LeBarons

Belleville Downtown DocFest will be happening the weekend of March 6 – 8, 2020. The popularity of this home grown documentary film festival has grown steadily over the past eight years.

DocFest features roughly 50 outstanding documentaries over three-days in downtown Belleville

DocFest’s 9th Annual Documentary Film Festival kicks off Friday, March 6, 2020 with the much-anticipated opening gala at the Empire Theatre. We’re proud to present critically acclaimed Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and the Band directed by Daniel Roher and executive produced by Martin Scorsese. The film was TIFF’s 2019 Opening Night Film – first time a Canadian documentary has opened TIFF. The film follows Robertson from his early life in Toronto to the creation of legendary roots-rock group The Band. Robertson overcame adversity and found camaraderie alongside the four other men who would become his brothers in music, together making their mark on music history.

Robertson’s memory for detail and contributions from friends such as Eric Clapton, Bruce Springsteen, and Martin Scorsese conjures up a glorious era of creativity and excess. Once Were Brothers blends rare archival footage, photography, iconic songs and interviews with Robertson’s friends and collaborators.

In keeping with DocFest’s Gala tradition, our award-winning gala music doc will be paired with a live music performance. DocFest is thrilled to bring The LeBarons and their unique style of alt-country music to Belleville. The lush, atmospheric soundscapes of this Toronto-based, seven-piece band set the stage for the amazing vocals and songwriting of Chris MacDonald. The LeBarons consistently win audiences and critics with their recordings and impassioned live performances. “Expertly crafted, haunting and hypnotic, epic, brooding, and emotional” – just some of the praise-worthy words used by critics to describe the band’s sound and their music.

The LeBarons’ milestone album, Summer of Death, was two years in the making and proves the band is destined to become a major player in the music scene. The Rocking Magpie called the release ‘Epic, Brooding and Emotional Americana from Canada’.

Organizers of the annual event expressed the festival’s gratitude for funding from the City of Belleville, Ontario Arts Council, and ‘Opening Gala’ sponsor Pretsell Davies Thompson Benton LLP Lawyers. Early Bird passes will be available December 1,, 2019 www.downtowndocfest.ca - The Intelligencer

Artist Name: LeBarons

Album Name: Summer of Death

Label: Self-released

Genre: Alt Country/Folk Rock

Track Listing: 1, Long Highway; 2. Bad News; 3. Brand New Sound; 4. Open Road; 5. Quiet; 6. Waste; 7. Until it Goes; 8. Summer of Death; 9. Power Lines; 10. Born in ’76; 11. Nothing Left to Say

Publicist: Auteur Research

Review: On their debut release, LeBarons prove that they are destined to become a major player in the Americana music scene. The alt country groove is the perfect soundtrack for the amazing vocals and incredible songwriting of Chris MacDonald. These are songs that should become classics, and are very radio friendly, especially “Long Highway,” “Bad News,” “Open Road,” “Until it Goes,” the powerful title track and “Power Lines.” We also bet they are a hoot to see when performing live, and hope we have the chance to see them when they come back to America again.

Recommendation: Run out and Get this one! - Indie Voice Blog

Indie alt-country band LeBarons are back with their new song “Long Highway”, which you can stream exclusively on Aesthetic Magazine below.

“It starts with a choice – “hold on tight, or let go and blow away with the wind”, says the band about the new song. “With those opening lines on “Long Highway,” the first single from our forthcoming debut full-length Summer Of Death, you can keep your grip or let loose – either way, you’re in for a trip.

Since 2014, the Toronto based folk-rock band has been crafting alt-country soundscapes that set the stage for Chris MacDonald’s lyrical stories. “Long Highway” is the first single from LeBarons debut full-length Summer Of Death and represents his ability to take listeners on a trip.

Summer Of Death is a milestone almost two years in the making. Production started in January 2017 at John Dinsmore’s Lincoln County Social Club recording studio where previous magic was made by artists like The Strumbellas, Timber Timbre, The Wooden Sky, and Elliott Brood. This unhurried approach allowed the band to imbue each song with its own unique character. The result is a rich, complex album that reveals itself with each listen.

The new album is a perfect encapsulation of their upcoming record’s sound. Dusty, open skies, and shades of dark ambience evade in each sonic corner of the track. Expertly crafted, LeBarons create a world for you to enter, both timeless (western allusions are hard to avoid), and modern. There’s a songwriting and production style that keeps the project in the present, even if the cinematic visages are never far from the listeners thoughts.

LeBarons debut full-length album, Summer Of Death, is out November 2nd. - Aesthetic Magazine

Epic, Brooding and Emotional Americana From Canada.

