Tree Top Flyer

Americana Outlaws – Ray LaMontagne & The Pariah Dogs

Contributing Writer – Garret K. Woodward

www.RayLaMontagne.com

Ray LaMontagne makes me feel like a teenage girl.

Screams of joy escape my lungs when I find out he’s nearby. All my friends grow weary over my constant babbling about him. If there were a life-size poster available, I’d probably buy one.

His music is just that good, just that ideal sense of wonder and comfort, making those dark days seem bright again.

For the better of a decade, LaMontagne (who reportedly heard “Treetop Flyer” by Stephen Stills and quit his job at a shoe factory to pursue music) has won over fans and critics alike with his smoky voice and poignant wisdom hearkening back to an era dominated by Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and Van Morrison.

Though a reclusive artist, he has a bright spotlight aimed in his direction. He symbolizes honesty, clarity and tradition, a perception few and far between in the studio and on the radio. With his phenomenal backing group, The Pariah Dogs, their latest release (God Willin’ and the Creek Don’t Rise) is a shooting star of style and grace across a musical industry congested with the smog of mediocrity and its own inconsequential priorities.

Moseying into Essex Junction, Vermont for a rare performance, LaMontagne found himself at odds with Mother Nature, who teased her unpredictable chaos throughout the day with severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings.

The Midway Lawn at the Champlain Valley Exposition was a fresh vat of mud soup. Innumerable rain boots and Crocs made the hop, skip and a jump around the premises, drenched from weeks of unrelenting rain and improper drainage. Patrons sipped on hot coffee and cold beer in order to find some small piece of luxury amid the dampness.

LaMontagne emerged from the backstage darkness. “Hold You In My Arms”, like gravel wrapped in silk, silenced the raucous beer tent and left burning cigarettes dangling from astonished mouths (“When you kissed my lips with my mouth so full of questions/My worried mind that you quiet/Place your hands on my face/Close my eyes and say/That love is a poor man’s food”).

“Where does that sound come from?” a curious voice was overheard remarking.

Raindrops, teardrops and guitar notes trickled onto the cold ground. Like a farmhouse chimney in the winter, his calming breaths of lyrical magic (“For The Summer”) drifted into the crisp night air (“Can I come home for the summer/I could slow down for a little while/Get back to loving each other/Leave all those long and lonesome miles behind”).

interested in steven stills tree top flyer and d drop tuning. Is ...

I don't think there's a specific lesson on that, but you can vote to have to have a lesson on it. I'm sure you can appreciate how many people there are who all have favourite tunes they would like to see. There's a lot of tunes and only one Neil! There's plenty of resources in target to help you learn techniques for playing your favourites.

Crosby, Stills & Nash, The Biography

Malfeasance

How an Average Man Lived an Adventurous Life, Includes Lists of the Best Things in the World & Six Tropical Paradises Where You Can Live for $500 a Month

Amphetamine King

Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia