Born and raised on Minneapolis’s northside, Luke LeBlanc grew up listening to a wide variety of music, young and old, from Bob Dylan and The Band, to John Prine, to The Wallflowers and The Avett Brothers. Now 25, LeBlanc who taught himself how to play guitar at 11 years old and decided to write his own words and music soon after. At 13, he was the youngest to win the Zimmy’s, a national Bob Dylan influenced singer/songwriter competition in Hibbing, Minnesota. LeBlanc played South by Southwest in Texas in 2017 and found himself opening for Charlie Parr, Phil Solem of The Rembrandts, Joey Molland of Badfinger, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and The Ozark Mountain Daredevils.
Glide is premiering “Gone” (below) from Luke LeBlanc, a catchy run of incisive songwriting that is delicately tasteful. LeBlanc nourishes the pop flourishes of Dawes, along with the midwest folk of Tyler Childers, yet retains a distinctive flair of story-telling.
“I believe ‘Gone’ is the first song I’ve written and recorded without any acoustic guitar. As a songwriter I always get the opportunity to experiment with writing and phrasing – but this time electric guitar gave me some more room to experiment more with the music itself; sounds, reverb, echo, high-end, low-end, etc. It’s one of the few good places to get lost in. The writing, the melody, the recording – it all came together quickly. I think that’s because the song has a lot to do with letting go – a sense of “what do we have to lose?” – something we’re all feeling a little these days.”
