Singer-Songwriter John Lefebvre
Releases Debut CD Psalngs
Renowned Producer Brian Ahern
And All-Star Team
Al Kooper, Jim Keltner, Greg Leisz, Matt Rollings, Dean Parks,
Hutch Hutchinson, Mac McAnally, Patrick Warren and Rosemary
Butler
Record 29-Song Set
All Tracks Available For Free Download
Saltspring Island, Vancouver, BC -- August 11, 2009 -- John
Lefebvre made his debut recording, the 29-song opus, Psalngs
(pronounced songs) while he was out on bail. Unable to leave Los
Angeles for an indefinite period of time, after his arrest in 2007 by
the US Justice Department, the Canadian-born Lefebvre made the
best of what could have been an unpleasant situation. He
assembled a dream-team of musicians, guided by legendary
Nashville producer Brian Ahern (Anne Murray, Emmylou Harris,
Johnny Cash), spent three weeks putting down live tracks at Village
Recorder studios and gave life to a collection of songs that range in
tone from romantic to rant and speak to his deepest-held ideals:
love, truth, respect and honesty.
The entire project, plus videos of select songs and a 30-minute
documentary on the making of Psalngs is available for free
download on Lefebvre's web site: Press.Psalngs.com.
A CD/DVD sampler including seven audio tracks, an EPK
and the music video for "Our Town" is available.
To request an interview with John Lefebvre,
please contact Sheryl Northrop at NorthStar Entertainment.
"Music is like a beautiful painting," Lefebvre says of his decision to
make all of the tracks available at no charge. "I wanted to put it out
there for people to enjoy."
But just who is John Lefebvre?
Though Psalngs is his first recording, Lefebvre's passion for music
took hold when, as a young boy, he sang in the church choir. He
studied piano and later took up the guitar. After a drug arrest at 17,
he worked in construction, as a taxi driver, a gardener and other odd
jobs. He had a daughter, went to law school became a successful
attorney, then gave it all up at 45 to busk at the train stations and
play in local coffee houses.
Now 57, Lefebvre is hardly the picture of an artist starving for his
craft. A few years ago, he and a partner developed a secure online
payment and money transfer service that, among other things,
streamlined the process for payments to and from online gambling
sites. While Lefebvre admits he knew the practice might raise
questions, he figured the odds were in his favor, as the company,
Neteller, was advertised on gaming outlets alongside global
institutions such as Western Union and Citibank. But the Justice
Department betted against Neteller, arrested its principals and
charged them with criminal conspiracy for transferring gambling
proceeds. Lefebvre plead guilty to a felony and he and his partner
personally forfeited $100 million.
"I didn't think it was dishonest or morally reprehensible," said the
outspoken Lefebvre of the operation that is still in business as
Neovia Financial, is registered on the Isle of Man, regulated by the
United Kingdom, and traded on the London stock Exchange, but
does not service the U.S. market. Still, he is cooperating with
authorities while he awaits sentencing.
He won't elaborate on the case or openly discuss his opinions of
American justice, but he really doesn't have to, his songs speak
volumes. On tracks such as "Mr. Bully Boy," "Independence Day,"
and "Wounded Knee," Lefebvre rails against political hypocrisy,
bloated government, global warming, addiction and his sense that
Western culture is destroying itself. But Psalngs isn't just a musical
expression of Lefebvre's political opinions and observations, it is
also a testament to his romantic and deeply spiritual nature, with
many songs such as "Our Town," (watch the video now!) "Painted
Pony," "Out of the Water" and "Snow box" devoted to love,
humanness, the natural world and a sense of the mystical.
Shortly before his run-in with the U.S. Justice Department, Lefebvre
had demoed a handful of songs and a friend suggested bringing in
Ahern to more fully develop the tracks. Once Ahern was on board,
they assembled some of the finest musicians around to make the
final recordings including Jim Keltner (Traveling Wilburys, Bob
Dylan, James Taylor) on drums; Dean Parks (Steely Dan, Ricki Lee
Jones, Lowell George) on various guitars; Hutch Hutchinson
(Bonnie Raitt, Ryan Adams) on bass, Greg Leisz (Kraus/Plant, Joni
Mitchell) on lap steel, pedal steel, electric 12-string; Matt Rollings
(Lyle Lovett Mark Knopfler) keyboards, B3; Mac McAnally (Jimmy
Buffet) on acoustic guitar; Patrick Warren (Fiona Apple, Aimee Mann,
Chili Peppers) on various keyboards, Al Kooper (Bob Dylan, the
Who, Cream) on electric soul guitar and B3: Rosemary Butler
(Jackson Browne, James Taylor) on acoustic guitar and backing
vocals.
"There really are no words," Lefebvre says of the experience. "It is
almost impossible for me to imagine sitting in the studio with this
crowd, much less playing with them, much less having them
playing my songs. But after all, they're just a bunch of ordinary guys
with some really great stories to tell."
With Psalngs complete, and his online business booming,
Lefebvre is committing his energy and resources to several
noteworthy projects devoted to climate change, conservation and
sustainability including Al Gore's Canadian Climate Project, the
David Suzuki Foundation, and desmogblog.com a site devoted to
"clearing up the PR pollution that clouds climate science." He
underwrote the research and writing of the book "Climate
Cover-Up," which is due out this fall through Greystone Books. He is
a founding donor of the Vancouver-based Dalai Lama Center for
Peace and Education, and is producing and co-writing the feature
film, Savage Night, an adaptation of the '50s noir novel by Jim
Thompson, author of "The Grifters."
And Lefebvre is hopeful that his music will resonate with enough
people that he'll be able to reunite his studio "dream-team" for
some tour dates in 2010.
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