At last! Our friends from Toronto, LeBarons have finally finished their debut full length album and are releasing it out into the wild, after nurturing, developing and growing the songs for well over two years now.
Let’s not dwell on the mishap which meant RMHQ got missed off the original mail-out; because “all good things come to he who waits” or some nonsense like that.
We still play their phenomenal EP ALLISTON on an irregular basis in the office; so anything new has to be exciting, doesn’t it?
Will it be different?
Will it be the same?
Will it be better?
Phew……………opener Long Highway far exceeds my fanboy expectations; as an almost military beat from the bass and drums add to the atmospheric production on a wonderful ‘road song’ worthy of The Travelling Wilburys or Little Feat if they’d come from Nashville.
BOOM! The next song Bad News wasn’t what I was expecting at all; it’s as if there was a power surge in the studio as every instrument sounds 5 x faster, louder and tighter as Chris MacDonald opines his bad luck in life AND love as the band support him with the most muscular harmonies I’ve ever heard in my life; and I only wish that this had closed the album as I’m sure it will be ‘that sort of song’ when played live….with the audience shouting along with the glorious choruses.
Now I’ve got my head around them; the songs are indeed ‘fuller’ and ‘more seasoned’ than on the debut; but that’s to be expects as these crazy cats have spent as much time on the road as in the studio in the interim.
While the band is so much more than just Chris MacDonald and a bunch of mates; his songwriting has somehow managed to move on leaps and bounds, with Quiet and Waste which follows it; both having a kind of coiled spring ambience to them…… leaving you on tenterhooks as both songs play out and build to a brain penetrating climax.
To some degree LeBarons have reined back their quintessential Canadianness here; going for a more earthy transient sound that will suit listening tastes all across the English speaking world (and beyond hopefully!). Until It Goes is an Alt. Country song, but only in as much as it really is a cool Country song with a pneumatic rhythm section and more Twang from the guitars than you’ll hear in a whole weekend in the Horseshoe Lounge.
Then there is the Border Land Country of Power Lines which somehow sits perfectly comfortably straight after the almost ‘experimental’ title track SUMMER OF DEATH, which leads us down a dark and dangerous path into Gothic Canadiacana, if such a thing exists!
I haven’t really had a lot of time to pore over ever song I intimate detail; but a couple of songs on a rather exceptional record really do stand out; the haunting Born in ’76 which sounds like LeBarons are singing and playing behind a tattered velvet curtain in a seedy nightclub as the bar staff clean up around them.
Then there is the potent Brand New Sound which sounds like something concocted after a long night driving along the back roads as a storm howls around and only Bruce and The Clash on the car stereo. As the title suggests it is a brand new sound for LeBarons and in its own way is the lynch pin for everything else here; and for that reason is the RMHQ Favourite Track, by a country mile.
The lyrics sound as if they are both introspective and observational in equal measures; perhaps they are and perhaps they aren’t; but first and foremost this is an album is simply great to listen to under any and all circumstances plus, it has the hallmarks of being a Game Changer for my favourite band from Toronto. - The Rocking Magpie

Few people are better positioned to write about long highways than a Canadian band, such as LeBarons. ‘Long Highways’ is the lead single from their upcoming album ‘Summer of Death‘ (due 2nd November), and if that title conjours up images of Hard Metal, then worry not. The LeBarons are a band making pure Americana, as this track which paints pictures of escape along the road heading that’s away from the problems rapidly disappearing in the rear-view mirror. But escape to what ? - Americana UK

LeBarons hit a Calexico vibe on this opening track from their new LP Summer Of Death. You can hear open desert roads, cacti standing tall in the setting sun and the melting asphalt beneath car tyres. It’s an evocative tune, a desert noir I guess. It reminds me of Sydney group The Morrisons in some ways. - Post To Wire

LeBarons are 100% independent alt-country from Toronto. Since 2014, the band has been crafting genre-blurring soundscapes that set the stage for Chris MacDonald’s vivid, lyrical, story-telling songs. Their hallmark is the delicate interplay between the voices of Chris and co-vocalist Megan Tilston whose ghostly tone seems to float effortlessly above the layers of fuzz and feedback. Their debut full-length album, Summer Of Death was released on November 2, 2018.
The band has steadily gained the respect of critics around the world, especially in the UK and Australia where their music has been called “epic, brooding, and emotional;” “superb and gorgeous;” and “gloriously atmospheric and romantic.”. They are now poised to enter the alt-country conversation back at home. The Summer Of Death record release show was a complete sell-out; the album saw its first campus radio Top 20 chart appearance, and Summer Of Death is on-track to break 10,000 streams on Spotify in its first 14 days of release.

Name:

LeBarons

Genre:

Alt Country/Folk Rock

Founded:

2014

# of Albums:

(1) 7” single – Trains/The Clearing, 2014; (1) EP – ALLISTON, 2016; 1 full-length – Summer Of Death, 2018

Latest Release:

Summer Of Death, released November 2, 2018

Latest Single:

Long Highway

Favourite Restaurant:

Easy Restaurant

Favourite band as a teenager:

Leatherface

Favourite band now:

Matt Mays

Guilty Pleasure Song:

Total Eclipse Of The Heart, and nothing guilty about it

Live Show Ritual:

Go for a long walk on the day of.

Favourite local artist:

Matt Mays

Sneaky Dees nachos, pasta from Terroni or a superfood salad from Fresh?

Terroni.

Queen or College St?

Go College St!

Trinity Bellwoods or Highpark, Riverdale or Kew Gardens?

Highpark

EP or LP?

LP

Early bird or night owl?

Both

Road or studio?

Both

Swiss Chalet or Roti?

Roti


Where can we follow you?

Official Website

Spotify

Bandcamp

Facebook

Instagram

Twitter - Toronto Guardian

6 piece band from Toronto named after a legendary vehicle (perhaps once owned by Jon Voight). Lebarons blend together all different kinds of folk, alt-country and Americana into a very pleasant sound. They just released a brand new record “Summer of Death” which they describe as “the sound of highways in the night, and passing cars in the rain; these are the sounds the restless hears when everything else grows quiet.” That description perfectly fits the opening track “Long Highway”. Lebarons host their record release party on Saturday November 10th at the Dakota Tavern alongside The Old Salts and United Snakes. – Kris Gies - Deli Magazine