Ray LaMontagne and The Pariah Dogs: From left, Greg Leisz, LaMontagne, Jennifer Condos, Jay Bellerose and Eric Heywood. Not pictured, Patrick Warren.
LISTEN: raylamontagne.com, davidgray.com.
New Hampshire-born singer-songwriter Ray LaMontagne picks up the phone in the midst of rehearsals in Boulder, Colo., and begins to speak in his trademark inflection, so soft-spoken that this reporter had to max out the phone volume to hear him.
You see, when LaMontagne is not singing in his trademark emotive, raspy tone, often likened to Nick Drake and Van Morrison, his speaking voice is more akin to Bob Ross, the American painter known for his tranquil demeanor on a longstanding PBS art program.
In many ways the notoriously shy LaMontagne is like Ross. His paintbrush is his Martin D-35 acoustic guitar. His paintings are his songs — carefully crafted subjects of vast imagination. As for his quiet speaking voice, you get the sense that LaMontagne would prefer that his music speak for itself.
Always evolving
The 37-year-old songwriter doesn’t keep up with the media, except for National Public Radio, and hasn’t owned a television in two decades. Asked if he is flattered by comparisons to musical greats, he responds with a simple “No.”
“I don’t want to sound like a jerk, but I don’t read the press one way or the other, if it’s good or if it’s bad,” he says. “I kind of gauge things by live shows, and that just gets better and better every year.”
Whether LaMontagne’s version of limited insulation from pop culture helps preserve his music could be a topic of debate, but more important to the songwriter is that he and his songs are constantly evolving.
“I think I fear stagnation,” says LaMontagne, whose ’60s folk rock-inspired sound sets him apart from today’s popular music. “Also, I’m just trying to get better at writing songs, so that keeps things changing.”
In “God Willin’ and the Creek Don’t Rise,” LaMontagne’s fourth major label release and first self-produced record, this artful deliberation is evident, though it isn’t just a product of reflective songwriting. Joining LaMontagne are the newly named Pariah Dogs, his five-piece band made up of Jay Bellerose on drums, Jennifer Condos on bass, Patrick Warren on keyboard, Eric Heywood on guitar and Greg Leisz on pedal steel guitar. On the record, they lend the collective experience of veterans who have played with artists like Beck, Tom Waits, Lucinda Williams, Joe Cocker, Ryan Adams and The Pretenders.
Then there’s the setting for the 10-song record: LaMontagne’s newly restored historic home in western Massachusetts. The band recorded over five days in the house, where LaMontagne lives with his wife and children.
“It’s all full of light, and you look out these big 14-foot windows, down across the field to the hills, it’s just beautiful,” says LaMontagne, who reportedly purchased the 100-acre estate in 2009.
“God Willin’ ” hits stores today, just two days after LaMontagne kicked off his 20-date national tour with The Pariah Dogs and his co-bill, David Gray.
“I’m just really pleased with this record, really proud of it, and really looking forward to tour it,” he says. “I just love the guys that I’m playing with … I felt like we were playing so well together the last couple of tours, I just started to feel like it was something. I just wanted to capture it.
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