Customer Reviews

Goin' By Feel

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Happened to see this guy on a whim in the local cultural center. You know, the guy with the guitar and the harmonica... Well damn, blew me away. Baseline with the thumb, melody with the pointy finger, great voice, great foot tapping. A live One man band, on the record he has back up (not needed, but neat!) I think he is in his early fifties. Has a band with many places but very much so with New Orleans. He sings this one song from the perspective of the city of N.O. "I am the big muddy, my father was french my mother Creole. Like often it takes me a few listens and then you find some wonderful melodies, music and lyrics. sounds more like John Hiat than Dylan, if that helps any. Do check out this album if you got a few bucks to spare. My fave song is about something Katy did. Can you keep a secret? Yes? Well so can Ray Bonneville.

This is my 3rd disc by Ray Bonneville. "Gust of Wind" went to #1 in my personal top ten and stuck @ the top like a flag back in 2004. Great song & disc! "Roll It Down" was also an excellent disc. On "Goin' by Feel" Bonneville seems like a troubadour who's been listening to Tony Joe White & Bob Dylan. "I got soul & I got heart; all alone I'm coming out of the dark," Ray sings in his New Orleans homage. "So Long Blues" is a classic Bonneville track with its easy catchy groove, "Tell flowers growing in a dry river bed, how long before the rain comes down again, they don't have no cares for their time end, they got one another in the middle of the night." "Reckless Feeling" percolates delightfully with Bonneville's world-worn vocals about a singer in a club, "Must be the queen of fools for all the tears I cried for you." Several of the tracks are excellent story songs like "Sabine River" & "Run Jolee Run." All of the tracks on the disc are strong. This is another excellent set from Ray Bonneville! Enjoy!

You can always rely upon Ray Bonneville to serve up an album of groove-laden, blues infused music with a light sprinkling of other influences. RB's delivery gives the impression that he's never in a hurry to get anywhere (probably because he's been there already), and his weathered low tenor/baritone seems to get better with every release. Compared to 'Gust of Wind', 'Goin' By Feel' has a funkier sound (and occasionally, it's more folksy also) - but the blues influence still prevails. RB is in good voice on this album - I think his distinctive vocals are more focused than on 'Roll It Down'. This time around, production honours are shared with Rob Heaney and Gurf Morlix.

The supporting cast deserve a special mention - as with other albums, the playing is spare yet refined. The keyboard playing is less prominent than on earlier albums (I rather miss the deft playing from Richard Bell on Hammond and electric piano); but to compensate, there is greater emphasis on lead guitar (mainly from RB) - his clean and resonant guitar licks can be heard on many tracks. Also of note is the percussion, as it 'clatters and clanks' in accompaniment on 'Cemetery Road', 'Reckless Feeling' and a few other songs. RB seems to choose his harmony vocalists with care - on this album, Eliza Gilkyson adds her delectable and sultry tones on 3 songs; additional harmonies are from RB and Gurf Morlix.


The songs continue to reflect the worldview of a travelling troubadour who's 'been around the block' a few times. I liked most of the songs on 'Goin' By Feel' (only 'What Katy Did', with its brisk vocals, is a borderline choice); some brief comments about a selection :

'Sabine River' - a smooth and relaxing piece of 'blues-pop', features RB on harmonica; 'Cemetery Road' - a mid-tempo, bluesy/folksy toe-tapper; 'So Long Blues' - 'easy on Sunday morning' reggae influenced pop, gorgeous electric guitar to the fore, harmonica also; 'Carry the Fallen' - a slow tempo, dark and spooky song, Gurf Morlix accompanies on banjo and EG provides the harmonies; 'Goin' By Feel' - hypnotic and rhythmically intoxicating, driven along by pulsating electric bass from Gurf Morlix; 'Shy Star' - a folksy number with RB on acoustic guitar and EG on harmonies.


Although each has a slightly different sound, I find there is little to choose between 'Gust of Wind' and 'Goin' By Feel', and I prefer both of these albums to 'Roll It Down'. 'Goin' By Feel' is another strong offering from an artist who produces consistently good music; Ray Bonneville 'ticks all the right boxes' for me.

Ordered the CD by a review I read somewhere, did not know Ray's music and after listening I had that rare feeling of hitting Bull's Eye: Southern rythmn, captivating voice, fascinating lyrics... GREAT MUSIC.
I will be buying more from him.

I have to admit I never heard of Ray Bonneville until last year's Folk alliance Conference where I fell into one of his "showcases". It was his guitar playing that first attracted me, especially his solo materials. I saw him again last week (at another FA Conference) and this time listened to his voice and lyrics. His coarse and gritty voice was telling some nice stories, much is the style (both lyrics and vocal quality) of Guy Clark. So I followed up with this CD, surprisingly his latest though its over 2 years old.

All the songs are by Bonneville - except one; a co-write with the album's producer Gurf Morlix - and all have vocals. But that guitar playing (heavy on the blues notes) is still there! He gets vocal accompaniment from fellow Austin-ite Eliza Gilkyson on two tracks - the best of which - and the album's highlight in my opinion - is "I Am The Big Easy", a tribute to the NOLa, as sung by the city itself.

Bonneville was born Canadian, spent 50 years in New Orleans, and now resides in Austin. The melding of these locations comes through in his songs.

Hopefully it won't be another two years till he gets back in the studio for his next CD and others get to hear the new songs he's out there playing on the road.

Steve Ramm
"Anything Phonographic"

I first saw Ray in a small intimate club in Houston called Anderson Fair, and two lines into the first song("Crow John")I was hooked. Ray is Canadian by birth, but lives in Austin, Texas at this time, and he adds considerably to the proclaimation that Austin is the Live Music Capital. Fortunately, Ray travels beyond the confines of the Austin City Limits, and comes to Houston fairly frequently. I also saw him at a friend's house concert(Ken & Mary's Blues Project, Porter, Tx.), and that show only the confirmed the feeling that Ray's lyrics and melodies are top-notch. Ray's finger-picking style, and use of a foot board for percussion are quite iintriguing, add into the mix his excellent vocal and harmonica work, and you have a great musical mix. While he travels beyond Austin's city limit to spread his work around, he definitely would be a great addition to that exceptional music venue, "Austin City Limits". I'll be one of the first in line for his next show in Houston. BTW, on the way home from that first introduction to Ray Bonneville's music, I played "Crow John" 3 times in a row, and it's the first cut on this, his latest album. Ray is a definite recommend of this reviewer.