Monday , March 18 2024
Luke LeBlanc

Song Premiere: Luke LeBlanc – ‘Oh My Lordy’

Only Human, the new album from Minneapolis singer-songwriter Luke LeBlanc, isn’t out until July 9. But today we’re happy to bring you the premiere of the earthy single “Oh My Lordy.”

The song has the fresh energy you might expect from a 25-year-old, but the wisdom of maturity too. That might not be too much of a surprise, though, given that LeBlanc was the youngest talent ever to win the Zimmy, the Bob Dylan-influenced national singer-songwriter competition held in Hibbing, Minnesota and named after Robert Zimmerman, a.k.a. Bob Dylan. Luke was 13.

He released his first album just two years later (under the stage name Little Diamonds). Only Human is his third full-length. Asked about the album title, LeBlanc explained, “The album touches on everything it means to be ‘only human.’ In these songs, I dive into joy, loss, love, life in general – and the need to sometimes drive away from it all.”

Emblematic of that theme is “Oh My Lordy,” which in a very few words gets at some of the deepest roots of what it is to be human in this world, and why you really might want to drive away from it all. “All my dreams are made from money / All my friends are dollar signs / They can take the world and make it look sunny / But they can’t get you off my mind.”

Luke says he’s “always searching for that something in a song that makes it a little different.” Maybe that’s why, he told us, “‘Oh My Lordy’ was the tough one to record and took us a while to get the sound we wanted. I wrote it a couple years back and hadn’t had many chances to play it with a full band. [Producer] Erik [Koskinen] and I kept pushing on it though – different drum styles, different vocal takes, adding some harmonica – until it made its way to a finished form. Really happy to get it released.”

https://soundcloud.com/user-494404875-740477209/oh-my-loryd/s-C2Xm7PMzVwb

Good thing Luke likes driving – his tour schedule is rapidly filling up. Check him out at his YouTube channel and on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Only Human is out July 9, 2021.

About Jon Sobel

Jon Sobel is Publisher and Executive Editor of Blogcritics as well as lead editor of the Culture & Society section. As a writer he contributes most often to Music, where he covers classical music (old and new) and other genres, and Culture, where he reviews NYC theater. Through Oren Hope Marketing and Copywriting at http://www.orenhope.com/ you can hire him to write or edit whatever marketing or journalistic materials your heart desires. Jon also writes the blog Park Odyssey at http://parkodyssey.blogspot.com/ where he is on a mission to visit every park in New York City. He has also been a part-time working musician, including as lead singer, songwriter, and bass player for Whisperado.

Check Also

Wu Man (pipa), conductor Colin Jacobsen, and The Knights

Concert Review (NYC): The Knights – Music from and Inspired by the Weimar Republic, and a Du Yun World Premiere for Pipa and Orchestra

The Knights called on Maurice Ravel, Kurt Weill, Du Yun, Bob Dylan and more for the orchestra's contribution to Carnegie Hall's Weimar commemoration series.