vol. 46

now both of us have known love before
to come on up promising, like the spring, just walk on out the door
our hearts are strong and our hearts are kind
well, let me tell you exactly what's on my mind...
-- ray lamontagne

i speak frequently in class about the concept of the american dream -- one of the things we constantly talk about is whether or not it's achievable -- we talk about having a dream and working and working for it and whether or not it can just be done... we also talk about expectations that we have and how many times we build something up as being the end all, be all -- then we get there, so to speak, and we're let down...

ray lamontagne was friday night and i knew i was setting myself up for possible failure just because my expectations were so high -- but i was amazed -- there was no let down in any way, shape or form -- from the moment he began with you are the best thing, i just knew i was in for everything i was expecting -- from the moment baby, rang out from his mouth, it was on... and, in actuality, it was more that even i was expecting and hoping for --

i spoke about the concept of found objects -- and what i found friday night is just how talented his band is as well -- before, all i heard was his voice (and yes, it is that good) but eric heywood on the pedal steel and electric guitar just blew me away -- jennifer condos was beyond solid on bass and i was truly impressed with her voice as background (especially on i still care for you) -- ethan johns was on the drums, and there was just something cool about how he went about his business -- the drums really stood out to me on henry nearly killed me... by no means do i really know the drums, but for lack of proper terminology, there were just some great 'build ups' during this song that i really enjoyed -- he reminded me of david gray's old drummer clune, to a certain extent with his theatrical playing (after doing a little bit of research, i found out that he is actually the producer of the album and that he also has worked with kings of leon...)

we hung out afterwards and i was able to get a set list and then even more fortunate to meet jennifer, who signed it and then got everybody else in the band to do the same -- unfortunately ray didn't come out, but honestly, i can't say as i was expecting this to happen...

it was just a really, really cool experience that turned around a rough couple of days... much needed for sure...

just in case you're interested, here's what he played: you are the best thing, hold you in my arms, let it be me, i will care for you, empty, henry nearly killed me (it's a shame), you can bring me flowers, burn, jolene, aching all the time, meg white, hey me hey mama, shelter, trouble, 3 more days, and gossip in the grain -- set list shows that he was going to play all the wild horses, but he didn't do this...