CONTRIBUTED BY DONNA’S AMERICANA RADIO & PROMOTIONS
AUBURN —
Sundilla Concert Series is bringing Juno award-winning singer-songwriter Jay Bonneville, of Austin, Texas, to Auburn for a show on Friday, Feb. 10.
He is touring in support of new singles, “On the Blind Side” and “The Way It Was Before,” ahead of an album release early this year.
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 12, 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.
Bonneville has been called “a poet of the demimonde” with a style that sometimes draws comparisons to JJ Cale and Daniel Lanois. His music is blues-influenced, New Orleans-inspired and has earned him the apt description of “song and groove man.” His original songs are gritty narratives inspired by a lifetime of hard-won knowledge set against his steely, soulful guitar and harmonica playing, accented by stirring foot percussion. His acclaimed performance groove is the product of a unique, electric guitar style, unrivaled harmonica tone, smoky vocal and unwavering foot percussion.
Canadian born and current resident of Austin, Texas, Bonneville has performed on albums by Mary Gauthier, Gurf Morlix, Eliza Gilkyson, Ray Wylie Hubbard and other well-known Americana/Roots artists. He shares songwriting credits with Tim O’Brien, Phil Roy and Morlix, among others. He is a winner of Canada’s coveted Juno award, and in 2012 won the Blues Foundation’s International Blues Challenge Award.
The concert takes place on Friday, Feb. 10, at 7:30 p.m. at the Sundilla Concert Series at the AUUF, located at 450 E. Thach Ave. in Auburn. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door, and may be purchased online at www.sundillamusic.com. Coffee, water, tea and assorted foods are provided free at all concerts. Those attending are welcome to bring their own refreshments. Children are also welcome at Sundilla concerts, and those 12 and under are often admitted free of charge. Sundilla is a member of the North American Alliance for Folk Music and Dance and is recognized as an official not-for-profit organization. More about the artist at www.raybonneville.com
LINKS TO VIDEOS OF RAY’S LATEST SINGLE RELEASES:
– The Way It Was Before: www.youtu.be/YER9gXjunPI
– On the Blind Side: www.youtu.be/3N3lousUijo
TICKET LINK: www.sundillamusic.com/emi-sunshine-band/