And the Hello and episode 186 of Soda Jerker on songwriting. This is Simon and this is

Brian and joining us today is a Grammy winning American singer-songwriter and

musician. Last summer he released his eighth studio album Monovision which was completely

self-recorded produced engineered and performed in fact we wouldn't be surprised if

he also pressed it himself it's a typically fine and well-crafted piece of work and we're delighted to welcome its author,

the excellent Ray Lamontane to the show.

As Ray's fans will be aware, he's a pretty low-key guy and doesn't do a lot of interviews let alone podcasts so we feel very fortunate

he agreed to sit down with us a short while back and chats was about his songwriting.

Ray was born in Nashua, New Hampshire in 1973, one of six children raised by his mother.

He lived in Morgan, Utah in his early teens and also spent time in Maine.

He found himself drawn to musical instruments around the age of 10 or 11,

but it was a mere flirtation at that point.

In fact, he had designs on becoming a timber framer after leaving high school.

According to legend, Ray was later inspired to quit his job at a shoe factory in Lewiston, Maine and become a singer-songwriter

after being woken by his alarm clock radio playing a Stephen Still song, Tree Top Flyer.

Our guest Julie traded in as vintage VW Bus for a Martin acoustic guitar and was often to be found rummaging through the Raxet Enterprise Records in Portland, Maine, where he discovered the legs of Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Johnny Mitchell and the band.

Ray began his performing career in earnest in 1999 while maintaining a part-time job as a tutor.

By then he put together a 10-song demo which circulated around the music business for a while and eventually

won him a publishing deal with Chrysalis. He put out a couple of records

independently before recording his official debut album 2004's Trouble with

Ethan Johns in the producer's chair and selling it to RCA.

Ray's second album proper till the Sun Turns Black dropped in 2006, followed two years later by Gossip

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