Ray Bonneville

Raymond J. Bonneville (born October 11, 1948) is a Canadian-born American musician, singer and songwriter. Born in Canada, and raised in the United States, Bonneville is a folk and blues-influenced, song and groove man who is strongly influenced by New Orleans, Louisiana.

To date, Bonneville has released ten records and, in 2000, won the prestigious Juno Award (Canadian Grammy) for his third album Gust of Wind. As a touring musician Bonneville plays more than one hundred and fifty shows a year across the United States, Canada and Europe.

History Ray Bonneville was born in Hull, Quebec (now Gatineau, Quebec), the second-oldest of nine siblings in a family that spoke solely French. When he was twelve his family re-located to Quebec City. Soon after, his father, a mechanical engineer, found work in Boston, Massachusetts, the family relocated to the States and Bonneville was placed into public school without knowing a bit of English.

Bonneville's family moved back to Canada when Bonneville was in his late teens and Bonneville, who had been expelled from school, signed up for the United States Marine Corps just in time for the Vietnam War.

Returning from the war, Bonneville worked in Boston as a taxicab driver to pay the bills, teaching himself to play harmonica between fares. Getting more involved in the music scene, Bonneville began freelancing with R&B and blues bands in the Boston area. It is this rhythm, this slowness, that captured Bonneville. Bonneville soaked up the prevalent take-your-time attitude that ran through the music being played in New Orleans. "There's something about the heat and humidity that makes people slow down," he says. "New Orleans is where I learned to take my time, to allow space between the notes so the songs could truly groove." It is that groove that is the core of Bonneville's sound. A one-man band, he backs his weathered voice with a highly percussive guitar style, dramatic harmonica lines, and a foot that keeps a steady beat (Bonneville often stomps on a piece of plywood to amplify the beat of his songs). Bonneville's I Am the Big Easy, the 2009 Folk Alliance International Song of the Year features the heart and resilience of New Orleans, post-Katrina. Since then, his star has been on the rise, with his award-winning release Goin' By Feel, his folk-charting cover of Bob Dylan's song "It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry" (featured on A Nod to Bob 2: An Artists Tribute to Bob Dylan on His 70th Birthday) and receiving the 2009 Folk Alliance International Song of the Year for I Am the Big Easy, featuring post-Katrina New Orleans.

Bonneville has "shared the stage with blues heavyweights B.B. King, Muddy Waters, J.J. Cale, and Robert Cray, and has performed on the stages of South by Southwest and Folk Alliance" (Blum, NPR).

Bonneville won the Grassy Hill Kerrville Folk Festival New Folk Singer-Songwriter Competition in 1999.

Discography Albums Title Album details On the Main Release date: 1993 Label: Electric Desert Records Solid Ground Release date: 1996 Label: Bluetone Records Gust of Wind Release date: 1999 Label: Stony Plain Records Rough Luck Release date: 2000 Label: 1-800-Prime Roll It Down Release date: 2003 Label: Red House Records Goin' by Feel Release date: 2007 Label: Red House Records Bad Man's Blood Release date: 2011 Label: Red House Records Easy Gone Release date: 2014 Label: Red House Records At King Electric Release date: 2018 Label: Stonefly Records On the Blind Side Release date: 2023 Label: Unknown

Singles Year Single Peak chartpositions Album CAN Country CAN AC 1995 "The Good Times" 45 — On the Main "Dance with Me" — 19 1997 "Nothing to Lose" 76 54 Solid Ground 1998 "When the Night Time Comes" 60 — "—" denotes releases that did not chart