Ray LaMontagne
Encyclopedia
Raymond "Ray" Charles Jack LaMontagne (icon; born June 18, 1973) is a Grammy-award winning American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...

. LaMontagne has released four studio albums, Trouble
Trouble (Ray LaMontagne album)
Trouble is the debut album by Maine singer-songwriter Ray LaMontagne. It was released on September 14, 2004 in the United States, and on September 20, 2004 in the United Kingdom. Although the album was released in 2004, the song didn't enter the top five of the UK charts until August 2006...

, Till the Sun Turns Black
Till the Sun Turns Black
Till The Sun Turns Black is singer-songwriter Ray LaMontagne's second full-length release, which was released on August 29, 2006. The album was produced by Ethan Johns and recorded at Allaire Studios in Shokan, New York. The album was a commercial success, becoming a top 40 album, selling 28,000...

, Gossip in the Grain
Gossip in the Grain
During the week of November 1, 2008, Gossip in the Grain debuted at #3 on the Billboard 200."Let It Be Me" was featured on the seventh episode of the first season of the new television show, "Fringe". "Winter Birds" was featured on the tenth episode of the fifth season of ABC's "Grey's Anatomy"...

and God Willin' & the Creek Don't Rise. He was born in New Hampshire and was inspired to create music after hearing an album by Stephen Stills
Stephen Stills
Stephen Arthur Stills is an American guitarist and singer/songwriter best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills & Nash . He has performed on a professional level in several other bands as well as maintaining a solo career at the same time...

. Critics have compared LaMontagne's music to The Band, Van Morrison, Nick Drake, and Tim Buckley. He lives in Maine with his wife and two children.

Early life

LaMontagne was born in Nashua, New Hampshire
Nashua, New Hampshire
-Climate:-Demographics:As of the census of 2010, there were 86,494 people, 35,044 households, and 21,876 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,719.9 people per square mile . There were 37,168 housing units at an average density of 1,202.8 per square mile...

, in 1973. Despite his father's background in music, LaMontagne avoided the activity and spent time reading fantasy novels in the forest. After graduating from high school, LaMontagne moved to Lewiston, Maine
Lewiston, Maine
Lewiston is a city in Androscoggin County in Maine, and the second-largest city in the state. The population was 41,592 at the 2010 census. It is one of two principal cities of and included within the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine metropolitan New England city and town area and the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine...

 and found work in a shoe factory.

Career

LaMontagne has a unique vocal style, which he says is created by singing through his gut instead of through his nose. He cites Stephen Stills
Stephen Stills
Stephen Arthur Stills is an American guitarist and singer/songwriter best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills & Nash . He has performed on a professional level in several other bands as well as maintaining a solo career at the same time...

, Richard Manuel
Richard Manuel
Richard George Manuel was a Canadian composer, singer, and multi-instrumentalist, best known for his contributions to and membership in The Band....

, and Rick Danko
Rick Danko
Richard Clare "Rick" Danko was a Canadian musician and singer, best known as a member of The Band.-Early years :...

 as strong musical influences while critics have compared LaMontagne's music to The Band
The Band
The Band was an acclaimed and influential roots rock group. The original group consisted of Rick Danko , Garth Hudson , Richard Manuel , and Robbie Robertson , and Levon Helm...

, Van Morrison
Van Morrison
Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...

, Nick Drake
Nick Drake
Nicholas Rodney "Nick" Drake was an English singer-songwriter and musician. Though he is best known for his sombre guitar based songs, Drake was also proficient at piano, clarinet and saxophone...

, and Tim Buckley
Tim Buckley
Timothy Charles Buckley III was an American vocalist, and musician. His music and style changed considerably through the years; his first album was mostly folk oriented, but over time his music incorporated jazz, psychedelia, funk, soul, avant-garde and an evolving "voice as instrument," sound...

.

