Although he’s still figuring it out what it means to be a New Englander, Ryan Montbleau can at least know he’s resilient. After ten years of steadily touring the Northeast, Monbleau has finally reached a pinnacle, calling 2010 a year that “I’ll remember for a long time.” In between opening for The Dave Matthews Band, and having his namesake band play Bonnaroo with Martin Sexton, Montbleau has finally touched foot on the bigger stages that have eluded him for so long. The singer-songwriter/guitarist has just released his fourth studio album – the eclectic and plentiful Heavy on the Vine, due 9/21. A sharp talent, with a knack at writing catchy songs that mix R&B, soul, funk, folk and Americana, Montbleau will undoubtedly be stealing some festival slots from contemporaries like Brett Dennen and G Love soon.
In return for their backup band duties, Sexton in turn produced Heavy on the Vine. “I used to dream about getting to meet Martin Sexton,” says Ryan, “and now we’re getting hired as his backing band and he’s producing our record.” Having to work with his mentor, proved to be a creative rebirth that allowed the Ryan Montbleau band Heavy on the Vine incorporates a little of everything that Montbleau has polished in the last ten years and more. As he explains, “This record has folk songs, funk songs, country tunes, a reggae tune . . . and the end is almost like prog-rock. It’s all over the map, but it’s all us, and we always do it wholeheartedly. We’ve sort of come up in the jam scene, and that’s where our hearts have been in a lot of ways. But we don’t go off on 15-minute epics. We’re actually trying to make the songs shorter as we go. So I would lean more toward the Americana thing than the jam thing. But more than anything, we’re definitely about the song.”
Glide talked to Montbleau recently on the heels of Heavy on the Vine’s release date to get a detailed perspective on the Massachusetts native’s resiliency, assorted talents and what its like entering Dave Matthews’ world.
What was the creative theme or energy behind Heavy on the Vine?
Well, it’s been three years since our last studio recording. We’ve been touring like crazy during that time, but I’m sort of always writing little by little. So there was a ton of material waiting to get the proper treatment. One of the songs "Lonesome Serenade" actually popped into my head during that last session three years ago, the riff did anyway. And I didn’t completely finish the lyrics until the day I cut the vocals for it, three years later. So for some of it I just needed that final impetus to get it done. Other songs we’ve worked out on the road over the last few years and played out a bunch. Four of us in the band have also been living together in a house forthe last year or so, so much of it was written there. We’ve all spent so much time and energy together, it gets heavy at times. That’s part of where the title comes from. We continue to grow and, hopefully, ripen. These days we’re hanging heavy on the vine and that can be a beautiful thing.
Like your prior records Heavy on the Vine incorporates a little bit of folk, funk, country and reggae. How would you describe Heavy on the Vine to be most different musically than your past efforts?
We work hard individually and collectively, and I do believe that we keep getting better as a band. And I’d like to think that I’m getting better as a writer. So I think the parts are more refined in these songs and it is truly the sound of the six of us in a room. On the last record, by the end of it I think we had like 20 guest musicians and we had a tendency to want to make everything sound "perfect" and air-tight. This time it’s basically just us, and it was the first time we’ve ever worked with a producer. Martin did a great job of setting a relaxed tone and allowing us to freely do our thing. I think there’s more space in this record, more air-in-the-room as it were. And I also think it’s a bit more fun than some of our other records. It still has its slower moments, but the title, again, is more in reference to a ripened fruit or vegetable, not really the "heaviness" of the record.
Being the songwriter you get a handful of the credit – lets give it up for your band who bring a lot to the mix to develop your sound. Are there any specific contributions from your band members that stick out during the recording process?
