Ray Bonneville at Caffe Lena - 09/29/2011

Ray Bonneville

“Like gunpowder and opium . . .” —Ray Wylie Ray Bonneville is a Canadian born, Austin based blues singer-songwriter known for his "loose, darkly funky vibe" (All Music Guide). His Red House release Goin' By Feel was named one of the best CD's of 2008 by DownBeat Magazine and featured the Americana hit "I Am the Big Easy," which was #1 most played song on folk radio that year and won the Folk Alliance Award for Song of the Year. Noted for having one of "the sexiest guitar styles around" (Acoustic Guitar), Ray has performed with B.B. King, Muddy Waters, and Robert Cray. His new songs have a down and dirty quality, capturing the hardships of everyday life. He writes from his experience as an immigrant, Vietnam War vet, taxi driver and bush pilot, drawing inspiration from the many places he has called home—Montreal, New Orleans, Colorado, Arkansas, Alaska, Boston, Seattle and Paris, France. Honing his songwriting craft for the last 35 years, Ray's gritty storytelling and deep-grooving, world-class blues style has won him the prestigious Juno Award (Canadian Grammy), and rave reviews from DownBeat and No Depression.