1999 to 2005

LaMontagne was inspired to quit his job and begin a career as a singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...

 after listening to Stephen Stills' song "Treetop Flyer" and his album Stills Alone
Stills Alone
Stills Alone is an album released in 1991 by Stephen Stills. As its title suggests, it features only Stills on an acoustic guitar.Contemporary singer/songwriter Ray Lamontagne has noted in interviews that track ten on this album, "Treetop Flyer," is the song that convinced him to pursue a career in...

. LaMontagne began performing in 1999, while maintaining a part time job as a tutor
Tutor
A tutor is a person employed in the education of others, either individually or in groups. To tutor is to perform the functions of a tutor.-Teaching assistance:...

. In the summer of 1999, he recorded 10 songs for a demo album that was sent to various local music venue
Music venue
A music venue is any location used for a concert or musical performance. Music venues range in size and location, from an outdoor bandshell or bandstand or a concert hall to an indoor sports stadium. Typically, different types of venues host different genres of music...

s including Maine's Oddfellow Theater, where he was hired as an opening act for John Gorka
John Gorka
John Gorka is a contemporary American folk musician. In 1991, Rolling Stone magazine called him "the preeminent male singer-songwriter of what has been dubbed the New Folk Movement."-Biography:...

 and Jonathan Edwards. A business executive introduced LaMontagne to Chrysalis Music Publishing and they recorded an album and sold it to RCA Records
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...

 in the USA and Echo Records
Echo Records
The Echo Label was a record label started by Chrysalis Group in 1994, and linked with Pony Canyon in Japan. The Chrysalis Group were the original owners of Chrysalis Records, which they sold to EMI....

 in the UK

In 2004 LaMontagne recorded his second album Trouble
Trouble (Ray LaMontagne album)
Trouble is the debut album by Maine singer-songwriter Ray LaMontagne. It was released on September 14, 2004 in the United States, and on September 20, 2004 in the United Kingdom. Although the album was released in 2004, the song didn't enter the top five of the UK charts until August 2006...

with producer Ethan Johns
Ethan Johns
Ethan Johns is a record producer, engineer, mixer, musician, and songwriter who has worked with such artists such as Ryan Adams, Kings of Leon, Ray LaMontagne, Kevin Prosch, Rufus Wainwright, Howard Eliott Payne, Emmylou Harris, Crowded House, Laura Marling, Luthea Salom, and Crosby, Stills and...

 and released it on RCA Records
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...

. The album featured performances by Sara Watkins
Sara Watkins
Sara Ullrika Watkins is an American singer-songwriter and fiddler. Watkins debuted in 1989 as the fiddler of the progressive bluegrass group Nickel Creek, which consisted of herself, her elder brother Sean, and mandolinist Chris Thile. As a band, they are notable for three wide-released albums:...

 and Stephen Stills
Stephen Stills
Stephen Arthur Stills is an American guitarist and singer/songwriter best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills & Nash . He has performed on a professional level in several other bands as well as maintaining a solo career at the same time...

' daughter, Jennifer. The album sold over 250,000 copies in the USA and 500,000 worldwide. During a 2005 tour, LaMontagne performed on the TV show Austin City Limits
Austin City Limits
Austin City Limits is an American public television music program recorded live in Austin, Texas by Public Broadcasting Service Public television member station KLRU, and broadcast on many PBS stations around the United States...

.

An EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...

 of LaMontagne's performance at the Bonnaroo Music Festival
Bonnaroo Music Festival
The Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival is an annual four day music festival created and produced by Superfly Productions and AC Entertainment, held at Great Stage Park on a 700-acre farm in Manchester, Tennessee. It hosted its tenth annual event June 9–12, 2011...

 was released in 2005 and his song "All the Wild Horses" was part of the soundtrack for the TV series Rescue Me
Rescue Me (TV series)
Rescue Me is an American television drama series that premiered on the FX Network on July 21, 2004, and concluded on September 7, 2011. The series focuses on the professional and personal lives of a group of New York City firefighters in the fictitious Ladder 62 / Engine 99 firehouse.The show...

and the 2009 film The Boys Are Back
The Boys Are Back
The Boys Are Back may refer to:*The Boys Are Back , a 1989 album by Sawyer Brown*The Boys Are Back , a 2009 album by The Oak Ridge Boys*The Boys Are Back , a 1994 American sitcom...

