Ray LaMontagne: Troubled Troubadour Scores Big on Debut

Trouble (RCA 2004) *****
-Jim McCoy

Highlights: The entire album

Over the past ten years, American music lovers have witnessed the unfortunate transformation of music from "art" to "product." Far beyond Eric Clapton recording a slowed-down version of J.J. Cale's After Midnight for a beer commercial or The Rolling Stones launching Windows software, bands and record labels alike are specifically seeking to use the outlets spawned by technologies old and new to create and market material for use in things such as video game soundtracks and television commercials - venues that fall far outside the traditional small club, concert arena or music festival in the park.

The flip side is a growing number of singer/songwriters who, with acoustic guitar in hand and an arsenal of approximately six chords, pen songs of hopelessness and alienation that are often so unfocused and melodramatic that there is only one obvious conclusion: the actual source of the problems that inspired these songs is likely the man with the guitar in hand himself.

The consequence of these disturbing trends is a precipitous decline in the number of new artists to which the term "authentic" can be attached to their craft. Even fewer are those who have perfected their talents to the point that the listener is sucked into the artist's own world, able to feel the very emotions that inspired the music while performing mundane tasks like traveling down a strip of asphalt highway or simply relaxing with the dog on the living room couch.

Enter Ray LaMontagne, a former Maine shoe factory worker who was moved to pick up an acoustic guitar after hearing Stephen Stills playing through his clock radio very early one morning. LaMontagne's acoustic guitar and voice- sometimes only accompanied by a string quintet and percussion- have turned the singer-songwriter's debut, Trouble (RCA), into a solid collection of memorable tunes that also possesses a rare quality not often found outside of Van Morrison's Moondance and a mere handful of other albums: not only can all of the disc's ten tracks be played straight through without skipping, but the disc-when not being enjoyed in and of itself - can also provide perfect background music for when entertaining a significant other.

While the themes in many of the songs are certainly familiar - the lyrical bent of the title track itself can be traced back to the Mississippi Delta with little effort- there are few artists in the last decade that would be capable of pulling off a lyric like "trouble been doggin' my soul since the day I was born" without it sounding recycled, corny or contrived. LaMontagne, however, manages to do so effortlessly- his soulful, genuine voice not only catches your attention from the jump, but it manages to make an ancient theme in American acoustic music sound downright fresh.

Mr. LaMontagne’s voice is no less effective throughout the remainder of the album. On Jolene, when he sings of a "cocaine flame in my bloodstream," you not only believe that LaMontagne's been there- you actually feel a bit of sympathy (or, empathy) for his 'troubled' character with booze on his hair, blood on his lip who can't "go straight" for his love. LaMontagne's claim in The Band-esque Hannah that "I'd walk one mile on broken glass to fall down at your knees," falls far outside the realm of hollow braggadocio; rather, it comes across as a most believable testament of his devotion to a long-haired woman who "comes down from the Ozark hills” carrying "a banjo, a Bible and a fine-toothed comb."

Even the more simple and oft-employed lyrics in LaMontagne's work are effective when delivered by his capable voice. Something like "I could hold you forever" in Hold You in My Arms sounds neither dusty nor cliché; rather, it is raised to the level of a wholly credible declaration of affection for a woman unseen to the listener, but obviously very real to the singer. Similarly, when LaMontagne sings that "everything I have to give, I'll give to you" in Shelter, the line carries an high level of genuine assurance that makes you forget that you've heard the same sentiment expressed with the same lyric hundreds of times before Trouble saw the light of day.

This is not to say that all of LaMontagne's lyrics are recycled or derivative; to the contrary, most are creative and have the effect of making the listener believe that they were borne of real experiences with real people encountered by Mr. LaMontagne throughout his life, which only serves to augment the air of authenticity that envelops his work. When he sings in the aforementioned Jolene "sold my coat when I hit Spokane, bought a hard pack of cigarettes in the early morning rain," his soft acoustic guitar serving to make the listener feel and smell the rain in the air, it is hard to believe that the lyric is not derived from a deeply personal experience or that of a close companion. And even if the events of the song are just pulled from the writer’s imagination, LaMontagne succeeds in making it sound real, anyway.

LaMontagne also understands the importance of dynamics and displays a far beyond rudimentary knowledge of the lost art of rhythm guitar playing. In Shelter, as LaMontagne tells his love that "all of this around us'll fall over, I'll tell you what were gonna do," he brings his acoustic down to a slowed, soft strum to perfectly compliment his scratchy yet absolutely angelic assurances. In contrast, his strongly strummed sixteenth pattern using bassy-voiced F and C chords following his declarations in the chorus of Hold You in My Arms help pound the point home effectively.

Ray LaMontagne actually manages to make you feel good while spinning his tales of woe, trouble and love interrupted - something which can only be accomplished by an artist who is in complete command of his craft. No matter how bright or dark the story, LaMontagne's demonstrated competence on his chosen instrument and the genuine, soulful delivery of his lyrics impart a belief on the listener that they are experiencing a worthy, legitimate artist with plenty of good music ahead of him. And that should make any music lover happy, no matter what their current troubles.