Daniel LeBlanc making his mark musically, culturally

Clare resident is this year's recipient of Prix Grand-Pré

Among those honoured in Halifax at this year’s Creative Nova Scotia Awards Gala was Daniel LeBlanc of Clare, who received the Prix Grand-Pré, an award recognizing artists whose work reflects Acadian cultural values and demonstrates excellence and originality.

A longtime musician, LeBlanc was a co-founder of Grand Dérangement, a very popular Acadian group that came together in the late 1990s and went until 2015. LeBlanc currently is a member of the band Comté de Clare.

Aside from his music, LeBlanc is the executive director of the annual Clare Acadian festival, one of the region’s longest-running and bestknown summertime events.

A Clare native who grew up in Meteghan River and lives in Saulnierville, LeBlanc, 45, said he was honoured to have been chosen this year’s recipient of the Prix GrandPré.

Daniel LeBlanc of Clare is the recipient of this year's Prix Grand-Pré. A longtime musician, LeBlanc in recent years also has been executive director of Clare's annual Acadian festival.

ALAIN-PHILIPPE GERARD/CONTRIBUTED

“I’m pretty proud to represent the Acadian and French communities in everything I do,” he said, “whether it’s the festival or music or mentoring or teaching students.”

Natalie Robichaud, president of the Fédération culturelle acadienne de la Nouvelle Écosse, referred to LeBlanc as “a pioneer in Acadian music, as well as a pillar of the arts and culture scene not only in (Clare) but in all of Acadia.”

Through a career spanning over 25 years, she said, LeBlanc “has touched countless people with his art, especially young musicians that are now ensuring the succession.”

Lena Metlege Diab, Nova Scotia’s minster of Acadian affairs and Francophonie, said LeBlanc’s “dedication to transmitting his passion for and knowledge of the Acadian heritage of Clare contributes to the preservation of the Acadian character of our province.”

After graduating from École secondaire de Clare in 1993, LeBlanc went to Los Angeles, where he spent a year attending the Guitar Institute of Technology.

“After that, I came back to Nova Scotia,” he recalled. “I taught a little bit at the Conservatory of Music in Halifax for six months and then played with La Revue musicale acadienne ... That was in ’97, and then we started the group Grand Dérangement ... late ’97.”

LeBlanc says many people think of him as a fiddle player because of Grand Dérangement, but, as a boy, it was the guitar he started playing first, probably at 11 or 12, he says.

He began playing the fiddle at 18.

“I consider myself more of a guitar player first,” he said.

His current band – Comté de Clare, an electronic music group – consists of himself, fellow former Grand Dérangement member Jean-Pascal Comeau and Arthur Comeau, the group’s DJ.

Meanwhile, asked for his thoughts on the municipalities of Clare and Argyle being selected to host the next Congrès mondial acadien (Acadian World Congress) in 2024, LeBlanc said, “It’s definitely a big deal, a huge event,” one that should be great for Acadian culture and will help spread the word about what southwestern Nova Scotia has to offer.

When the congress was previously held in Nova Scotia – in 2004 – a song by LeBlanc’s former group Grand Dérangement was picked as the event’s theme song.

Referring to the next congress and the publicity it will generate for the area, he said, “You can’t buy that ... That’s pretty big.”