Ray LaMontagne and Natalie Jane Hill

Born 18 June 1973, Raymond LaMontagne was ironically discouraged to pursue music as a child, especially since his mother left their failed musician father and moved the family to Morgan, Utah. After barely graduating high school LaMontagne relocated to Lewiston, Maine to work fulltime in a shoe factory. He describes the pivotal moment he heard Stephen Still’s song “Treetop Flyer” as the moment he decided to quit his job and become a singer-songwriter.

In 1999 LaMontagne recorded a 10-track demo and successfully opened for musicians like John Gorka and Jonathon Edwards. He garnered the attention of producer Ethan Johns at Chrysalis Music Publishing, who helped him put out his first album “Trouble” and sell it to RCA Records in the USA and Echo Records in the UK. LaMontagne quickly rose to fame, performing at the Austin City Limits music festival in 2005 and a charity event in New York for victims of Hurricane Katrina the same year.

In August 2006, LaMontagne’s second album “Til The Sun Turns Black” became a commercial hit. He performed on the Tonight Show on 6 October 2006 to promote the album. Subsequently LaMontagne’s songs were featured on American television, such as “Lesson Learned”, on teen dramedy series “One Tree Hill” and the album’s title song “Til The Sun Turns Black” on medical drama show “ER.” Songs from his third album “Gossip In the Grain” were also featured on soundtracks for films like “I Love You Man.”

LaMontagne’s self-produced album “God Willin’ and the Creek Don’t Rise” won a Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk music in 2010. His music is often compared to Otis Redding, Van Morrison, and Tim Buckley. As a performer, LaMontagne is known to be private, often playing on dark stages and limiting his banter with the crowd to a minimum. Meditative and emotional, LaMontagne’s work will pull at your heartstrings and make you smile.