Ray Lamontagne Tickets : Ray Does Not Interact Much With The Audience Between Songs During His Shows

Ray LaMontagne was born in Nashua, New Hampshire, in 1973 to a constantly traveling mother and a violent musician father who abandoned the family during Ray's childhood. Because of his father's background in music, LaMontagne refrained from most musical activity, instead spending much of his time reading fantasy novels in the forest.After graduation, LaMontagne moved away from his family, ending up in Lewiston, Maine, where he found a job working in a shoe factory.

In a period of two weeks, LaMontagne re-recorded Trouble at Sunset Sound in Los Angeles, California with producer Ethan Johns. RCA Records released the album on September 14, 2004. The album featured performances by Nickel Creek violinist Sara Watkins on two tracks, along with Alex Davids and Stephen Stills's daughter, Jennifer Stills, on another. In the US, the album reached a low peak of #189 on the Billboard 200, but sold over 250,000 copies.Trouble has sold over 500,000 copies worldwide.During a tour to promote the album, LaMontagne played six songs for an episode of Austin City Limits, in Season 31, 2005/2006.

On the third week of finals in the fifth season of American Idol, eventual winner Taylor Hicks performed "Trouble". Chris Sligh, an American Idol Season 6 Top-12 finalist, also performed the tune to rave reviews from the judges. During the ninth season of the show, contestant Adam Lambert also performed LaMontagne's "Trouble". An EP of LaMontagne's performance at the Bonnaroo Music Festival was released on December 6, 2005.

"Trouble" and "Burn" have been used as background music for the TV. "All the Wild Horses" was used in the TV series Rescue Me and the 2009 film The Boys Are Back."Trouble" was used in the TV series Alias, in season 4, 14 episode called 'Nightingale'. The song "Jolene" was used in the 2010 film "The Town."LaMontagne's second album, Till the Sun Turns Black, was released August 29, 2006, in the US. Also produced by Ethan Johns, the album featured more instrumentation than Trouble, including the use of a horn section and string section on several of the songs.

"Be Here Now" was used in the official trailer for Away From Her, and was featured in 27 Dresses and an episode of Bones as well as in the first season's finale of Covert Affairs. "Empty" was used in the last episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent's 6th season, "Renewal." Ray LaMontagne recorded a live session at Abbey Road Studios for Live from Abbey Road in October 2006. He shared his episode with Shawn Colvin, Nerina Pallot and The Zutons.

LaMontagne's fourth studio album, God Willin' and the Creek Don't Rise, was released on August 17, 2010. The record is credited to Ray LaMontagne and the Pariah Dogs. This is the first time that LaMontagne has released music in collaboration with other artists, within the context of a band, and is also his first venture into the role of producer. With this album, LaMontagne received his first three Grammy nominations on December 1, 2010, including Song of the Year for "Beg Steal or Borrow", Best Contemporary Folk Album, and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical.

LaMontagne is particularly known for his raspy voice, which he says he learned by singing through his gut and not his nose.LaMontagne stated that he is highly influenced by Stephen Stills, Richard Manuel, and Rick Danko. Critics have compared LaMontagne's music to that of The Band, Van Morrison, Nick Drake, and Tim Buckley.