Acadian singer-songwriter Lisa LeBlanc will be playing the Pyramid once again Thursday night, Dec. 11.
Lisa LeBlanc and her thrashin’ banjo.
LeBlanc and her band played the Pyramid Nov. 26 on their way out west and the owner of the Pyramid, Dave McKeigan, invited her back on her way home.
The band is touring Canada in support of their second CD, Highways, Heartaches and Time Well Wasted, released in early November. This CD is in English. The single, You Look Like Trouble (But I Guess I Do Too), has been getting lots of radio play lately.
Her first self-titled CD was in French. Released in 2013, the album was mostly written in her hometown of Rosaireville, New Brunswick. That album went platinum (80,000 sales) in no time.
The new songs are well written little gems. LeBlanc grew up in a house of music lovers and wrote her first song at 14. The 24-year-old now calls Montreal home.
With lyrics like “Your mind is a racetrack with too many laps,” (Racetrack) and “Cuz he’ll give you the shirt off his back but he won’t give you his heart,” (The Waiting List), I think we’ll be hearing lots of good things from this talented young lady in the years to come.
Guitarist Jean-Phillipe Hébert.
LeBlanc is backed by guitarist Jean-Phillipe Hébert (who also plays bass on a few tunes) and drummer Maxime Gosselin. LeBlanc’s main weapon is the banjo but she also plays acoustic and electric guitar in her set. The band offers up an intense set of trash-folk tunes.
Lisa LeBlanc could to be the love child of Lemmy and Chrissie Hynde. In fact, her version of Ace of Spades was nothing short of amazing as she played her thrash banjo.
A lot of the songs start off innocently enough but soon turn into rip roaring melodies that challenge the listener to remain still.
Half of the songs were in French but that didn’t stop this non-French speaking music fan from enjoying every tune that was played. After all, music is a universal language which knows no borders. If it moves you, it’s good.
As LeBlanc announced at the beginning of the show, it was in Franglish, with her speaking French between tunes then translating. She even did a quick French lesson when she taught the audience the French word for sh*t for the sing-along portion of the show. She also played her only love song she’s ever written, Kraft Dinner.
She said when she comes back she would like to see some crowd surfing going on. She was also quite impressed with the Pyramid’s decor, commenting that “I always wanted to play in a place with a disco ball and Pharaohs. Turn that sh*t on.”
So, hey, if you wanna be moved by some great tunes, disco ball and all, head down to the Pyramid. Local musicians Dustin Harder and the Dusty Roads Band will be the opening act.
Lisa plays guitar with drummer Maxime Gosselin.
All photos by Doug Kretchmer
