New Release: On the blind side

About On the blind side

Ray Bonneville has been called a ‘poet of the demimonde,’ and with the release of his 10th album, On The Blind Side,  he lives up to the name. Bonneville delivers nine originals with a voice that moves from soothing to troubling…depending on the direction of the song. He co-produced the record with  Texas singer-songwriter/producer  Will Sexton, who also plays on the album. While remaining accessible to the listener, this new group of songs represents a more introspective phase for Ray. With insights gained from isolation, Ray has emerged from the pandemic ready to share more of his life story, to draw from it creatively, to allow it to take him to new places and take his audience along with him. 

On The Blind Side songs range from the hopeful Lucky Moon to the sinister Night Cab, a song born of Ray’s experience as a cab driver in Boston, and a fitting story-line for a classic film-noir.  Woven throughout the record are simple and sometimes painful life lessons: the title track, On the Blind Side, looks back over a lifetime of unknowing missteps, and  Even With Time disputes the familiar adage ‘time heals all things.’   

A winner and three-time nominee of the coveted Juno Award, Bonneville has worked with the best in Americana and Blues music, performing on albums by Mary Gauthier, Gurf Morlix, Eliza Gilkyson, Ray Wylie Hubbard and others. He shares songwriting credits with the likes of Tim O’Brien, Phil Roy and Gurf Morlix. He has performed at renowned venues around the world, including South by Southwest, the Montreal International Jazz Festival, the New Orleans Jazz Festival, The Newport Folk Festival and plays over 100 shows per year across the U.S., Canada, and Europe. When not on the road, Ray divides his time between homes in Goulais River, Ontario and Austin, Texas.

The Way It Was Before Lyric Video

His mastery of the blues with his resonant harmonic fills, jagged-edged fingerpicking and gravel road vocals provide the perfect vehicle for ten original songs that articulate his carefully shaped imagery...”

— Robert H. Cataliotti, Living Blues Magazine, August 2018

"Few can ride a groove like Canada-born, U.S. raised Ray Bonneville."

-No Depression

 

  • 2000 Juno Award Winner for Best Blues Album 
  • The Blues Foundation 2012 International Blues Challenge Solo Champion 
  • 2008 International Folk Alliance's Song of the Year I Am The Big Easy
  • Played South by Southwest, Folk Alliance, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival & Montreal  International Jazz Festival
  • Shared bills with Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Dr. John, J.J. Cale & Robert Cray
  • Played on albums by Mary Gauthier, Gurf Morlix, Eliza Gilkyson, Ray Wylie Hubbard & others

"A master of the slow burn, the gentle funk, the infectious rhythm."

The Ottawa Citizen

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