Oh, absolutely. There’s an instrumental song called "Hands" that the guys did completely on their own, and another song called "Love Songs" that Matty (Giannaros, bass) came up with and I wrote lyrics for. Living in the house together has allowed for more collaboration over the last year or so. And in the studio, I’m always amazed at how efficiently the guys work, especially as a rhythm section. The basic tracks seem to take no time at all, which frees us up for other things. When Martin asked us to try a "Stones in Nashville" version of one of the songs on the fly, the guys just banged it out no problemand I sang and played right along. It’s on the record, a song I had done solo before called "More and More and More." James, Jay, Matty, Laurence, Yahuba: they’ve all been such workhorses, there’s no doubt, and they always serve the tune. I really believe that the coolest music we make is when they’re just messing around, grooving at soundcheck. I’m like, "Man, remember that! We need to make that a
song!"
How was it working with Martin Sexton as producer? What did he bring to the table in terms of creative energy, direction and getting “that” sound out of you?
Martin was great. His main thing from the beginning what that he didn’t want to "put his fingerprints" on the record. He wanted it to sound like us, and he did a great job of allowing us to do that. We’re all huge Martin Sexton fans, so just having him there and having his ears in the studio was a trip in and of itself. He’s just so musical and hears so much on every instrument.
And he’s made a ton of good records over the years, so he had a lot of good ideas and techniques up his sleeve. One he calls "the Diner mistake," which he stumbled upon on his Black Sheep record. I did two full takes of the same guitar line on an old ’61 Jazzmaster and he panned one to the left and one to the right, and it gives the guitar sound this beautiful shimmer. That was for "Carry." Other times he directed us all singing like a gospel choir, two voices at a time and stacking them all up to sound huge. Another time he did some crazy interpretive dancing in the live room while we were tracking to get us to loosen up! Whatever it took, he really got into it from start to finish, including all the mixing.
As a long-time fan, when and where did your relationship with Sexton begin and how did you get to the point of being his backing band on the road and having him produce your record?
It’s been a long road… I first met Martin many years ago when I approached him at a radio station in Boston like I was a little schoolgirl, mumbled a few words, and gave him a copy of my first CD. I had thanked him twice in the liner notes of that disc. And I used to go to his shows and hand out my music to people as they left. Then in 2006 I met him backstage at Gathering of the Vibes through all of the Assembly of Dust guys. We got to open nine shows in the fall of 2007 on the Seeds tour with a trio and it all worked out well. A year later, he put me on the entire Solo tour as the opener. Then this past New Year’s Eve, we got a call asking if we wanted to try to be his band and opener for the Sugarcoating tour. Sweet! We had to learn three songs from the new record and he came over to our house and more or less auditioned us. The music we made felt great that first day, the all-around vibe felt right, and he asked us to do it. In the course of more rehearsals at our house, it came up that we were trying to record our own record before we left for his tour. That’s when he threw his hat in the ring and offered to do it.
You’ve been steadily touring to other parts of the country lately – how has reaching new audiences and expanding to different regions effected you as a performer and a song-writer? Are there any new regions in particular that you have been particularly inspired by?
It’s been a very cool experience building this thing up one show at a time. In the northeast, we’ve come up from the very beginning playing in bars, so many people still think of us as this party band. Which is fine. In some ways we are that. But in other places, we’ve managed to play mostly listening rooms as we’ve developed. So people there have a completely different expectation of us. I love that, because it allows us to reinvent ourselves. And I like to make people dance, but I love to make people listen. The best nights are when people can do both, and that’s happening more and more as we go. A lot of the major cities: Austin, San Francisco, Portland, Oregon, etc. have been great. But a lot of the smaller towns and venues too: Fayetteville, Arkansas, The Blue Door in Oklahoma City, Asheville, of course. It’s a big country and much of our experience has to do with the venue itself. I’ve also come to love the west in general.
You’ve been doing this for awhile now – most notably on the east coast. How has being based out of New England either helped or hindered your career as an artist?
Well, I can’t imagine being from anywhere else, so it’s hard to say. Strictly from a geographical standpoint, being tucked in the northeast has made it harder to get back out west as much as I would like to. But at the same time, the Northeast is amazing in that there are so many different cities to hit that are so close together. You realize the value of that as you start touring out west. All of a sudden, it’s like 10 hours of driving in between every show! I may try to live somewhere else some day, but New England will always be home. I’ve been searching a bit lately for what it means musically to be from this region. There is a rich musical history here and I want to learn more about it. I feel like the south has a strong musical identity, Chicago has a strong identity, Texas, even California. Of course this is still generalizing, but what does it mean to be from New England? I want to start digging more.
