Week 2: "God Willin' & The Creek Don't Rise" by Ray LaMontagne & The Pariah Dogs

The focus of this week is Ray LaMontagne's fourth, and recent grammy winning album "God Willin' & The Creek Don't Rise." This 37 year old American singer-songwriter brings folk tunes to a whole new level with his emotional, gritty, yet soothing voice accompanied by extremely talented musicians dubbed "The Pariah Dogs." This album is the first time LaMontagne has collaborated with other artists under one band name. This is also the first instance LaMontagne has actually had the title "Producer."

The Review
I have listend to this album for a week straight and I feel like I am just starting to get it. On the surface this is an awesome album, bringing back true folk music with a contemporary flair. And among the folk inspiration there are defiantly influences from some folk rock thrown into the mix with tracks like "Repo Man" and "Devil's In The Jukebox" and more country heavy tunes like "New York City's Killing Me" and the title track "God Willin' and the Creek Don't Rise." Once you step past this first appearance you get a truly separate and more emotional experience listening to the feeling in these songs. I was really able to connect to this album the more I listened to it. All of the tracks can be taken at face value and just be listend to, but if you can (and I beg you try) just dedicate time and listen to the passion and deeper thought put into the songs, Ray puts you into the story is trying to tell.

Notable Songs:
This is yet another album that I truly loved every track, and I cant say that about most CDs I listend to. But to comply with the rules I have set for myself for PMM purpose's, I have to pick three.

First up is the CDs first track "Repo Man." Right off the bat Ray grabs you with this mellow acoustic riff, and one instrument after the other comes in and builds to be, to me, one of this albums more memorable songs. After you are given this taste of folk rock and blues, this gritty, soulful voice creeps into the song you would think Tom Waits is singing. This was not what I had expected from Ray LaMontagne but it was the first glimpse of "God Willin' and the Creek Don't Rise" and it is what sold me on the album.
Next up is the albums title track "God Willin' and the Creek Don't Rise." If I was asked what the perfect style of songwriting was...this would be one of the examples I would give. A good song is one that tells a story, yet is applicable to anyone listening to it, and Ray executes this to and above my standerd. "God Willin'" rests on the foundation of a midwestern country style of music and through this tells the story of a man writing home a love letter to his girl. There is true passion behind this style of writing. Comparing this to other modern "love songs" really puts this song a step above and almost makes it real.
The last song that really struck a chord with me was "Old Before Your Time." The structure of this song musically is spot on, stacking rhythmic guitar with melodic banjo runs and a smooth simple percussion filling in the beats. And at the point of my life that I am in right now, I can really relate to a lot of the lyrics that Ray has written. The basis of this song, or what I took from it, is really a "carpe diem" type message mixed with a pursuit of happiness. Without getting to much into my own life, these are two things that I am finding a lot of value in right now.
Even though it didn't make my list, "Beg Steal Or Borrow" is also worth a listen to. This is the Grammy nominated song off the album.

The Best: The soulful and utter story telling tallent displayed by Ray in this album is what came across as the best feature in "God Willin'"  On a separate note...this album is perfect for listening to in the car driving in summer in the mountains or anywhere....simply devine.
The Worst: To be honost, the only thing I hated about this album is the dang case it is in. If you buy the cardboard case it is near impossible to get the CD out until it is broken in. But I guess on a musical note....you have to love folk based music to really get into this, and for some people it may take a bit to get into anyways.

Should you get it...
Like I said in the "The Worst" section. If you love folk based music then this is a MUST own. I would say give it a chance even if you aren't...you never know what will speak to you until you try it. Personally...i'm glad I got this album.



Final Thoughts:
I am going to re-review this later in the future, as I said before, after a week I am just starting to get this...I have a feeling that there is so much more to this album that can be taken from it if I wasn't on a 7 day schedule.



For more information visit the official site at    http://www.raylamontagne.com/




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NEXT WEEK: I am stuck between Gungor's album "Beautiful Things" and "One Last Century" by The Damnwells
If you have a preference let me know at projectmusicmonday@gmail.com or on my personal twitter account twitter.com/juddnasty

Thanks for joining me again this week, It means a lot hearing your input and I have already seen so much more traffic on this site then I thought I would get this early on. I am stoked to see continued support, what I do on here means nothing if not for you readers out there. Thanks again.