Luke LeBlanc started his success story young. Born and raised in Minneapolis, at 13 he was the youngest talent to win the Zimmy, a national singer-songwriter competition held in Hibbing, Minnesota, named for another Minnesotan, Robert Zimmerman (later known as Bob Dylan). A little over a decade later, he’s releasing his third full-length album.

Only Human‘s warm, loose, and comfortable vibe perfectly showcases Luke LeBlanc as a gem of a singer-songwriter. LeBlanc’s melodic, charming mixture of heart-on-the-sleeve folk, jangly pop, and roots music dives into into joy, loss, and love—everything it means to be human, including the need, sometimes, to drive away from it all.

Of the 10 Only Human tunes brimming with lived-in appeal, we particularly loved “Driving.” LeBlanc, who said he loves driving, explained to Elmore his thoughts behind this song.

“Some days driving is about 80% of a musician’s job description, and I think there’s two sides of the “driving” coin. There’s the monotonous existentialism that comes with staring at a moving highway by yourself, but there’s also a sense of awe and mysticism about all the places that the highway can take you to; I think “Driving” encapsulates the latter.”

Produced and engineered by Erik Koskinen, who also plays electric guitar, bass, and pedal steel guitar, Only Human also features John Cleve Richardson on piano, organ, bass, and backing vocals; Kerri Joy on violin and backing vocals; and Erin Bekkers on drums.

Learn more about Luke LeBlanc HERE

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