TORONTO (CelebrityAccess) — JP LeBlanc’s new album, “All In My Blood” / “Je l’ai dans le sang,” on the Acadian Connection label was born and crafted in Canada and recorded in Nashville. The nine-song recording is the result of two years of intense musical woodshedding and long-distance songwriting with Toronto-based CelebrityAccess senior writer Larry LeBlanc (no relation).
“Louisiana Checkbook,” the album’s lead-off English track, and “NOLA,” the lead-off French track, were serviced to international streaming services on April 25, 2025. In recording “All In My Blood” / “Je l’ai dans le sang” with acclaimed Grammy-winning fellow Canadian producer Colin Linden, JP sought primarily to be the passenger—to have Linden slip into the driver’s seat in full control.
“Working with Colin and such incredible musicians felt like the culmination of everything I’ve worked for,” JP says. “I just let Colin do his job. He raised the bar for me. I came to realize what my musical vision really is.”
“JP had such a positive attitude,” counters Linden. “It was a pleasure working with him. He had faith in me and in the process, and all the other players—none of whom he had previously known—really enjoyed him.
“Larry and I have been friends since I was a kid,” continues Linden. “He was always an insightful music person and a knowledgeable resource. A really creative guy who has seen generations of musicians and has a strong sense of what will last. So it didn’t surprise me that he was a gifted songwriter… made me happy though.”
“A beautiful aspect of ‘All In My Blood’ / ‘Je l’ai dans le sang’ was the freedom in the studio,” says JP. “I was just so happy to finally record our songs after two years of writing, especially with my favorite producer at the helm. Realizing that I could play whatever my imagination called for, and knowing that the musicians would make it sound awesome in minutes.”
A jeans and T-shirt kind of guy, JP can be found most days playing guitar or writing at his home studio.
“It’s a recording studio/writing room,” he explains. “It’s laid out so that if I have an idea for a guitar part or lyrics, I can jump right on it and record it right away.”
Rooted in his Acadian heritage and seamlessly shifting at times between French and English, “All In My Blood” / “Je l’ai dans le sang” delves deep into themes close to JP’s heart—family, growing up within a tight-knit community, and the push-and-pull between his life on the road touring Canada, Louisiana, and Europe, and his role as a family man and father.
Still, as the two songwriters first began to write together, they discovered common ground.
“Our music is about making reconnections—reconnecting to our roots, to our shared Acadian culture, and to both of our families,” says JP. Evident with such songs as “All In My Blood,” “Ashes In The Wind,” “I’ll Keep On Movin’,” “All On Your Own,” and “I Still Dance In The Rain.”
Other songs touch on the two LeBlancs’ shared Acadian/Cajun backgrounds and travels as found in songs like “Louisiana Checkbook,” “Wanda’s Bar (In The French Quarter),” “Danger Zone,” as well as “NOLA,” recorded fully in French.
“All of these songs inform each other,” says Linden. “JP’s French singing tells you so much about his English singing. His sense of blues is heavily informed by the French Acadian music of both Canada and Louisiana. It’s a unique combination.”
Asked about the significance of the dual French/English album title, JP explains, “When we realized we had an album of the best songs possible, we decided we’d name it ‘All In My Blood,’ which in French translates to ‘Je l’ai dans le sang.’
“I felt it was important to acknowledge where I come from in the album’s title. It’s a way of connecting directly to my roots and showing pride in my heritage.
“While Larry and I share the same surname, we are not related. Still, like me, he’s proud of his Acadian heritage, and I believe us working together brought him closer to his family’s history.”
JP was born and raised in Bathurst, New Brunswick, a bilingual speck of a place in New Brunswick—a region rich in Acadian culture, where singing, dancing, and playing music come as naturally as walking and talking.
“Growing up, my family didn’t really celebrate our Acadian heritage at home,” he reveals. “While we spoke French, the music we listened to and the TV shows we watched were all in English.”
At 11 years old, JP fell in love with the blues and began to play guitar. By his teen years, he was performing alongside seasoned musicians. At 17, he recorded his first album, “Take Me Back,” which earned an East Coast Music Award nomination and a considerable reputation as a distinctive young Acadian blues voice.
