Ray Lamontagne Quotes

The thing I love about music is that you can take things that are painful, deep things that hurt you, and you can turn them into something beautiful.

The label doesn't do anything but put your record in the store, that's all they do. And tell you, you don't have a single... and tell you, it's not gonna sell... that's what the label does.

Social situations, for me - it's very natural for me to be an observer. That's where I'm most comfortable. I observe things.

My voice sucks. I don't like the tone.

My backstory is so tedious.

It's so easy to get caught up in your own experiences. They can seem so important. But there are billions and billions of other experiences going on.

It bugs me that people think my songs are personal because it means I have to explain myself all the time.

In order to get a note out, I have to dig deep, and I mean that on an emotional level. To physically sing, I have to get somewhere deep before I can do it.

I'm very uncomfortable in my own skin.

I'm a very emotional person.

I'm a private person.

I'd much rather be playing songs than talking to people.

I was really lost for a while in my teens. I was angry. But when I found music - Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell - it was a new discovery. It was a door to this other world where I wanted to be.

I want to write music that will outlive me.

I want to be in control of my own destiny.

I probably wouldn't be a songwriter if I didn't grow up the way I did. It was difficult and it was at times very scary to grow up in a household so unsettled and at times very violent. But, it also, I guess it earned me a sort of wisdom at a young age that's served me well.

I need space between me and the audience - and the more space the better.

I have a strong sense of self, but that's not a negative thing.

I feel calm when I'm on my own.

I don't really think of myself as a folk singer.

I don't like myself, and I don't like to be looked at.

I can't get excited by my own music. It's impossible.

I am very self-critical, but that's a good thing because it keeps me growing as a human being and as a musician.

I always felt, as a listener at a show, that when there was too much banter between the artist and the audience that it detracted from the show. I more enjoyed shows where the guys came out and they just played.

Every song asks to be sung in a different way.