Unfortunately, I did not discover Richmond Fontaine until they released their final full-length album in 2016, You Can’t Go Back If There’s Nothing To Go Back To. The alt-country band began touring in 1994 in the Pacific Northwest area and released a number of albums with wonderful music. One of my favorite songs remains “Wake Up Ray,” which appeared on their 2016 album.
In the song, the singer recalls that he once was married and living in Montana. He recounts that things went well until they didn’t, and “she got to where she couldn’t stand our place/ She got to where she cringed at the way I slept and ate.”
Then the singer tells us how he bought her a bird called “Little Joe,” leading to a story of how his wife released the bird in a rage.
Wake up Ray, the sun’s coming up and still I can’t stop thinking,
How can someone you love so much grow against you so?
All I did, all I did was try to toe that line;
The same line you see everyone else toe;
Now all I remember is running through the snow,
Looking for Little Joe as the wind blowed .
“Wake Up Ray” is a beautiful song, intertwining a simple domestic incident into the broader tapestry of a dissolving relationship. It is not surprising that the song contains such memorable images, as lead singer and songwriter Willy Vlautin is also an acclaimed author.
Richmond Fontaine did release one additional instrumental album after You Can’t Go Back If There’s Nothing To Go Back To. In 2018, they released Don’t Skip Out On Me as an instrumental soundtrack for one of Vlautin’s novels that had the same name.
Today, Vlautin plays with the band The Delines, featuring Amy Boone on lead vocals. The rest of Richmond Fontaine included Dave Harding, Paul Brainard, Joe Davis, and Stuart Gaston. Check out all of their albums.
What is your favorite Richmond Fontaine song? Leave your two cents in the comments.
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