Reflecting on the road that brought him to the present day, JP mentions revered American blues figures like Buddy Guy, Lightnin’ Hopkins, and Muddy Waters, and Canadian blues players Colin James and Garret Mason.
A pivotal moment in JP’s career came in early 2024 when he represented Atlantic Canada at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with some of the world’s leading blues talents. That experience cemented his place on the international stage and drove his passion for putting together what is his most ambitious album to date with Linden.
JP recalls that it wasn’t until 2004, when he and his band performed at the Congrès Mondial Acadien in Grand-Pré, Nova Scotia—a festival of Acadian and Cajun culture and history held every five years—that he truly felt a deep sense of pride in his family’s culture.
“After our show, there was a big ceremony where they displayed the names of the Acadian families deported in the Grand Dérangement from that very spot in 1755, during an expulsion in which many families were separated, and many people drowned in shipwrecks. That hit me hard. It sparked a deep interest in my family’s history and inspired me to write more in French. Before that, I had mainly been performing and writing songs in English.”
In conversation, JP affirms his love for local Acadian folk music, specifically for groups like 1755, Grand Dérangement, Salebarbes, and Les gars du nord; for Acadian singers Marie-Jo Thério, Lina Boudreau, and Lisa Le Blanc; and for Acadian singer-songwriters Pascal Lejeune, Danny Boudreau, and particularly the late Denis Richard, one of the most multi-talented figures in Acadian entertainment history.
Among the Louisiana French artists catching his interest over the years are Zachary Richard, Dewey Balfa (referenced on the album in “I Still Dance In The Rain”), and Clifton Chenier.
To his immense delight, Larry recruited his friend, Cajun music legend Steve Riley of the Mamou Playboys, to play accordion on four tracks on the album and also play fiddle on “I Still Dance In The Rain.”
“Having Steve Riley from the Mamou Playboys really brought the (Cajun) sound home,” says JP. “That was the icing on the cake.”
On hearing the songs JP submitted to him for recording, Linden was immediately enthused. “When I first heard JP’s demos, I thought there was an honesty I was drawn to,” he recalls. “I also heard a very unique take on his influences and culture that was very compelling.”
Asked about JP’s strength as a guitarist, Linden answers without hesitation, “JP knows how to go for the sweet notes.”
Linden suggested A-list players for the two 2024 sessions at his 1,000 square-foot, standalone home studio in his Nashville backyard, dubbed Pinhead Recorders Studios. The album was recorded at a fairly fast clip.
For the first session in April, multi-instrumentalist George Recile, one of New Orleans’ premier drummers and Bob Dylan’s primary drummer from 2001 to 2019, was on drums. On bass was Linden’s lifelong Toronto collaborator John Dymond, who has toured with celebrated Cape Breton fiddler Natalie MacMaster and recorded with k.d. lang, Bruce Cockburn, and Blackie and The Rodeo Kings. He’s a 5-time Canadian Country Music Assn. bass player of the year recipient and Hall of Honour inductee.
The first song recorded was ‘I’ll Keep On Movin,’” chosen by Linden. “I think he chose it to break the ice with the other musicians, just to have fun in the studio,” says JP. “It’s a rockin’ feel-good song with lots of guitar. After the first take, there were smiles all around. I’m not sure there was a second take.”
While the original musicians weren’t available for the second Nashville session in December, Linden matched the quality of the earlier session by bringing in some equally heavy hitters.
The session included drummer Bryan Owings, who has recorded with Buddy Miller, Wanda Jackson, Alicia Keys, Delbert McClinton, and Lucinda Williams, and toured with John Prine and Tony Joe White during the final decade of his life; and world-class bass player/educator/producer David Santos, who has worked with Billy Joel, Toto, Melissa Etheridge, John Fogerty, Crosby, Stills, & Nash, and the Neville Brothers.
Linden began producing records in Toronto in the 80s for other artists including Mendelson Joe, Morgan Davis, and Jackson Delta. He has since played on over 500 albums and produced 170 albums, including by such Canadian artists as Bruce Cockburn, Colin James, and Tom Wilson, as well as The Band’s Rick Danko, the Staples, Lucinda Williams, Keb’ Mo’, and Emmylou Harris.
