RAY LAMONTAGNE & GREGORY ALAN ISAKOV

With a voice that recalls a huskier, sandpapery version of Van Morrison and Tim Buckley, Grammy winner Ray LaMontagne joins such artists as Iron & Wine in creating folk songs that are alternately lush and intimately earthy. Following his full-length debut, 2004’s “Trouble,” he gradually broadened his musical palette, incorporating horns and strings on 2006’s “Til the Sun Turns Black” and evoking the psychedelic pop and country-rock of the late 1960s and early ’70s with his fifth album, the Dan Auerbach-produced “Supernova”. Issued in 2014, the latter became his third straight album to peak at number three on the Billboard 200. Teasing a change of direction in a note to a group of fans, LaMontagne worked with My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James on his next outing, 2016’s “Ouroboros”. Designed for full-album play, it was immersed in blues guitar and a rich psychedelic tapestry built with vintage instruments. LaMontagne’s eighth long-player, 2020’s “Monovision,” was his first entirely self-recorded effort, including all instrument performances.

Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, and now calling Colorado home, horticulturist/musician Gregory Alan Isakov has cast an impressive presence on the indie-rock and folk worlds with his six full-length studio albums and his newest album, “Appaloosa Bones”. Of “Appaloosa Bones,” MOJO states, “Prime Isakov: his velvet baritone glides over elegant and shimmering Wild West mirages.” The Associated Press proclaims, “He has that magical ability to convey both urgency and grandeur at the same time… simple. Straightforward. Utterly evocative.” And No Depression declares, “this is Isakov’s genius. He turns a short poem into a magnificent piece of music that can captivate for hours.”