• The MACHIGONNE FESTIVAL was a major success, despite the best efforts of Hurricane Danny. The Civic Center floor was uncomfortably packed and the music was terrific from top to bottom. And seeing RUSTIC OVERTONES, complete with seven-piece string section and six-piece horn section, backing RAY LAMONTAGNE was pretty once-in-a-lifetime. Overtones frontman DAVE GUTTER at one point pronounced himself "giddy" at the opportunity to back LaMontagne (he was holding a ukulele at the time); bassist JON ROODS was reportedly experiencing stomach pains all day, nervous at the prospect of screwing up LaMontagne's material. He needn't have worried. Songs like "Hannah" and "All the Wild Horses" rippled with their normal quiet power, but the arrangement really struck home on big tunes like "Meg White," "Three More Days," and "You Are the Best Thing." LaMontagne said he'd like to join Rustic full-time, "but then we'd have the change the name to Too Many Guitarists."
• Speaking of RUSTIC, they broke out "The Same Does Not Apply," their first single off a new record they say will be ready in November. It was going to be called Hot Fudge Monday, but then they discovered it means . . . well, just go look it up in the Urban Dictionary.
• WCYY is also playing the new SPENCER AND THE SCHOOL SPIRIT MAFIA single "Whatever Garry"; there's even a newly remixed version created at the Studio with Steve Drown (the "JAWS" remix).
• BOREAL TORDU have a new record ready, scheduled for September 18 release at One Longfellow. Called Les Chevaliers, it's their third full-length.
Related:
Local luminaries’ picks, Review: GFAC returns with double the horsepower, Gossip=Truth, More 
- Local luminaries’ picks
I asked a bunch of people who really dig local music to help me make sure I wasn’t leaving any songs out when I was developing my list of the best 10 songs of the 2000s, but then I quickly realized that “best” is about as subjective as things come when you’re talking about songs.
- Review: GFAC returns with double the horsepower
How spoiled are we in this town? A record like the new Greetings from Area Code 207 Vol. 8 can come out and it's like: Big Fuckin' Deal.
- Gossip=Truth
On LaMontagne’s new Gossip in the Grain (RCA), he’s having a lot more fun.
- Hope springs Eternal Otter
The latest scuttlebutt on Lady Lamb the Beekeeper, Ray Lamontagne, and more.
- Music Seen: Anticon's 10th anniversary
Sure, Ray LaMontagne is huge and the Rustic Overtones saw their national time, but there is something to be said for a record label co-founded by Mainers that is more than a decade old and can still sell out the Knitting Factory in New York City.
- Portland music news: February 20, 2009
Somebody should have booked Ray LaMontagne back into Portland before now.
- New England Music News: March 6, 2009
Sorry we didn't have time to give you the heads-up before the show, but the BALTIC SEA debuted a new five-man lineup Sunday night at the Big Easy.
- The Low Anthem visit the Low Countries
Plus Brown Birds and Toughcats
- Flying solo (and duo)
Think about everything you know about Elijah Ocean and Dave Gutter: Ocean's work fronting the heavy rock trio Loverless, say, or his lead-guitar turn in the radio-rock foursome All the Real Girls; Gutter's piercing vocals out front of Rustic Overtones, or his white-hot bounce in the lead of Paranoid Social Club.
- Rock'n'Roll birthday party!
While you're out celebrating MARK BELANGER 's birthday August 21 — at Geno's, of course — make sure to catch the set by WHITCOMB , who are shaping up to be the next supergroup of sorts.
- Portland music news: April 17, 2009
Two big shows to watch coming up: That TOWER OF SONG we've been telling you about got approval from the City Council to put on a big festival May 23. So that's on.
- Less
Topics:
New England Music News
, Entertainment, Music, New Music Releases, More
, Entertainment, Music, New Music Releases, Meg White, Ray LaMontagne, Ray LaMontagne, Ray LaMontagne, Dave Gutter, Dave Gutter, Jon Roods, Less
