

# Event Details

- **Event Name**: Ray Bonneville kicks off 2025 at The Whirlybird
- **Event Start and End Date**: Fri, 03 Jan, 2025 at 06:00 pm
- **Event Description**: Doors open at 6 pm for Food, Cash Bar and Art - music around 7 pm - stay a while  to meet the artist and socialize...  Happy New Year!

Joel Savoy turned us on to Ray.  And we are excited he will be kicking off 2025 with his awesome mojo at The Whirlybird.

Ray Bonneville strips his bluesy Americana down to its essentials and steeps it in the humid grooves of the South, creating a compelling poetry of hard living and deep feeling.  Join us on Friday, Jan 3rd.  Need directions?  Email Jim at &lt;thewhirlybird&gt;

Bio:  Jim Withers (Montreal Gazette) describes his sound as “folk-roots gumbo… a languid Mississippi Delta groove, seasoned with smooth, weathered vocals and a propulsive harmonica wheeze.” 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. Thom Jurek (Allmusic.com) remarks, “With darkness and light fighting for dominance… he’s stripped away every musical excess to let the songs speak for themselves.” 

Often called a “song and groove man,” Bonneville has lived the life of the itinerant artist. From his native Quebec, he moved to Boston at age twelve, where he learned English and picked up piano and guitar. Later, he served in Vietnam and earned a pilot’s license in Colorado before living in Alaska, Seattle, and Paris. Six years in New Orleans infused his musical sensibilities with the region's culture and rhythms. And then, a close call while piloting a seaplane proved pivotal: After two decades working as a studio musician, playing rowdy rooms with blues bands, and living hard, Bonneville’s lifetime of hard-won experience coalesced into an urge to write his own music. 

Ray recorded his first album, On the Main, in 1992. He’s since released nine albums, including his October  2023 release, On The Blind Side, earned wide critical and popular acclaim, and won an enthusiastic following in the U.S., Canada, and Europe. His awards include a prestigious Juno, the Canadian equivalent of a Grammy, for his 1999 album, Gust of Wind. In 2012, Ray won the solo/duet category in the Blues Foundation’s International Blues Challenge. His post-Katrina ode, “I Am the Big Easy,” earned the International Folk Alliance’s 2009 Song of the Year Award, placed number one on Folk Radio’s list of most-played songs of 2008, and was recently covered by Jennifer Warnes for the BMG label. 

Other notable artists who have recorded his songs include Ronnie Hawkins (“Foolish”) and Slaid Cleaves (“Run Jolee Run”). Ray has shared the bill with blues heavyweights 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. He has performed at renowned venues around the world, including South by Southwest, Folk Alliance, and Montreal International Jazz Festival, and plays over 100 shows per year across the U.S., Canada, and Europe. When not on the road, Ray divides his time between homes in Goulais River, Ontario and Austin, Texas. 

Folk Alliance 2009 Song of The Year: Ray Bonneville "I Am The Big Easy"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1pVLyIBBqs
&lt;/thewhirlybird&gt;
- **Event URL**: https://allevents.in/sunset/ray-bonneville-kicks-off-2025-at-the-whirlybird/200027693098641
- **Event Categories**: music, entertainment, art, performances, festivals, live-music, literary-art, new-year, jazz
- **Interested Audience**: 
  - total_interested_count: 27

## Ticket Details


## Event venue details

- **city**: Sunset
- **state**: LA
- **country**: United States
- **location**: The Whirlybird Fiddle Bar
- **lat**: 30.44405
- **long**: -92.10116
- **full address**: The Whirlybird Fiddle Bar, 4092 LA-182, Opelousas, LA 70570-4656, United States,Sunset, Louisiana

## Event Organizer details

- **affiliate_id**: 2
- **organizer**: The Whirlybird Compound (https://allevents.in/org/the-whirlybird-compound/23288536)

## Event gallery

- **Alt text**: banner
  - **Image URL**: https://dyn-image.allevents.in/generate-image?v=4&title=Ray+Bonneville+kicks+off+2025+at+The+Whirlybird&date=Fri%2C+03+Jan%2C+2025+at+06%3A00+pm&bg=2
- **Alt text**: thumbnail
  - **Image URL**: https://cdn-az.allevents.in/events4/banners/1a5e07e8abf9ff79e85707b33ac2921199c43cbcc4527c2d70c80c827cc386ed-rimg-w300-h300-dc303030-gmir?v=1735687361

## FAQs

- **Q**: When is the event happening?
  - **A:** Fri, 03 Jan, 2025 at 06:00 pm
- **Q**: Where is the event happening?
  - **A:** The Whirlybird Fiddle Bar, 4092 LA-182, Opelousas, LA 70570-4656, United States,Sunset, Louisiana
- **Q**: Who is organizing the event?
  - **A:** The Whirlybird Compound
- **Q**: What type of event is this?
  - **A:** music, entertainment, art, performances, festivals, live-music, literary-art, new-year, jazz
- **Q**: Where can I find ticket details about Ray Bonneville kicks off 2025 at The Whirlybird ?
  - **A:** You can find ticket details about this event on AllEvents.

## Structured Data (JSON-LD)

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        "startDate": "2025-01-03",
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        "description": "Doors open at 6 pm for Food, Cash Bar and Art - music around 7 pm - stay a while  to meet the artist and socialize...  Happy New Year!\n\nJoel Savoy turned us on to Ray.  And we are excited he will be kicking off 2025 with his awesome mojo at The Whirlybird.\n\nRay Bonneville strips his bluesy Americana",
        "organizer": [
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