Trouble (the song in the Travelers Insurance ad)

[c.n.]

TROUBLE is a song that that when I first heard it as background music on a
commercial spot I had to know more about who wrote and who sang it. Turns
out it's a cat named Ray Lamontague. Seems Ray got into music after hearing
a Steven Stills song at the age of 22, that moved him so much he just
immersed himself in music. (Hey, relax, they can't all come to it via SRV or
BB King).

The interview below reveals that there was much to overcome before he was
ready for prime time, as well as supplying a few good tips along the way
(about singing (which he does remarkably well, imo, and overcoming stage
fright).
chuck

Trouble
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrZkaj37kA0&feature=fvw

Wild Horses
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-9IK02qkZc

Interview with Ray
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xj1IQZfznsQ

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[Steve Hoffman]

I added NBC because Ray LaMontagne is not a bluesman, but I'd agree with
Chuck that this cat is one of the better of the new crop of
singer-songwriters. As one reviewer noted, his voice and vocal style
has whiffs of Van Morrison and Tim Buckley (for those of you old enough
to remember the latter).

Trouble is a good album, but the one I like even better is Gossip in the
Grain (2008) which has a horn-section on it, giving it almost a
blue-eyed soul feel to it (again, a bit along the lines of some of Van's
recordings). First track on that album "You Are the Best Thing" is a
very sweet love song.

If you have a taste for contemporary singer-songwriter pop, LaMontagne
is worth checking out, IMO.

-Steve Hoffman