“There’s something magical that happens when these musicians play together,” says Ray LaMontagne. “I’ve been wanting to capture what we’ve been doing live for a while. The chemistry is really special.”
The billing on LaMontagne’s fourth album, God Willin’ & the Creek Don’t Rise, reveals instantly that something new is happening with this project. The record is credited to “Ray LaMontagne and the Pariah Dogs”—the first time that the singer/songwriter has defined himself within a band setting, rather than as a solo artist. In addition, it marks the first time that LaMontagne has taken on the role of producer. And as soon as the music starts, with the Joe Cocker-style soul power of the opening “Repo Man,” it’s apparent that one of the world’s most acclaimed artists has moved into some fresh territory.
Not that he was necessarily in need of a new direction. The album is the follow-up to 2008’s Gossip in the Grain, which debuted in the Top Five on the Billboard charts; garnered two 2010 Grammy nominations; earned LaMontagne a coveted slot performing on Saturday Night Live; and continued the expansion of a highly-respected career that began with his first album, Trouble, in 2004.
The line-up of the Pariah Dogs, and their alliance with LaMontagne, is already well-proven and familiar. These musicians—Eric Heywood and Greg Leisz on guitars, Jennifer Condos on bass, and Jay Bellerose on drums—have been working as the singer’s touring band for the last few years, and developing into a tight-knit team. Though he had thought about trying to get all of these busy session players together in the studio before, only now did time and circumstance align and make it possible.
For one thing, there was a new work set-up that LaMontagne was excited about. “I just bought this old estate in western Massachusetts that belonged to the first US ambassador to Russia,” he says. “There’s this beautiful room in the house, that was once a connected barn that was turned into a ballroom in the early 1900’s and I felt like it would make a great place to record.
“It was an unknown space and an unknown situation, but it all worked,” says drummer Bellerose. “It was one of the easiest sessions I’ve ever done—the songs just played themselves. We were scheduled to record for two weeks, but we were done tracking in five or six days.”
The last song on God Willin’, “The Devil’s in the Jukebox,” was the first thing that the group recorded. Bellerose notes that this simple, bluesy track set a tone for the sessions. “It was kind of a springboard,” he says. “It loosened everybody up, gave us a chance to breathe.”
“That’s one of those songs I tend to write that is so damn linear, it’s up to us to make it interesting,” says LaMontagne with a laugh. “If you take it apart, there’s not a lot happening. But the way these guys approach songs is always surprising. Where they take the melody, the interplay between the rhythm section—who knows what they’re going to come up with?”
Guitarist Heywood says that the singer “made a decision beforehand to trust the band, and he really stuck to that.” He points to the album’s title track as an example of the way these sessions allowed each song to find its own path. Heywood and Leisz both play pedal steel, and they looked to LaMontagne to determine the arrangements and instrumentation.
“On that one, he said, ‘How about two pedal steels?,” Heywood recalls. “And then Jay started doing this bombastic, artillery-style drum thing. The song reads as a letter, with no chorus or bridge, so the whole thing was the most surprising track for me, and definitely one of my favorites. And Ray’s vocal performance is amazing.”
Ray LaMontagne has one of the remarkable stories in music’s past decade. Since leaving his job in a Maine shoe factory to pursue his calling as a musician, he has released three studio albums and two live EPs, won awards and topped critics’ polls internationally, and established himself as one of the most distinctive talents of his generation. His songs have been featured in numerous films and television shows, including multiple performances of his compositions on American Idol.
Yet he maintains that, until God Willin’, all of these accomplishments have come despite his own struggles in the recording studio. “The process has always been laborious, it’s been difficult for me to get any momentum,” he says. “I always felt like I was swimming upstream.”
But this time, things were different. “Ray was really in his comfort zone,” says Bellerose. “He was home with family, he’s really relaxed around this band—there was never a moment that felt uncomfortable. I think he’s just having a lot more fun communicating with more people, and getting out of being on his own as a singer/songwriter.”
LaMontagne claims that he didn’t specifically set out to write songs for this group of musicians, though he certainly had its sound in his mind. Regardless of the outcome, he says that his process didn’t—and can’t ever—change.
“For me, songs just have to happen, they have to come out of nowhere,” he says. “Otherwise it sounds like you’re trying to write a song, and I can spot that a mile away—and I think listeners can, too.
“I won’t ever sit down and write unless something is knocking at the door. I can go months without writing a song—and that’s when it gets scary, when you feel like you’re never going to write another song because they’re just not coming around.”
