Ray Bonneville

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Acclaimed raconteur Ray Bonneville strips his bluesy Americana down to its essentials and steeps it in the humid grooves of the South, creating a compelling poetry of hard living and deep feeling. His ninth release, At King Electric, delivers more than his trademark grit and groove. Songs such as “The Next Card to Fall” and “Codeine” gleam with intimate narratives of characters reaching for hope and wrestling with despair. Rich guitar and harmonica lines resonate over spare but spunky rhythms, while Bonneville’s deep, evocative voice confesses life’s harsh realities.

Jim Withers (Montreal Gazette) describes his sound as “folk-roots gumbo… a languid Mississippi Delta groove, seasoned with smooth, weathered vocals and a propulsive harmonica wheeze.” Whether performing solo or fronting a band, playing electric or acoustic guitar, Bonneville allows space between notes that adds potency to every chord, lick, and lyric. Thom Jurek (Allmusic.com) remarks, “With darkness and light fighting for dominance… he’s stripped away every musical excess to let the songs speak for themselves.” 

Often called a “song and groove man,” Bonneville has lived the life of the itinerant artist. From his native Quebec, he moved to Boston at age twelve, where he learned English and picked up piano and guitar. Later, he served in Vietnam and earned a pilot’s license in Colorado before living in Alaska, Seattle, and Paris. Six years in New Orleans infused his musical sensibilities with the region's culture and rhythms. And then, a close call while piloting a seaplane proved pivotal: After two decades working as a studio musician, playing rowdy rooms with blues bands, and living hard, Bonneville’s lifetime of hard-won experience coalesced into an urge to write his own music. 

Ray recorded his first album, On the Main, in 1992. He’s since released nine albums, earned wide critical and popular acclaim, and won an enthusiastic following in the U.S., Canada, and Europe. His awards include a prestigious Juno, the Canadian equivalent of a Grammy, for his 1999 album, Gust of Wind. In 2012, Ray won the solo/duet category in the Blues Foundation’s International Blues Challenge. His post-Katrina ode, “I Am the Big Easy,” earned the International Folk Alliance’s 2009 Song of the Year Award, placed number one on Folk Radio’s list of most-played songs of 2008, and was recently covered by Jennifer Warnes for the BMG label. 

Other notable artists who have recorded his songs include Ronnie Hawkins (“Foolish”) and Slaid Cleaves (“Run Jolee Run”). Ray has shared the bill with blues heavyweights Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Dr. John, J.J. Cale, and Robert Cray, and has guested on albums by Mary Gauthier, Gurf Morlix, Eliza Gilkyson, Ray Wylie Hubbard, and other prominent musicians. He has performed at renowned venues around the world, including South by Southwest, Folk Alliance, and Montreal International Jazz Festival, and plays over 100 shows per year across the U.S., Canada, and Europe. When not on the road, he resides in Austin, Texas.

JMI HEADLINES:

Ray Bonneville to Perform Ontario and Quebec in October (September 21, 2024)

Jake Morley and Blair Dunlop to Tour Western Canada (September 21, 2024)

Miscellany of Folk to Tour Canada Coast to Coast in October (September 21, 2024)

Cape Breton’s Lucy MacNeil to Tour the Maritimes (May 26, 2024)

JMI Welcomes Acid Croft Legend Shooglenifty Back into the Fold (August 26, 2023)

Spanish Flamenco Legend Juan Martin Touring Canada in October (October 25, 2023)

England’s Moulettes to Tour Canada in October (August 19, 2023)

Groove Master Ray Bonneville to Tour Central & Atlantic Canada in September (August 19, 2023)

American Blues Legend Guy Davis to tour all Regions of Canada in 2023 and 2024

Twice Grammy-Nominated Blue Legend Guy Davis Touring in 2024 (November 10, 2022)

Black Umfolosi Canadian Tour (October 29, 2022)

JMI is Now Releasing Music to Radio World-Wide (March 30, 2021)

JMI Now Releasing Singles Internationally (November 19, 2020)

RIP Jerry Jeff Walker (November 2, 2020)

Coronavirus Update (March 14, 2020)

Full Tour – Les McKeown’s Bay City Rollers’ Canadian Dates (January 17, 2020)

JMI Signs Chicago Blues Legend, Jerry Portnoy (November 22, 2019)

Jake Morley and Braden Gates touring Alberta in November (November 15, 2019)

Martin Simpson Touring Canada in October (September 30, 2019)

Les McKeown’s Bay City Rollers Canadian Dates Announced (June 26, 2019)

Minor Empire - Sonic Colliders Concert Series in 2020 and 2021 (April 11, 2019)

New York City Blues Icon Coming to the Maritimes (March 31, 2019)

JMI Artists showcasing at Folk Alliance (February 11, 2019)

Bay City Rollers to Tour Canada in March, 2020! (January 29, 2019)

Christmas Day on Planet Earth (December 2, 2018)

New Signings From JMI (September 20, 2018)

Ray Bonneville Displays His Blues & Americana Roots on New CD (September 18, 2018)

Oysters3 Touring in October and November (September 11, 2018)

Claire Lynch Western Tour Starting in September (September 11, 2018)

Guy Davis touring Western Canada with Fabrizio Poggi in October (August 28, 2018)

Electric Strawbs Final Canadian Tour set for October (August 28, 2018)

Black Umfolosi Back to Canada this August (July 23, 2018)

James Keelaghan's Summer Festivals (July 9, 2018)

Guy Davis on the Road, Summer of 2018 (July 9, 2018)

Martin Simpson Returns to Canada (July 2, 2018)

Peterborough Show Rescheduled for Keelaghan-McManus Double Bill (May 1, 2018)

James Keelaghan and Jez Lowe to Tour North America in the Fall (April 12, 2018)

JMI Signs Folk Legend, Peggy Seeger (March 23, 2018)

Ray Bonneville to Perform Western and Ontario Dates in March (February 20, 2018)

Black Umfolosi to Embark on North American Tour in February (January 27, 2018)

Australia's Shane Howard to Perform Western and Northern Dates (January 11, 2018)

See News page for more JMI news.