Biography
A native of Prince Edward Island, Lennie Gallant was given his first guitar one Christmas at the age of thirteen. During his teens he played in assorted rock and Celtic folk groups before assembling Speed the Plough, whose folk-rock approach echoed the styles of Neil Young and Bob Dylan. Festival stages across the folk circuit hosted his performances, and he also supplied original scores for film and theater productions. His debut recording, Breakwater, appeared in 1988 and earned an East Coast Music Award nomination; three years later came Believing in Better. Over the ensuing period he collected multiple East Coast Music Awards and earned several Juno Award nominations. Open Window, issued in 1994, blended folk, pop, Celtic, and rock elements, after which he toured extensively through North America, the Middle East, and Latin America. Lifeline reached listeners in 1997. Characterizing his style as “neo-Canuck,” he took part in the globally televised Millennium New Year’s Eve concert. Lennie Gallant Live, his first concert album, followed in 2000. An Order of Canada recipient, Gallant has remarked, “Like many Canadian songwriters, my music crosses boundaries and encompasses my musical history, which includes folk, rock, Celtic, and a touch of Cajun and country.”
Returning to the studio in 2002, he completed his first Francophone project, La Vent Bohème (The Gypsy Wind). When We Get There arrived in 2005, and If We Had a Fire appeared in 2009, the same year that brought his second French-language release, Le Coeur Hanté, which later received the Francophone Album of the Year prize at the 2010 East Coast Music Awards. Live Acoustic at the Carleton, captured during a club performance in Halifax, Nova Scotia, was released in 2014 and secured him the Canadian Folk Music Award for Artist of the Year. The previous year he had been presented with a 25th Anniversary Award at the East Coast Music Awards; at the 2017 ceremony he was named Entertainer of the Year and also took Folk Recording of the Year for Searching for Abegweit: The Island Songs & Stories of Lennie Gallant, the album drawn from his hit theatrical production centered on Prince Edward Island. Throughout his career he has shared bills with Ry Cooder, Ron Sexsmith, and Roger Hodgson, among others.
Returning to the studio in 2002, he completed his first Francophone project, La Vent Bohème (The Gypsy Wind). When We Get There arrived in 2005, and If We Had a Fire appeared in 2009, the same year that brought his second French-language release, Le Coeur Hanté, which later received the Francophone Album of the Year prize at the 2010 East Coast Music Awards. Live Acoustic at the Carleton, captured during a club performance in Halifax, Nova Scotia, was released in 2014 and secured him the Canadian Folk Music Award for Artist of the Year. The previous year he had been presented with a 25th Anniversary Award at the East Coast Music Awards; at the 2017 ceremony he was named Entertainer of the Year and also took Folk Recording of the Year for Searching for Abegweit: The Island Songs & Stories of Lennie Gallant, the album drawn from his hit theatrical production centered on Prince Edward Island. Throughout his career he has shared bills with Ry Cooder, Ron Sexsmith, and Roger Hodgson, among others.