You served as the backing band for Martin Sexton for a few shows opening for Dave Matthews Band – how has the experience been playing on such a large stage? And you also recently got the opportunity to play with Nil Lofgren at a gig in Arizona- how was that experience?
It’s been quite a year. The crazy thing about the DMB shows was that we had been rolling around in Martin’s tour bus for two months, our first time in a bus, like kids on the first day of school. Bigtime!
Then we roll into Dave Matthews world and he’s got 10 tour buses and 12 tractor-trailer trucks at every show. Each guy in the band has his own tour bus. OK then! So it just opened up this whole other level of bigness and "success" that was sort of mind-blowing. My favorite part about playing those stages was that I actually felt ready to play them. I wasn’t nervous, I was just psyched to do it. And in Arizona, Nils Lofgren was totally the man! That guy showed up with this beautiful old strat and we both played out of the same amp. He was like, "When was the last time you used the same amp for two guitars at the same time?" I just tried to stay out of his way. It’s amazing to get to play with a true pro like that. He was nailing the endings to
tunes he had never heard.
Has the acoustic guitar ever provided you any limitations in terms of storytelling or songwriting and what themes or occurrences provide you the most inspiration to pen new songs?
I don’t really play much else besides guitar, so it’s a blessing to have that by my side to make music. And having the guys in the band to fall back on is also a blessing. One song on the new record "Fix Your Wings." I just had written completely a capella, the whole song start to finish. It was never my intention to keep it that way, I just needed the guys to flesh it out. As far as writing tunes, it’s maybe about 50/50 for me: half start out on the guitar with some little riff or some chords that I like and then I immediately hear a melody for it, and half come when I’m away from the guitar, just singing in my head. A song can be about anything at all, you just
have to be present enough to see and hear the inspiration whenever it comes. And then you have to really get to work.
With a new album on the way, Lenny Kravitz singing on song you wrote for Trombone Shorty and being part of the DMB tour – it really appears you are about to breakthrough big… do you have feel as if you have had your breakthrough moment yet?
No. And having been at this for so many years, I honestly don’t know if there will ever be a "moment" of breakthrough success. I tend to not really believe in that anymore, although I do think anything’s possible. This is a marathon, not a sprint, and I’m thankful to have the career that I’ve been able to build so far. Now it’s time to really buckle down and make better music. This new album is a big step in that direction, and yet I/we have so much further to go. I won’t lie, the DMB thing and Lenny Kravitz and all of that, it does make me feel good. And that’s the kind of stuff I can email to my parents and say, "See? I’m doing good!" But in my eyes, the best thing about writing for Shorty’s record was that it showed me that I can write for others. That opened up this whole other world for me that I’m going to continue to explore. And the best thing about the DMB dates was that I got to witness first-hand this whole other level of bigness. I may never be as big as Dave, but maybe I can develop into being the kind of performer that can really grip a crowd of that size. Time will tell.
What new records or shows in 2010 that you’ve heard have you been inspired by?
I saw Kris Kristofferson at Bonnaroo and couldn’t walk away, as bad as I wanted to see Ween (I caught the end of their set.) In that same 24-hours, I also saw Stevie Wonder, Jeff Beck, John Prine, Gillian Welch with David Rawlings, Regina Spektor, The Melvins, MMW, Jimmy Cliff, and a ton of others. At Newport I saw Andrew Bird, John Prine again, Yim Yames, Doc Watson. It’s just been an amazing summer. I continue to be inspired by Surprise Me Mr. Davis, and their song "Sissyfuss" is my favorite track of anyone in years. Last week I went and saw Ray LaMontagne with David Gray, and both of those guys and their bands sounded amazing. As did Rodrigo y Gabriela the other night. And Joe Pug. Man, I think I’ll be remembering this year for a long time…
