CityLife

Ray LaMontagne to Gossip at the Bridgewater

GRAINY DAYS: Ray LaMontagne

SINGER-songwriters: yes, we heard that exhausted sigh.

CityLife sympathises; we’re feeling the fatigue of a decade dominated by troubled troubadours and sentimental sirens, too.

But, we still believe there’s a few of them out there who can truly touch your heart, and Ray LaMontagne – a former shoe-factory worker from New Hampshire, USA – is one. 

Before he settled for a 60-plus hour week as an overworked cobbler, LaMontagne accidentally lived the kind of life that folk singers dream of.

Born into a musical family, Ray was dragged around the country – barely having time to settle or make pals – to anywhere his mother could find work.

Disdain

So the story goes, his disdain for his mother’s profession drove him into the woods where he read science fiction until the sun went down, skipped school and made up stories.

Ironically, though, he would end up following his mother’s lead.

The draw of music eventually won out in 1999, but it took him five years to get his first record, Trouble, released. 

Since then, only his own demons have held him back: mainly stage fright, but there’s a little crowd fright and fame fright in there, too.

Yes, indeed, he’s a nervous boy, despite the awards and gushing plaudits.

And so, as he brings album three – Gossip In The Grain – back to town following a date at The Lowry in February, CityLife implores you to be on your best behaviour.

Sure, it’s his biggest commercial success yet, but the stage is a lonely place with 2,200 people staring back at you.

Listen out for the gulp…

Ray LaMontagne plays the Bridgewater Hall on Sunday, September 13. £19.50, £22.50, £25. Call 0161 907 9000.