Yahoo Music - News

Yahoo Music - News

Ray LaMontagne has shaken up his reputation as a shy, tortured soul with his decidedly upbeat new album, Supernova. Sure, he still lives far out in the country on a Massachusetts farm and likes to pursue blacksmithing in his free time, but his new music reveals a contented, free-spirit with a fondness for scratchy ‘70s folk and British rock.

LaMontagne intentionally took things in a new direction on Supernova, moving away from the emotive folk-rock that earned him a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album for 2010’s God Willin’ & the Creek Don’t Rise, to something a little more rockin’ and playful. He asked Black Keys frontman Dan Auerbach to produce the new record, and to help him define that new sound.

“Dan brought a lot to the album,” says LaMontagne from Charleston, South Carolina, where he’s in the midst of a North American tour. “Having his ears in the room was great and having him to talk to when I was in the writing process and explain what I was going for sonically – something very different than what I did in the past. I wanted to bridge my old material with the new material so the transition wasn’t too jarring.”

While LaMontagne’s longtime fans will undoubtedly recognize his warm, husky voice, the 40-year-old singer expanded his horizons on Supernova and tapped into some of his favorite artists. “I was focusing on different influences that came to mind –everything from early British rock 'n roll to Elvis Costello and Nick Lowe – those influences and colors were coming through a little bit but with my voice.”

The album hit the top of the Billboard Rock Albums chart – a feat that most artists would be exceedingly proud of, but one that barely even blips LaMontagne’s radar. “To be honest I have no idea what’s going on with the record,” he says. “I don’t follow it and I don’t pay attention to it. I ask that my managers don’t talk about it with me because it’s not something I can control. My control is in the writing process and making the record I want to make and then putting on great shows.”

LaMontagne toured extensively behind God Willin’, so he seems a bit baffled when people ask what he’d been doing with his free time since releasing the album four years ago. “I toured the last record for over two years,” he points out. “Being home for 18 months and then writing a record during that time, I don’t feel like I had a moment off. I think people don’t realize – they think, 'Geez, what were you doing all that time?’”

Deciding he needed to do something unrelated to music for a few months in order to refocus himself and gain some perspective, LaMontagne pursued an unusual hobby. “I took four or five months where I put the guitars away and didn’t make music,” he explains. “I was apprenticing with a blacksmith in my area. I worked with an amazing talented father and son who had a shop and I poked around. They let me come in after hours. Then I built a shop of my own on the farm. I have a woodworking shop that I’m messing around in. Those kinds of things quiet my mind and give me another creative outlet so the musical part of me can recharge and I can get back to it.”

LaMontagne is particularly fascinated by early colonial ironwork. “My goal was to make door hardware for a house that was built in 1700s,” he says matter-of-factly. “We’re moving onto hinges when I get some downtime.” With a sold-out tour taking him through the end of the year, it looks like those hinges will have to wait.

#author: Laura Ferreiro