Donny LeBlanc

Donny LeBlanc is a fiddler from Petit Etang, near Cheticamp, Cape Breton. Donny has been interested in music since before he could hold a fiddle. At the age of three, he played along to Cape Breton music on CJFX radio by rubbing two sticks of kindling together. Among the fiddlers he listened to as a child were Arthur Muise, Buddy MacMaster and Winston Fitzgerald, all of whom influenced his playing.

Later on, he took violin lessons and learned to read music, which helped him develop his ability to perform and compose fiddle tunes. In 1977, he began playing for Saturday afternoon concerts at the Doryman Pub in Cheticamp, Cape Breton.

His first recording, “Traditional Cape Breton Music,” was recorded on LP in 1985. In 1993, he released a CD entitled “Rosining up the Bow” with Hilda Chaisson on the piano and Paul MacDonald on the guitar. He released his most recent recording in 2002, entitled “Les Reels des Cap-Rougiens.” Today, he can be heard playing for audiences all over Cape Breton.