Ray LaMontagne was born in Nashua, New Hampshire, in 1973 to a constantly traveling mother and a violent musician father who abandoned the family during Ray's childhood. Because of his father's background in music, LaMontagne refrained from most musical activity, instead spending much of his time reading fantasy novels in the forest.After graduation, LaMontagne moved away from his family, ending up in Lewiston, Maine, where he found a job working in a shoe factory.

One morning at 4 a.m., LaMontagne heard Stephen Stills' song "Treetop Flyer" on the radio as it awoke him for his job.After purchasing the Stills Alone album, he decided that he wanted to quit his job and start a career as a singer-songwriter.LaMontagne began touring in 1999, although he maintained a side job as a tutor.In the summer of 1999, LaMontagne amassed 10 songs for a demo that he sent to various local music venues. Mike Miclon, the owner of Buckfield, Maine's Oddfellow Theater, heard the demo and invited him to open for folk acts such as John Gorka and Jonathan Edwards. A friend and business executive heard LaMontagne's recordings and introduced him to Jamie Ceretta of Chrysalis Music Publishing. CMP recorded his first album, and sold it to RCA Records in the US and Echo Records in the UK.

In 2008, LaMontagne moved into a farmhouse in rural western Maine with his wife, Sarah, and two children, Tobias and Sebastian.