Ray Bonneville is a masterful singer and songwriter who brings a full lifetime of rich experience to his work. The Austin Chronicle calls him “one of Americana’s foremost singer-songwriters,” The Ottawa Citizen calls him “a master of the slow burn, the gentle funk, the infectious rhythm,” and FAME calls him a “an absolute master, one of the most skilled songwriters of that dark slow smoldering yet fiery blues/roots music.” He has a flair for laying down irresistible musical grooves and telling powerful stories in a few well-chosen words. His music, says his friend Ray Wylie Hubbard, is “like gunpowder and opium.”

Ray grew up in Quebec, moved at age 12 to Boston, enlisted in the Marines at 17, served in Vietnam, started a band in Boulder, checked out Alaska and Seattle, kicked cocaine in Paris, trained pilots and played the blues in New Orleans, worked as a bush pilot in northern Canada, and finally settled down in Austin, where he’s been based since 2006. He’s released eight albums, including his latest, Easy Gone, which asks the poignant question, “Where has my easy gone?” He has collaborated with such artists as Mary Gauthier, Eliza Gilkyson, Tim O’Brien, and Slaid Cleaves, his album Gust of Wind won a Juno award in 1999, his post-Katrina ode “I Am the Big Easy” won Song of the Year from the International Folk Alliance in 2009, and in 2012 he won the International Blues Challenge in the solo/duet category. If you like great songs delivered with grit and polish, Ray’s the guy for you!

Blackie Farrell might not be a household name, but among his peers he’s no unsung hero. His songs have been recorded and performed by artists ranging from Leo Kottke, Tom Russell, Robert Earl Keen,  Dave Alvin and Michael Martin Murphy, to Bill Kirchen, Commander Cody, Ray Campi, Jerry Lee Lewis,  Asleep at the Wheel, and Chris O’Connell. Writing his first song at the age of 13, Blackie was inspired by the music he heard blasting from car radios and local music clubs in Oakland, California – everything from Jimmy Reed, Lightnin’ Hopkins, and John Lee Hooker to Hank Williams, Merle Haggard, and Marty Robbins. It was their gritty story-telling that influenced him. At his core, Blackie is a story-teller, cutting a straight line right through life’s jagged edges, not smoothing them over but illuminating their points. Some haunting, some heroic, his tales stick to your bones and conjure up lost spirits and the longings of a well-worn heart.

visit the Ray Bonneville website

visit the Blackie Farrell website