Ray LaMontagne, with opener Neko Case, at Jacobs Pavilion June 30

Ray LaMontagne is as quiet and introspective during a phone interview as he is in concert.

Thank God.

Such refreshing earnestness is counterintuitive to today’s self-aggrandizing world, where likes and followers are seemingly more important than content, depth and character.

So it’s with this in mind that it’s somewhat surprising LaMontagne opens up to divulge a Cleveland tradition.

“I never seem to leave Cleveland without a tattoo,” said LaMontagne, calling from Philadelphia. “We always have good shows there. I always look forward to going there.”

Because he opened the door, a follow-up question about the origin of the tattoo custom seemed natural.

“Oh, no,” he said. “That’s personal. It’s just become a ritual, I guess.”

LaMontagne did admit odds are he once again will add to his tattoo collection when he returns to Northeast Ohio for a show June 30 at Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica. He is on the road in support of his latest album, “Part of the Light.”

A follow-up to 2016’s “Ouroboros,” the new nine-song record was self-produced and recorded in LaMontagne’s home studio, the Big Room at Apple Hill on his 19th-century homestead in the foothills of Massachusetts’ Berkshires. In quintessential fashion, the project is a personal expression that varies between tender introspection and folk blues explosion.

LaMontagne talked about his songwriting process as if it’s almost a creative burden, a visceral affair that allows him to return to daily life until the melodic urge returns for yet another regurgitation of what most likely will be a memorable gem.

“There are no intentional moves being made on my part like a chessboard,” LaMontagne said. “That process is always the same: I just I go about my business until I start to feel that creative energy pull at me. Then, when it gets to a point where I can’t ignore it, I sit down and try to see what the songs want to be.

“They just kind of reveal themselves. It’s just like any other art form. Music is just how I relate to my own existence. And that’s all. Once the songs start coming together, a lot of times I have to decode them myself and have to figure out what they’re saying or what I’m trying to say to myself. That’s it, really.”

Songs of note from “Part of the Light” range from the psychedelic and bluesy “As Black as Blood Is Blue” to the quiet “Such a Simple Thing” and mid-tempo declaration “Paper Man.”

The latter boasts both a personal and political bent. He sings, “I won’t live like a paper man … I won’t fold like a paper man/To which I’ve been told by a paper-white plan…Here in my heart I am/Here in my heart I stand.”

Considering LaMontagne is known for eschewing social media and seeming uncomfortable in the blinding light of celebrity, “Paper Man” comes across as almost his manifesto to healthy living.

“I don’t have any kind of online existence,” LaMontagne said. “It’s not my world, and I just don’t participate. I just never have, and I don’t have any interest in anything outside of the work itself.

“I’ve never been drawn to be a part of any kind of scene or to go to the right parties. I just want to be present and enjoy life while it’s here. It’s not going to last forever.”

Ray LaMontagne

Opener: Neko Case.

When: 7:30 p.m. June 30.

Where: Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica, 2014 Sycamore St., Cleveland.

Tickets: $39.50 to $89.50.

Info: www.ticketmaster.com.