opinion of his own work that borders on distaste and he has jettisoned several of his own compositions from his live show. But while LaMontagne has every right to assign his own songs a shelf-life, it looks like the rest of the world has decided that these songs are timeless.
LaMontagne was born in 1973 in the city of Nashua, New Hampshire. His father, a troubled traveling musician, exited young Ray’s life rather quickly, leaving Ray’s mother to cope with the family’s financial woes and to care for her six children. It was a life of constant relocation and, for Ray, temporary father figures. High school failed to provide Ray with any solace; at the age of 17, he began to skip around the country on his own, working miscellaneous jobs. He eventually took a job in a shoe factory in New Hampshire. Before heading off to work one morning, LaMontagne heard Stephen Stills’ “Treetop Flyer” on the radio. The song provided him with an epiphany and he immediately decided to become a songwriter. He also decided to skip work altogether that day, opting to head for the local record store to purchase Stills Alone (1991 Vision), the album containing the song that had just changed his life. He sold his Volkswagen van and purchased a 1972 Martin D-35, the same guitar played by Stills.
By 1999, LaMontagne was hard at work on a music career, writing and recording demos that he would use to find gigs at local establishments. The singer played bad gig after bad gig for the next few years, hating the experience but knowing he had no choice but to continue. He was slowly approaching that light at the end of the tunnel, and soon a friend of LaMontagne’s introduced him and his 10-song demo to Jamie Ceretta of Chrysalis Music Publishing. The company sent LaMontagne to Los Angeles to re-record his songs at Sunset Sound with Ethan Johns, a notable producer who had worked with Ryan Adams and Rufus Wainwright. Guest musicians on the album included violinist Sara Watkins of Nickel Creek and Jennifer Stills, the daughter of the man who had inspired LaMontagne. Trouble (2004 RCA), LaMontagne’s debut, was recorded in just two weeks and released through RCA on September 14, 2004.
To promote his critically-praised album, LaMontagne went on tour and played a six-song set for the television show Austin City Limits. The episode aired over one year after Trouble was released. The album was picked up in the UK by 14th Floor Recordings before LaMontagne toured the country with new labelmate David Gray. LaMontagne was given more helpful publicity in 2006 when Taylor Hicks, the winner of the fifth season of American Idol, performed the title-track of Trouble during the final rounds of the show. When all was said and done, Trouble had sold over 400,000 copies internationally, peaking in the Billboard 200 at 189.
LaMontagne reconvened with Johns in 2006 to record a second album. Til the Sun Turns Black (2006 RCA) managed to sound more subdued than its predecessor while featuring more varied instrumentation. The album garnered even more critical praise for LaMontagne. After selling 28,000 copies in its first week alone, the album reached number 28 on the Billboard 200, an impressive improvement on the singer’s first outing. LaMontagne’s new songs now appeared everywhere: in movie trailers (Away From Her), TV shows (ER, One Tree Hill, Bones, Law and Order: Criminal Intent), and films (27 Dresses).
In 2008, LaMontagne and Johns headed to Box, England for further collaboration. LaMontagne also brought his touring band members with him, allowing them to play on his recordings for the first time. British singer/songwriter Leona Naess joined them in the sessions as well. Gossip in the Grain (2008 RCA) was released on October 14, 2008. While the album’s lone charting single, “You Are the Best Thing” (featured in the 2009 film I Love You, Man), didn’t do incredibly well on the singles chart, the album itself reached number three and is LaMontagne’s best showing to date.
Ray LaMontagne now lives in a farmhouse with his wife and two children in Phillips, Maine. In 2010 LaMontagne released God Willin' & The Creek Don't Rise, which he received a Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk record.
