Lennie Gallant embarks on a western tour

Lennie Gallant now lives half time in Halifax, but his ties to his birthplace in Prince Edward Island run as deep as his DNA.

“We’re the oldest family with European heritage in the province,” says Gallant, a true blueblood without the pretensions often associated with such a venerable lineage.

The essence of the man is reflected in his folk music. One Internet fan described a recent concert as “just a superb show, unpretentious, skilled, sensitive and humorous.”

As a busy travelling troubadour, Gallant has established large fan bases across the country, one he never seems to have enough time to reach.

However, after the massive success of 57 sold-out shows of Searching for Abegweit: The Island Songs and Stories held last year at the Charlottetown Festival, Gallant is planning a western circuit that takes him on 14-concert tour from Grande Prairie to Nanaimo.

Gallant, accompanied by his nephew Jeremy Gallant (keyboard/percussion) and Shannon Quinn (violin), make a stop at the Arden Theatre on Thursday, Feb. 25.

The eloquent folk veteran will sing a pastiche of songs from a number of his more recent albums including Abegweit and Live Acoustic at The Carleton.

“My inspirations are generally from the East Coast. You write about what you know, right? Although my songs are rooted here, I like to think I’m a universal writer,” said Gallant.

Spinning songs and yarns are natural strands woven into the East Coast tapestry.

“But I can’t say my parents had a huge effect on my music. It was more my uncle’s big record collection with singers like Bob Dylan and John Prine. Most were three or four chords on a guitar and it was easy to learn.”

Before developing a self-sustaining professional music career, Gallant supplemented his income with a checkerboard of jobs – house painter, truck driver, bricklayer and working in a school with deaf children.

“It was kind of cool. It gave me a lot of experiences to draw on.”

And in his earlier albums, Gallant’s music was more socially conscious with a point of view mirroring the working class experience.

“Certainly, I’m still interested in socially conscious ideas. But I was much angrier when I was younger. Some songs, I don’t want to sing because I have to be in a real angry state of mind and I don’t want to go there.”

Coal Black is one of those songs, a critique on the 1992 Westray Mine explosion that killed all 26 miners working underground at the time.

Another is the prescient Crumbling Foundations written prior to 9/11. At the time, it was a poke at the World Trade Center, a symbol of American extravagance while “the working class gets the crappy end.”

Once ensconced at the Arden, the consummate storyteller will sing some of his lyrical legends, tall tales and ballads interspersed with witty East Coast humour.

“I look forward to getting there. I’ve always enjoyed performing at the Arden.”