. His song "Trouble" appeared in the TV series Alias
Alias (TV series)
Alias is an American action television series created by J. J. Abrams which was broadcast on ABC for five seasons, from September 30, 2001 to May 22, 2006...

and his song "Jolene" was heard in the 2010 film The Town
The Town (2010 film)
The Town is a 2010 crime film starring, co-written, and directed by Ben Affleck adapted from Chuck Hogan's novel Prince of Thieves. The film opened in theaters in the United States on September 17, 2010 at number one with more than $23 million and positive reviews...

. His song "Hold You in My Arms" was featured in the 2006 movie, She's The Man
She's the Man
She's the Man is a 2006 American romantic comedy film directed by Andy Fickman, based on Twelfth Night, a play by William Shakespeare. The film stars Amanda Bynes, Channing Tatum, Laura Ramsey and Vinnie Jones....

.

In 2005, he performed at two charity events, a NYC fundraiser for the victims of Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...

 and at the "Warren Haynes
Warren Haynes
Warren Haynes is an American rock and blues guitarist, vocalist and songwriter. Haynes is best known for his work as long time guitarist with The Allman Brothers Band and as founding member of the jam band Gov't Mule. Early in his career he was a guitarist for David Allan Coe and The Dickey...

 Christmas Jam".

2006 to the present

LaMontagne's second album, Till the Sun Turns Black
Till the Sun Turns Black
Till The Sun Turns Black is singer-songwriter Ray LaMontagne's second full-length release, which was released on August 29, 2006. The album was produced by Ethan Johns and recorded at Allaire Studios in Shokan, New York. The album was a commercial success, becoming a top 40 album, selling 28,000...

, was released in August of 2006 and featured horn and string sections on several of the songs with Rachael Yamagata
Rachael Yamagata
Rachael Yamagata is an American singer-songwriter and pianist from Arlington, Virginia. She began her musical career with the band Bumpus before becoming a solo artist and releasing four EP's and three studio albums...

 providing additional vocals on the song "Barfly". The album peaked at #28 on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...

 album chart, selling 28,000 copies in its first week of release. The album spawned the single, "Three More Days" and in 2006 LaMontagne performed on The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. It is the longest currently running regularly scheduled entertainment program in the United States, and the third longest-running show on NBC, after Meet the Press and Today.The Tonight Show has been hosted by...

.

The song "Till the Sun Turns Black" was featured on the television show "ER", and the songs "Lesson Learned" and "Within You" appeared on the CW
The CW Television Network
The CW Television Network is a television network in the United States launched at the beginning of the 2006–2007 television season. It is a joint venture between CBS Corporation, the former owners of United Paramount Network , and Time Warner's Warner Bros., former majority owner of The WB...

 drama "One Tree Hill
One Tree Hill (TV series)
One Tree Hill is an American television drama created by Mark Schwahn, which premiered on September 23, 2003, on The WB Television Network. After its third season, The WB merged with UPN to form The CW Television Network, and, since September 27, 2006, the network has been the official broadcaster...

". His song "Be Here Now" was heard on the trailer for the movie Away From Her
Away From Her
Away from Her is a 2006 Canadian film which debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival and also played in the Premier category at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival...

, in the film 27 Dresses
27 Dresses
27 Dresses is a 2008 romantic comedy film directed by Anne Fletcher and written by Aline Brosh McKenna. The film stars Katherine Heigl and James Marsden. The film was released January 10, 2008 in Australia and opened in the United States on January 18....

