A mere 20 years after his first appearance, Sundilla is thrilled to bring the legendary Ray Bonneville back to Auburn on Friday, February 10. Showtime at the AUUF (450 E. Thach Avenue in Auburn) is 7:30. Advance tickets are just $20 and can be found at Spicer’s Music, Ross House Coffee, and online at sundillamusic.com; admission at the door will be $25. Free coffee, tea, water and food will be available, and the audience is invited to bring their own favorite food or beverage.
The acclaimed raconteur strips his bluesy Americana to its essentials and steeps it in the humid grooves of the South, creating a compelling poetry of hard living and deep feeling. Rich guitar and harmonica lines resonate over spare but spunky rhythms, while Bonneville’s deep, evocative voice confesses life’s harsh realities. Whether performing solo or fronting a band, playing electric or acoustic guitar, Bonneville allows space between notes that adds potency to every chord, lick, and lyric. Often called a “song and groove man,” he began writing his own music after two decades working as a studio musician, playing rowdy rooms with blues bands, and living hard. He’s since released nine albums, won Canada’s Juno award and other prestigious honors, earned wide critical acclaim, and garnered an enthusiastic following in the U.S., Canada, and Europe.
His sound has been described as “folk-roots gumbo… a languid Mississippi Delta groove, seasoned with smooth, weathered vocals and a propulsive harmonica wheeze.” Thom Jurek of Allmusic.com remarks, “With darkness and light fighting for dominance… he’s stripped away every musical excess to let the songs speak for themselves.” Bonneville has shared the bill with heavyweights such as Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Dr. John, J.J. Cale, and Robert Cray, and has guested on albums by Mary Gauthier, Gurf Morlix, Eliza Gilkyson, Ray Wylie Hubbard, and other prominent musicians.