“You are the Best Thing“
from the album Gossip in the Grain
2008
iTunes
Ray LaMontagne, one of the most distinct and recognizable voices in music, announced his first North American tour in support of his new album Gossip in the Grain, due out October 14 on RCA Records. The six-week tour starts September 30 in Indianapolis. Originally set to drop in September, the release date for the album was pushed back as LaMontagne, struck by inspiration, went back into the studio to record additional material.
Recorded with returning producer Ethan Johns in Box, England, and touching upon a range of styles and musical settings — spanning pastoral folk, railroad blues, front porch country, and plangent balladry — Gossip in the Grain proves to be LaMontagne’s most creative and emotionally expansive collection to date.
Whereas LaMontagne’s two previous albums, Trouble (2004) and Till the Sun Turns Black (2006), were largely solo affairs with Johns serving as multi-tasking instrumentalist, Gossip in the Grain sees LaMontagne joined by members of his touring band, bassist Jennifer Condos and guitarist Eric Heywood, with Johns largely handling drum duties. Along with his band members, LaMontagne is also joined on two tracks (“A Falling Through” and “I Still Care For You”) by singer/songwriter Leona Naess, who will be the opener for the entire tour in support of her new album Thirteens, out September 23 on Verve Forecast.