DYLAN LEBLANC, COYOTE

LeBlanc was in Austin, Texas, climbing the face of a 100-foot cliff, gambling with 'Mother Nature’s good graces' as he pulled himself up by tree branches. Once he reached the top, all that laid ahead of him was a lush treeline. There was a breath of stillness, then the sound of a thunderous rustling that drew closer and closer to him. In a blink, LeBlanc watched as a frenzied raccoon came speeding out of the treeline, trailed by an animal that stopped and stared at him with striking intensity: a coyote. 

As LeBlanc describes the moment, “We’re looking at each other dead in the eyes…and I’m saying -- out loud -- ‘If it’s you or me, I am going to kick you off the side of this cliff. I’m not going down.’ LeBlanc recalls that it was an intense, human-animal moment. A moment that he's never forgotten. 

Living on the edge of danger with its many consequences is the theme woven throughout the songs on Coyote, LeBlanc's fifth album. LeBlanc has said that that it's an autobiographical and concept album built around a character named Coyote, a man who is on the run. Set against a moody and atmospheric folk rock musical backdrop with a tinge of psychedelia, LeBlanc's songs have a cinematic feel to them, like the closing scene of a movie where the protagonist is last seen walking down an empty Texas highway on a cool clear night reflecting on his many trials and tribulation while his camp fire is left smoldering, crackling, and popping in the distance. It's a highway where I want to be. I just love this album and I think that you will as well.