Dylan LeBlanc is a folk/americana/country musician whose latest album has drawn him comparisons to all members of CSNY, Ray LaMontagne (and not just for the french looking surname), Fleet Foxes, Conor Oberst (post-Cassadaga) and the legendary Townes Van Zandt.
All these comparisons have at least a small amount of credence to them but all of them maybe suggest a bit too much of LeBlanc's music. His songs aren't bad, they're typical of the kind of country/americana he's putting out: chock full of heartbreak, cigarettes, hotels, whiskey and sad luck dames. LeBlanc comes from good American musical stock as his father was a Muscle Shoals session man, growing up he was allowed to hang around at the legendary Fame Studios and on top of this Spooner Oldham is a family friend.
Despite LeBlanc's youth he nearly pulls off the image of songwriter who's lived a rough tough life, cried a thousand tears over one fair lassy, etc. and this is carried mostly by his voice which is like a smoother version of Ray LaMontagne's. Sadly it's not enough, on some tracks he shows himself to be nothing more than average, most notably on what seems to be a single release track "If Time Was For Wasting". There are of course a lot of good things to say about this album, for one the at-times ghostly pedal steel of former Burrito Brother Wayne Bridge is sublime, the finger-picking style and sweet balladry that encompasses "Death of Outlaw Billy John" deserves the comparisons to Townes Van Zandt.
In all the music that LeBlanc's coming out with is nothing revolutionary and it's stuff that I feel that other people have done better than him. Dylan LeBlanc stands to do better things but as for Paupers Field I'd give it a miss and if you really want a dose of good americana or alt-country then I'd listen to Ryan Adams or the Felice Brothers before I'd listen to this.
[Dylan LeBlanc Myspace]
[Buy Paupers Field from Rough Trade]
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