Ray LaMontagne: New Album, New Tour Coming in August

So excited about this! New Ray LaMontagne CD coming August 17th! God Willin’ & The Creek Don’t Rise, the new album by Ray LaMontagne and the Pariah Dogs (his newly formed band) will be released via RCA Records on the 17th of August , just after his new co-headlining tour with David Gray gets underway in Columbia, MD on August 15th. The 10-track CD was entirely self produced (a first for LaMontagne) and was recorded over a span of 2 weeks at the artist’s home in Western Massachusetts. I can only imagine how much an artist is influenced by his surroundings during the recording process and when the surroundings are your home – I bet we’re going to hear some really powerful stuff here on this record.

“With Ray’s vocals at the forefront of the songs and a loose, almost live sounding recording, the album stands as a testament to a band at the height of their powers.”

While not the first time LaMontagne has recorded with a band, this IS THE FIRST TIME his band has been so prominently featured in a campaign. The newly coined ‘Pariah Dogs‘ consists of Jay Bellarose (drums), Jennifer Condos (bass), Patrick Warren (keyboard), Eric Heywood (guitar), and Greg Leisz (pedal steel guitar). Individually, this talented group of musicians has worked with the likes of Beck, Joe Henry, Tom Waits, Lucinda Williams, Ryan Adams and Joe Cocker. Now those are some MAJOR credentials!

2008’s Gossip In The Grain debuted at #3 on the Billboard Charts and saw promotional duties take him all over the country and television, landing the coveted Saturday Night Live musical guest spot. As a HUGE Ray LaMontagne fan (I’ve seen him the past few times he’s come by Boston) this new album is one of my most hotly anticipated. There’s something about his vocals that make me just melt. His voice is just so emotive and the lyrics so poignantly written that when they come together I just turn into a blubbering mess. While many of his songs seem to be about relationships and long gone lovers, I am able find my own personal meaning in the lyrics, whether it be about my Mom’s illness and subsequent passing or something more positive. While a songwriter might be writing from a personal place, he or she is sharing those words with the audience with the expectation that his audience is going to find something personal to them. Ray’s music has always touched me and I don’t expect the new record to be any different in that regard.

1. Repo Man
2. New York City’s Killing Me
3. God Willin’ & the Creek Don’t Rise
4. Beg Steal Or Borrow
5. Are We Really Through
6. This Love Is Over
7. Old Before Your Time
8. For The Summer
9. Like Rock & Roll and Radio
10. The Devil’s In The Jukebox