, on the TV shows Bones
Bones (TV series)
Bones is an American crime drama television series that premiered on the Fox Network on September 13, 2005. The show is based on forensic anthropology and forensic archaeology, with each episode focusing on an FBI case file concerning the mystery behind human remains brought by FBI Special Agent...

and Covert Affairs
Covert Affairs
Covert Affairs is a USA Network television series starring Piper Perabo and Christopher Gorham. The one-hour drama premiered on Tuesday, July 13, 2010. The show concluded its first season on September 14, 2010 and was renewed for a second season on August 19, 2010. The second season began airing on...

. LaMontagne performed at KYSR
KYSR
KYSR is a commercial modern rock radio station in Los Angeles, California, covering the Los Angeles, Orange County, and Inland Empire areas on 98.7 FM. KYSR is also simulcasted on KSRY 103.1 FM in Tehachapi, California...

's Lounge for Life charity concert on October 5, 2006 at the House of Blues
House of Blues
House of Blues is a chain of 13 live music concert halls and restaurants in major markets throughout the United States. House of Blues first location was in Cambridge's Harvard Square. It was opened in 1992 by Isaac Tigrett, co-founder of Hard Rock Cafe, and Dan Aykroyd, star of The Blues Brothers...

 in West Hollywood, California
West Hollywood, California
West Hollywood, a city of Los Angeles County, California, was incorporated on November 29, 1984, with a population of 34,399 at the 2010 census. 41% of the city's population is made up of gay men according to a 2002 demographic analysis by Sara Kocher Consulting for the City of West Hollywood...

. He also auctioned off one of his guitars on eBay
EBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...

 for its charity auction. Funds raised from the concert and auction went to breast cancer
Breast cancer
Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...

 research.

LaMontagne released his third studio album, Gossip in the Grain
Gossip in the Grain
During the week of November 1, 2008, Gossip in the Grain debuted at #3 on the Billboard 200."Let It Be Me" was featured on the seventh episode of the first season of the new television show, "Fringe". "Winter Birds" was featured on the tenth episode of the fifth season of ABC's "Grey's Anatomy"...

on RCA Records in 2008, and it debuted at #3 on the Billboard Charts with 60,000 units sold. Working again with producer Ethan Johns
Ethan Johns
Ethan Johns is a record producer, engineer, mixer, musician, and songwriter who has worked with such artists such as Ryan Adams, Kings of Leon, Ray LaMontagne, Kevin Prosch, Rufus Wainwright, Howard Eliott Payne, Emmylou Harris, Crowded House, Laura Marling, Luthea Salom, and Crosby, Stills and...

, the album featured LaMontagne's touring band of Jennifer Condos on bass, Eric Heywood on guitar, and Ethan Johns on drums and guest vocals from singer/songwriter Leona Naess
Leona Naess
Leona Kristina Naess is a British singer-songwriter of Swedish-Norwegian parentage. She released her debut album, Comatised, in March 2000, which produced the single "Charm Attack" .-Early life:...

.
The song "You Are the Best Thing" was featured in the movie I Love You, Man
I Love You, Man
I Love You, Man is a 2009 American comedy film originally titled Let's be Friends and written by Larry Levin before John Hamburg rewrote and directed the film...

and in the television series One Tree Hill
One Tree Hill (TV series)
One Tree Hill is an American television drama created by Mark Schwahn, which premiered on September 23, 2003, on The WB Television Network. After its third season, The WB merged with UPN to form The CW Television Network, and, since September 27, 2006, the network has been the official broadcaster...

. LaMontagne performed on Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...

in March 2009. The song "Sarah" appeared on an episode of House
House (TV series)
House is an American television medical drama that debuted on the Fox network on November 16, 2004. The show's central character is Dr. Gregory House , an unconventional and misanthropic medical genius who heads a team of diagnosticians at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in...

