DYLAN LEBLANC
''CAST THE SAME OLD SHADOW''
AUGUST 20 2012
45:48
1/Part One: The End
Dylan LeBlanc/5:28
2/Innocent Sinner
Mus Gillum / Dylan LeBlanc/3:12
3/Brother
Dylan LeBlanc/4:53
4/Diamonds and Pearls
Mus Gillum/3:32
5/Where Are You Now
Dylan LeBlanc/4:50
6/Chesapeake Lane
Dylan LeBlanc/5:47
7/The Ties That Bind
Dylan LeBlanc/4:12
8/Comfort Me
Dylan LeBlanc/4:22
9/Cast the Same Old Shadow
Dylan LeBlanc/6:28
10/Lonesome Waltz
Dylan LeBlanc /3:41
Wayne Bridge /Pedal Steel
Jon Davis /Drums, Percussion
Melvin Duffy /Pedal Steel
Pete Finney /Pedal Steel
Jeremy Gibson /Drums, Percussion
Mus Gillum /Bass, Vocals
Dylan LeBlanc /Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Producer, Vocals
James LeBlanc /Guitar (Electric), Mandolin
Ben Tanner /Hammond B3, Mellotron, Piano, Vibraphone
REVIEW
by James Christopher Monger
On 2010's Paupers Field, then 20-year-old Shreveport, Louisiana native Dylan LeBlanc presented a confident, if slightly laconic, new voice that was based in the tradition of maverick singer/songwriters like Townes Van Zandt, Neil Young, and Gram Parsons. Lush, less timid, and even more melancholy than Paupers Field, 2012's appropriately titled Cast the Same Old Shadow feels like a proper second outing, building on the strengths of its predecessor while maintaining its overall gloomy, gothic Americana vibe. LeBlanc's pained, doomed romanticism, best exemplified by weepy cuts like "Part One: The End," "Where Are You Now," and "Lonesome Waltz," may be the "same old shadow" he's referring to in the title, and it casts an awfully wide net over the proceedings, resulting in an ultra-slow-burn listening experience that falls somewhere between the wretched rain-soaked beauty of Mickey Newbury and the hymn-like sonic expansiveness of Richard Hawley. At its best, like on the aforementioned "Where Are You Now" and the sprawling, instantly engaging "Brother," LeBlanc looks to high and lonesome country for inspiration, eking out his own subgenre while respectfully adhering to the original's mournful simplicity, but Cast the Same Old Shadow ultimately crumbles under the weight of its own despondency. LeBlanc's lonely, elastic voice, which can go from a ragged, triumphant croon to a distant warble within a single phrase, feels like it's fighting against not only the weight of the world, but the engineering booth as well, more often than not flailing away beneath the towering waves of admittedly lovely but unyielding atmosphere, and coming up predictably spent.
BIOGRAPHY
by James Christopher Monger
Shreveport, Louisiana native Dylan LeBlanc spent his formative years surrounded by some of the region's finest musicians (his father, singer/songwriter/guitarist James LeBlanc, is a longtime Muscle Shoals session player). Dylan began writing his own songs at eleven, and by his late teens, had developed a soulful, bluesy voice and guitar style that resonated with the sights and sounds of his musical youth. He released Paupers Field, his smoky, languid Townes Van Zandt- and Fleet Foxes-inspired debut, on Rough Trade in 2010 at the ripe old age of nineteen, followed by the likeminded Cast the Same Old Shadow in 2012.
''CAST THE SAME OLD SHADOW''
AUGUST 20 2012
45:48
1/Part One: The End
Dylan LeBlanc/5:28
2/Innocent Sinner
Mus Gillum / Dylan LeBlanc/3:12
3/Brother
Dylan LeBlanc/4:53
4/Diamonds and Pearls
Mus Gillum/3:32
5/Where Are You Now
Dylan LeBlanc/4:50
6/Chesapeake Lane
Dylan LeBlanc/5:47
7/The Ties That Bind
Dylan LeBlanc/4:12
8/Comfort Me
Dylan LeBlanc/4:22
9/Cast the Same Old Shadow
Dylan LeBlanc/6:28
10/Lonesome Waltz
Dylan LeBlanc /3:41
Wayne Bridge /Pedal Steel
Jon Davis /Drums, Percussion
Melvin Duffy /Pedal Steel
Pete Finney /Pedal Steel
Jeremy Gibson /Drums, Percussion
Mus Gillum /Bass, Vocals
Dylan LeBlanc /Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Producer, Vocals
James LeBlanc /Guitar (Electric), Mandolin
Ben Tanner /Hammond B3, Mellotron, Piano, Vibraphone
REVIEW
by James Christopher Monger
On 2010's Paupers Field, then 20-year-old Shreveport, Louisiana native Dylan LeBlanc presented a confident, if slightly laconic, new voice that was based in the tradition of maverick singer/songwriters like Townes Van Zandt, Neil Young, and Gram Parsons. Lush, less timid, and even more melancholy than Paupers Field, 2012's appropriately titled Cast the Same Old Shadow feels like a proper second outing, building on the strengths of its predecessor while maintaining its overall gloomy, gothic Americana vibe. LeBlanc's pained, doomed romanticism, best exemplified by weepy cuts like "Part One: The End," "Where Are You Now," and "Lonesome Waltz," may be the "same old shadow" he's referring to in the title, and it casts an awfully wide net over the proceedings, resulting in an ultra-slow-burn listening experience that falls somewhere between the wretched rain-soaked beauty of Mickey Newbury and the hymn-like sonic expansiveness of Richard Hawley. At its best, like on the aforementioned "Where Are You Now" and the sprawling, instantly engaging "Brother," LeBlanc looks to high and lonesome country for inspiration, eking out his own subgenre while respectfully adhering to the original's mournful simplicity, but Cast the Same Old Shadow ultimately crumbles under the weight of its own despondency. LeBlanc's lonely, elastic voice, which can go from a ragged, triumphant croon to a distant warble within a single phrase, feels like it's fighting against not only the weight of the world, but the engineering booth as well, more often than not flailing away beneath the towering waves of admittedly lovely but unyielding atmosphere, and coming up predictably spent.
BIOGRAPHY
by James Christopher Monger
Shreveport, Louisiana native Dylan LeBlanc spent his formative years surrounded by some of the region's finest musicians (his father, singer/songwriter/guitarist James LeBlanc, is a longtime Muscle Shoals session player). Dylan began writing his own songs at eleven, and by his late teens, had developed a soulful, bluesy voice and guitar style that resonated with the sights and sounds of his musical youth. He released Paupers Field, his smoky, languid Townes Van Zandt- and Fleet Foxes-inspired debut, on Rough Trade in 2010 at the ripe old age of nineteen, followed by the likeminded Cast the Same Old Shadow in 2012.
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