LaMontagne’s steady output, however, indicates that there’s little cause for concern. And for God Willin’ & the Creek Don’t Rise, in addition to his own extraordinary writing, these ten songs had the benefit of contributions from an exceptional bunch of musicians, collaborating under ideal conditions. Even the notoriously self-critical LaMontagne can’t hide his delight at the results.
“These guys are all so good, and I trust their instincts, I just wanted to write songs that I felt would excite them,” concludes LaMontagne “There was a certain amount of pressure, because they’re so much more accomplished than I am as a musician. But I knew that if I could pull together a batch of songs I was happy with, there was really no risk involved.”
This biography was provided by the artist or their representative.
Like Rock & Roll And Radio
Ray LaMontagne and the Pariah Dogs Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Like the way you used to be or is it changing?
Does it deepen over time like the river
That is winding through the Canyon?
Are you still in love with her?
Do you remember how you were before the sorrow?
Are you closer for the tears
Are we strangers now?
Like the Ziegfeld Gal and the Vaudeville show?
Are we strangers now
Like rock and roll and the radio?
Like rock and roll and radio
I can see you lyin' there
Tying ribbons in your hair and pullin' faces
I can feel your hand in mine
Though were living separate lives in separate places
Are we strangers now?
Like the Ziegfeld Gal and the Vaudeville show?
Are we strangers now?
Like rock and roll and the radio?
Like rock and roll and radio
All these white lies hanging like flies on the wall
Hard wired, road tired
Counting curtain calls and waiting
Waiting for the axe to fall
Are you still in love with me
Like the way you used to be or is it changing?
Does it deepen over time, like the river
That is winding through the Canyon?
Are we strangers now?
Like the Ziegfeld Gal and the Vaudeville show?
Are we strangers now?
Like rock and roll and the radio?
Like rock and roll and radio
The lyrics of Ray LaMontagne and the Pariah Dogs's song Like Rock & Roll and Radio depict a sense of uncertainty and introspection about a relationship that seems to veer towards unfamiliarity. The first stanza describes an attempt to understand the course of the relationship and whether the love between the couple has deepened over time or has gradually diminished. The second stanza delves into the reminiscence of past moments before sadness and hurdles took over, and ponders whether their relationship has become a façade, turning into strangers.
The third verse focuses primarily on the stream of white lies that are now beginning to weigh heavy on the relationship. The singer might be exhausted from the whole ordeal of meeting the expectations while also waiting for the big axe to fall that will inevitably end the relationship. The final stanza circles back to the question of love, leaving it up to the audience's interpretation whether the love has dissipated into nothingness or has weathered the trials of time and circumstances.
Line by Line Meaning
Are you still in love with me
Are your feelings for me still the same
Like the way you used to be or is it changing?
Or have they evolved with time
Does it deepen over time like the river
Do they become more intense and meaningful like a river flowing through a canyon
That is winding through the Canyon?
Are you still in love with her?
Do you still have feelings for her
Do you remember how you were before the sorrow?
Do you recall how things were before the sadness and heartbreak
Are you closer for the tears
Did the tears bring you closer together
Or has the weight of all the years left you hollow?
Or has the weight of time drained you both of emotions
Are we strangers now?
Do we not know each other anymore
Like the Ziegfeld Gal and the Vaudeville show?
Like two distant performers from different acts
Are we strangers now
Do we feel estranged like two separate entities
Like rock and roll and the radio?
As separate as music genres like rock-and-roll and radio channels
I can see you lyin' there
I can picture you lying with your hair tied up and making faces
Tying ribbons in your hair and pullin' faces
I can feel your hand in mine
I still sense your touch and presence
Though were living separate lives in separate places
Despite leading different lives in different places
All these white lies hanging like flies on the wall
All these little lies that are hovering around like insects on a wall
Hard wired, road tired
Tired from many journeys
Counting curtain calls and waiting
Going through many shows and waiting for the end
Waiting for the axe to fall
Anticipating the inevitable end of a situation
Like the way you used to be or is it changing?
Have our feelings for each other transformed or remained constant like before
Does it deepen over time, like the river
Did our love mature and become more profound over the years
That is winding through the Canyon?
Are we strangers now?
Do we feel like we don't recognize each other anymore
Like the Ziegfeld Gal and the Vaudeville show?
As estranged as performers from separate shows
Are we strangers now?
Do we feel disconnected and unfamiliar
Like rock and roll and the radio?
As separate as two different music genres
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: RAYCHARLES JACK LAMONTAGNE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind