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I'm not interested in any kind of scene. That's just not why I do this. I just want to write songs and be able to keep growing. I'm always anxious for that next melody, that next line that forces me to sit down and see where it's going. -Ray LaMontagne |
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Getting Real
Grain is his third album, which is often the spot where music becomes a real vocation and not just momentary luck or happenstance. If one makes it this far then it must be real, right?
 Ray LaMontagne |
"Yeah, it sure feels that way [laughs]. It feels good. Record two felt good, too; I'm so proud of that record," says LaMontagne of the blessedly heavy Til The Sun Turns Black, where unfiltered emotions rush out poetically, perversely healing the listener in the process. "It was a tough one to get through, and it took a ton of energy to make that one what it wanted to be. I still think there's things that we could have done better but you only have that brief time and you put everything you have into it. [Grain], in a very different way, was very challenging, too. It was a different setup for Ethan [Johns, his producer and instrument everyman on all three albums] and myself having Jen [Condos, bass] and Eric [Heywood, guitar] there, as well as Dom Monks, a young engineer that now works with Ethan, a really talented, really sweet person. So, we approached it more as a band that could just sit down, play a song and then move on. For the most part, we did that, other than the fact that I had two really severe chest and head colds, one on top of the other, before we went to England to record. I thought it was over but I got there and couldn't sing anything for three of the five weeks we were there."
There's little hint of LaMontagne's illness in his vocals on Grain, which finds him exploring his signature Tim Buckley-meets-John Sebastian singing with, if anything, greater gusto than before. Mayhap the condensed window to record vocals pushed him to dig deep for strong performances that actually expand his range a bit, adding some blues punch and more forthright rock & roll touches this time.
"The human voice is a great instrument, and I find that I'm still learning all the time what I can do with it as an instrument. I think it's a combination of that and the songs dictating how they want to be presented. It all depends on what the song wants," says LaMontagne, who frequently stirs thoughts of Van Morrison in tone, phrasing and language play, if not actual timbre. And there's not many who use their voice like Van. "Oh yeah, he's on a different level, an interstellar level! The Van Morrison thing has come up in the past, and I think it's more of an emotional thing, as you say, than anything else."
Unabashed emotion is the hallmark of LaMontagne's work, which is undoubtedly a tough thing to do over and over again, both on record and in performance.
 Ray LaMontagne |
"It's [pauses, searching for the right word, something he does a lot] exhausting. And I wouldn't do it - I wouldn't even be able to do it - if the audience wasn't so amazing. But they are! They're just this amazing audience that's gravitated toward me, I guess," says the ever-cautious, self-effacing LaMontagne. "They're very giving. What I give, they give back. In the beginning it wasn't like that; I was really earning their loyalty and trust. But as much as I put out they give back, and I'm lucky that way."
LaMontagne continually amazes in his ability to create stillness and active listening in his concerts. People actually pipe down and focus when he plays, which is increasingly rare in the live setting. Songs like "Be Here Now" or "Trouble" require a calm, receptive space to get across intact. Glasses clinking and ceaseless cicada chatter would just defuse the force of his delicacies.
It doesn't hurt that he has a craftsman like Ethan Johns, who's also worked with Kings of Leon, Chris Robinson, Ryan Adams and many others, to help him shape such resonant music.
"We've become good friends, for sure, especially making Trouble together with really no money and no interest from anybody, and really just making it for us. I had no real experience in the studio recording my songs at that time, and I think that meeting Ethan was a real blessing. If anybody else had come along at that time, from what I've seen and heard from other artists, working with a bad producer can kill you. You just need the right guy in the room. Ethan, for me, was the right guy," says LaMontagne. "He's very sensitive to songs, and he's just a really good listener. He's not there to put his stamp on anything, even if he ends up doing that in the end. He was very sensitive to me. At that time, I was a very introverted and intense personality, and I felt like I didn't want anybody fucking with the songs. I just wanted to play them. I didn't want to build a track and sing over it. I just wanted to record the songs, and he was right on the same page with me."
"We had to figure each other out. Ethan is a very opinionated person, and so am I. So, it's this balancing act. We're both very opinionated in different ways. Now, we're much closer so it makes it even harder! We're like brothers. It's an intense relationship but a really good one," offers LaMontagne. "At this point, I can't really think of anyone out there I want to make records with besides Ethan. No matter what song I pull out it seems like we're reading each other's minds. He just knows where I'm going with it, what I'm trying to get to."
There's an unpredictable curve developing in LaMontagne's catalog. Neither of the first two records hinted at a Muscle Shoals shuffler like "You Are The Best Thing," which opens Gossip in the Grain, and speaking with him it's clear he's putting no borders around where his muse may travel.
"It's all coming from the same place. I just love to write songs. I can't stop doing it. It's not like I ever forced myself to write. It just happens. Melodies come all the time," offers LaMontagne. "It's a really wonderful art to pursue, and for it to be a career at all is just crazy. I feel pretty lucky to do what I love and also pay the bills. I'm one of the lucky few."
Ray LaMontagne is on tour now. Complete dates available here.
Ray LaMontagne - "Empty" (BBC FOUR Session)
JamBase | Maine
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