It appears that I'm stuck on the folk thing. Maybe it all comes from listening CKUA, maybe from living in Alberta, maybe it's just part of growing up. Final destination country music? Well, we'll see about that...
I heard this guy on CKUA a while back (I think the song was Trouble). Then just a few days ago I heard a different song and it caught my ears. Now I just started listening to the songs he's got up at
http://www.raylamontagne.com/listen.php
and I'm quite intrigued. I really like his voice - to me it's got the rawness of a male folk singer mixed with the power of a female soul/blues singer (think Etta James /Aretha Franklin / Nina Simone). Who would have thought that combination works... At some points his voice sounds quite female - not in a skinny white girl but more of a big black woman way. I like it.
The sample songs (Trouble, Shelter, and Jolene) are very soulful... I haven't paid much attention to the lyrics yet - quite simple soul-type lyrics as far as I can tell - but... never underestimate the power of simplicity.
Just read on the web site that he's touring with David Gray. Very cool. I'll be keeping an eye on this guy.
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
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4 comments:
Folk is wonderful, I hope you don't get unstuck, especially if that means moving on to country. *shudder* (O.k. there are a few exceptions).
Having listened to the tracks on the site I must say I like what I hear. I bet Ana would too, she introduced me to folk, will pass the word on.
Folk is wonderful. I hope you stay stuck on it for awhile.
Thoroughly enjoyed the songs on the site. Will pass the word on to Ana who introduced me to folk music. Thanks for sharing!
I keep coming back to the Ray Lamontagne site to listen to the three songs, so I've finally decided to buy the CD. Julianna says the other tracks are great too, so it's worth the risk :)
I've had Shelter stuck in my head for a while now - but it's the good kind of stuck in your head. I think a lot of the power must be in his voice. It still makes me think of Aretha Franklin for some reason - something about the fine control of the voice that lets it carry a whole heap of soul.
And today is another day where I'm listening to Ray and just thinking
"wow". This part of "Jolene" has been going through my head over and over
"A man needs something he can hold onto
A nine pound hammer or a woman like you
Either one of them things will do..."
Just a wonderful combination of truth, wisdom and humor...
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