DYLAN LEBLANC – PAUPERS FIELD

It’s very hard to believe Dylan LeBlanc when he sings these songs of heartache, loss, death and alcohol; such a very young man must have started his hard living at a very tender age indeed if we are to buy into his rambling, broken-soul schtick, singing sad songs stemming from being (in the singer’s own words) “broke, drunk and shit out of luck”.  But skepticism aside, this boy has settled his pipes into an enticing husky whisper, somewhere between the heart-on-sleeve indie country of Ryan Adams’ Whiskeytown persona, and the rusty nails n’ prairie wind balladry of Ray LaMontagne.  The songs have an antiquated, plodding beauty, particularly the gospel-tinged Tuesday Night Rain and the distinctly Van Zandt-ish Death of Outlaw Billy John. What makes LeBlanc’s method effective is his consistency of approach – each of these songs are sung with cigarette-stained lungs and a bleeding heart, at first seemingly a little over-wrought, but it is the right approach here. The warmth of the band helps to reel in the classic southern sound; pedal-steel, banjo and mandolin all creeping in and around LeBlanc’s earnest Guild spruce-top, blending into one big long lonesome road trip.

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