Born on 19 July 1968 in Shemogue, Canada, Acadian country singer Laurie Leblanc looked up to country legends like Randy Travis, Alan Jackson and George Strait as a teenager before picking up his aunt's guitar in his early twenties and teaching himself how to play. His first musical outing as a singer came in 1995 when he sang at a family wedding, and he subsequently formed an American country covers band called Interstate with his brother-in-law Pierre on electric guitar, Joe Mills, Jean Nowlan and Rhéal LeBlanc. Laurie Leblanc wrote his first solo song "Emma" in 1998 as a tribute to his late grandmother Emma LeBlanc and finished second place at the musical contest La relève musicale in Richibucto, New Brunswick. In 1999 he formed the group Zarico and released two French-language albums, Au Cabaret (2002) and On Tyme tout l’temps (2005) before launching his career with the La Pitoune album in 2009. The title track was a hit on French radio while the LP won Album of the Year at the 2011 Gala Country (Saint-Quentin, NB). Second album, Noir Et Blanc, came in 2012 with his first English-language cover album Influences, following in 2013. He found success with the title track of 2014 LP Noël de la Pitoune In 2015, he achieved his first victory on the Quebec charts with the single "Moi-itou mojito" from the album 20, which paved the way for his first nomination at the ADISQ gala in the category for Country Album of the Year. His sixth solo LP Couleurs was released in 2018 followed by his first English-language record of original numbers, When It's Right It's Right, in 2020. In 2022, Laurie Leblanc released Long Weekend, comprising six English songs and six French songs.