. His song "Let it be Me" was featured on the television series Parenthood
Parenthood (2010 TV series)
Parenthood is an American comedy-drama television series developed by Jason Katims and produced by Imagine Television and Universal Media Studios. The first season premiered on March 2, 2010 on NBC...

and was included on the Parenthood soundtrack
Parenthood (television soundtrack)
Parenthood was released by Arrival Records/Scion Music Group in 2010. It consists of music featured in the first season of the NBC television series Parenthood.-Overview:...

 in 2010.

LaMontagne's self produced studio album, God Willin' & the Creek Don't Rise (Ray Lamontagne and the Pariah Dogs), was released in August 2010. In December 2010, LaMontagne received Grammy
53rd Grammy Awards
The 53rd annual Grammy Awards were held on February 13, 2011, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. They were broadcast on CBS with a rating of 26.6 million viewers. Barbra Streisand was honored as the MusiCares Person of the Year two nights prior to the telecast on February 11. Nominations were...

 nominations and won the award for Best Contemporary Folk Album.

In August 2010, he performed at a Nashville, TN, charity event to raise money for victims of a local flood. The song, "Empty", appeared on an episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Law & Order: Criminal Intent is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it was also primarily produced. Created and produced by Dick Wolf and René Balcer, the series premiered on September 30, 2001, as the second spin-off of Wolf's successful crime drama...

in 2010 and was heard during the film credits for the movie The Conspirator. LaMontagne performed on the program Live from Abbey Road
Live from Abbey Road
Live from Abbey Road is a 12-part, one-hour performance series/documentary that began filming its first season during 2006 at Abbey Road Studios in London. Season 2 was filmed between 2007 and 2008, season 3 was filmed in 2009 and Season 4 was filmed in 2011...

in October 2006.

Awards

For his debut album, LaMontagne won four awards, including three Boston Music Awards (Best Male Singer/Songwriter, Album of the Year, and Song of the Year) and an XM Nation Music Award for Acoustic Rock Artist of the Year. LaMontagne has received a nomination from the Pollstar Concert Industry Awards for Best New Touring Artist, the BRIT Awards
Brit Awards
The Brit Awards are the British Phonographic Industry's annual pop music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain" or "Britannia", but subsequently became a backronym for British Record Industry Trust...

 for International Breakthrough Act, the MOJO Awards
MOJO Awards
The MOJO Awards is an awards ceremony that began in 2004 by Mojo, a popular music magazine published monthly by Bauer in the United Kingdom...

 for Best New Act, and was given the title of Best Voice in 2006 by Esquire
Esquire (magazine)
Esquire is a men's magazine, published in the U.S. by the Hearst Corporation. Founded in 1932, it flourished during the Great Depression under the guidance of founder and editor Arnold Gingrich.-History:...

.

Personal life

LaMontagne lives in a farmhouse in western Maine with his wife and two children. He refers to himself as a "very private person", and rarely gives interviews.

Studio albums

  • Trouble
    Trouble (Ray LaMontagne album)
    Trouble is the debut album by Maine singer-songwriter Ray LaMontagne. It was released on September 14, 2004 in the United States, and on September 20, 2004 in the United Kingdom. Although the album was released in 2004, the song didn't enter the top five of the UK charts until August 2006...

    (September 14, 2004)
  • Till the Sun Turns Black
    Till the Sun Turns Black
    Till The Sun Turns Black is singer-songwriter Ray LaMontagne's second full-length release, which was released on August 29, 2006. The album was produced by Ethan Johns and recorded at Allaire Studios in Shokan, New York. The album was a commercial success, becoming a top 40 album, selling 28,000...

    (August 29, 2006)
  • Gossip in the Grain
    Gossip in the Grain
    During the week of November 1, 2008, Gossip in the Grain debuted at #3 on the Billboard 200."Let It Be Me" was featured on the seventh episode of the first season of the new television show, "Fringe". "Winter Birds" was featured on the tenth episode of the fifth season of ABC's "Grey's Anatomy"...

    (October 14, 2008)
  • God Willin' & the Creek Don't Rise (August 17, 2010)

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK