Ray LaMontagne announces February tour

Ray LaMontagne has announced an 11-date headline tour of the UK through February 2009, commencing at the Opera House in York on February 7 and including London's Barbican on February 15.

The news follows the UK release of Ray LaMontagne's highly anticipated third album Gossip In The Grain through 14th Floor Records on 13 October. To coincide with the tour, the album's opening track 'You Are The Best Thing' will be given a full single release on 23 February 2009.

Dates are:

7 February YORK Opera House
8 February MANCHESTER Lowry
9 February GLASGOW Royal Concert Hall
11 February NOTTINGHAM Royal Concert Hall
12 February BIRMINGHAM Symphony Hall
13 February GATESHEAD The Sage
15 February LONDON Barbican
17 February SOUTHAMPTON Guildhall
19 February CAMBRIDGE Corn Exchange
20 February BRIGHTON Dome
21 February BRISTOL Colston Hall

Recorded with returning producer, Ethan Johns in Box, England, and touching upon a range of styles and musical settings Gossip In The Grain proves to be LaMontagne's most creative and emotionally expansive collection to date. Whereas LaMontagne's two previous albums, Trouble and Till The Sun Turns Black, were largely solo affairs, with Johns serving as multi-tasking instrumentalist, Gossip In The Grain sees him joined by members of his touring band, bassist Jennifer Condos and guitarist Eric Heywood (with Johns largely handling drum duties).

LaMontagne's 2004 debut, Trouble, became one of that year's most acclaimed debuts, spawning an instant classic single in the album's title track and led to LaMontagne being nominated for a Brit Award for Best International Breakthrough Act. LaMontagne returned two years later with the stunning Till The Sun Turns Black a deeply personal work haunted by a complex and compelling melancholy. The album received plaudits on both sides of the Atlantic, including a four-star review from Q, which described Till The Sun Turns Black as a 'mesmerising, beautiful record'.