(Moncton, NB) – I had the pleasure of interviewing New Brunswick’s very own guitar brainchild Stephen Leblanc recently.
Respected guitarist, singer and songwriter within the music community, playing an array of music from Acadian, Folk, Rock and Metal. He’s toured many parts of the world yet remains very humbled and down to earth. Here is his story.
Sue – Tell me a little bit about how you found your love for music?
Steve – When I was a kid, my dad was an alcoholic and he LOVED music. As a baby being in the crib, my dad would stay up all night drinking and listening to music really loud in the house. So as a child I grew up hearing music all the time, this went on for years. Even after my dad stopped drinking in my early teens, he always was into music. That’s where I think my love for music came from.
Sue – Who are your main influences musically?
Steve – I think my first biggest influence musically was probably Kiss, when I was 13, I heard Kiss Alive 1. When I heard it I said I’m going to be a guitar player. Later on I got influenced by different things, as a guitar player, Randy Rhodes was a big influence for me but as a musician, some big influences for me even to this day are people like Gordon Lightfoot, Bruce Springsteen. I’m much more than just a guitar player than I was in the beginning, I’ve grown into more than that, I think my influences have gotten broader and have changed. I don’t just listen to the guitar player anymore.
Sue – You have a very loyal fan base. The way you put on a performance, you’re very inclusive to the crowd. How do you remain so grounded?
Steve – I never took myself too seriously I mean I probably did when I was younger, but you have kids and that kind of changes you, it puts your two feet on the ground. They keep me grounded. Dad’s not that cool. I realized with all the experience I’ve had, playing for 30 years now, that when I go to shows that I’m included in and feel comfortable, I enjoy it more , I walk away with a better experience and I want to go again because I had a really good time. Beyond the fact that guy is really good and I enjoyed watching him, that’s cool, but you need a little more than that. When people come to watch me play they feel like they belong. That’s really important.
Sue – You played with such bands as Savage, An Acoustic Sin, Tracy Starr, Love Guns, Spoiled Rotten as well as your own solo career. Which one leaves you with the fondest memories?
Steve – One that you missed is Dominique Dupuis, she’s a fiddler and I have been playing with her for over a decade. I’ve played on two of her studio albums and I’ve toured with her, I think between her and An Acoustic Sin. With Dominique I’ve got to do a lot of travelling I’ve been all over the world. I’ve played in Italy, Belgium, France Switzerland, all over the USA, Chicago, Detroit, N.Y., Tennessee, Louisiana, to me that’s a high point because I got to see a lot of things and experienced a lot that build character. When you travel all over the world it makes you a better person in a weird way, you have a more broad sense of the world. Career wise I would have to say an acoustic sin too because they were the first experience that I ever had. We were a band that had songs on the radio and we were playing on national TV and winning awards, we travelled all over Canada, I have fond memories of that . I remember certain towns our song was number one on the radio and it was like we were the Backstreet Boys. Those are like dreams come true. To me it holds a special place for me, though it’s not as grand as all the touring all over the world, it was a defining moment for me and a really good memory for a bunch of guys that I grew up with to be able to experience that.
Sue – You’re very diversified in your projects -Folk, Acadian, Rock, Hard Rock. Do you have a favorite or do you regard them all as the same?
Steve – I really like my French album, because I think it’s something completely different from everything else I have done. They are songs that I’ve wrote and it’s a part of me. It’s different and it showed a whole different side to people that may not have expected from me. I’m cool with that. I’m proud of Tracy Starr since it was recorded in a basement in Riverview, and that album sounds just as good as anything coming out of Hollywood. I’m not saying that to put myself up on a pedestal because I didn’t engineer it since it was Danny Bourgeois that did, so kudos to him, but musically the arrangement and recording, when I hear it on the radio, I’m really proud of that because it does not sound like a band from N.B. When you’ve been playing for as long as I have, I like the idea of always changing. I could be doing Acadian music and a few months later changing to rock, then back to Acadian, I like that…
Sue – Your last cd release was a French release called Mon Desire. How has that been received by your fans?
Steve – Great! I got a lot of new fans from it. I had one song on it called “La Fete de L’ete”. It went to number 1 on the east coast Acadian radio station. And for me that was huge! I recorded that album at my kitchen table on a little macbook. I sold a lot of albums off stage and I got a distribution deal with Plage who distributes Cayouche and 1755. It was the first time I’ve recorded by myself from scratch , so that was a learning process, I enjoyed it and it gave me confidence. It gives me a lot of satisfaction when you hear it on the radio at number 1. It’s pretty cool.
Sue – Is there anything you’d like to add that we haven’t discussed?
Steve – It’s all about staying real. It’s about keeping yourself grounded. For example, last march I’m playing with Dominique Dupuis in New York City, a block away from Time Square in a ritzy, trendy area. It’s not a concert, but an event for tourism for the media. Here I am playing Celtic music on the banjo, the next night I’m in Tracadie, New Brunswick playing Hard Rock with her husband Danny. That’s what it’s like. That’s staying real!
Sue – Thanks Stephen for taking the time to do this interview. Much appreciated!
Steve – No Problem! Thanks for doing this with me.
For more info please “Follow” Stephen at : https://www.facebook.com/stephen.leblanc.737
Photo Credit : Sue Sadzak
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