John Lefebvre's life has been slightly on the extraordinary side. The Canadian musician and board member of the David Suzuki Foundation, dubbed "the teddy bear hippie millionaire" by the Vancouver Sun, is an emerging rock 'n' roll star despite being in his late 50s.
John Lefebvre Biography
Lefebvre started out in law before co-founding a successful online payment system for gamblers and other shoppers and making a fortune; he then ran into significant legal troubles for alleged violations of American gambling laws. Around the same time, respected producer Brian Ahern listened to Lefebvre's demo tape, sent in on a whim through a friend, and agreed to make a record with him. An all-star cast of musicians, including drummer Jim Keltner of the Traveling Wilburys, was brought on board and Lefebvre, a guitarist, pianist and singer, was able to record enough material during these sessions to put out a pair of double albums, 2008's Psalngs and 2010's Initial Album.
Keeping Grounded While Recording
S101: When it came time to record with this group of very seasoned musicians, did you find yourself intimidated at all?
Lefebvre: Probably the answer is yes, but sometimes you just have to grab ahold of yourself. For me, I grew up idolizing some of these guys. Jim Keltner has played with all of the Beatles. If you were Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison and Bob Dylan, who would you pick for a drummer? Anybody you want, right? Well, it was Jim Keltner. For me, just to go into the studio and watch those guys work would be something that you wouldn’t even dream of, and for them to be doing your songs is even more unlikely. But then for you to be playing with them is still even more unlikely, you know? What I did is I just sort of gathered myself up. I’ll tell you this: They are just normal guys. Everybody is a normal guy. Saddam Hussein, all of them, they’re just normal guys; some of them have worse habits than others. That helped a lot. And I said to myself, on any given Sunday morning at 2:30 a.m., you’re actually pretty damn good sitting at the piano. What’s the difference between then and now? John, just get out of the way of yourself. Let it be what it can be. Be a pro just like these guys are. That was a great help. And they were very encouraging.
Playing Music For A Living
S101: When you were a kid, did you have dreams of becoming a professional musician?
Lefebvre: No. I was never a professional but I was in Saint Mary’s Cathedral Boys Choir and I took piano lessons. I think when I was around 13 or 14 I probably played the guitar in the folk mass and **** like that. I was always playing around campfires and down in the basement with pals and that. I was always a not very accomplished but very enthusiastic player. I don’t know why, it came easy to me to just kind of remember songs and play them around a campfire, Bob Dylan songs or all kinds of pop songs. I’d try to sing them and usually I was able to pull something off. I got pretty familiar with how music goes by playing other peoples’ songs for a long, long time. I didn’t write my first song until 1997, and in '97 I would have been 48 or something like that.
Getting Older In Rock 'N' Roll
S101: Starting a music career at your age is definitely not the norm.
Lefebvre: No, 60-year-old guys don’t usually start rock ‘n’ roll careers, that’s for sure. The weird thing is, I don’t feel any different now than I did when I was 17. I really don’t. What I see in the mirror is kind of a shock sometimes but being alive is the same thing. I never really left that behind. In my view, growing older isn’t leaving stuff behind, it’s just adding stuff. The only difference between now and 17 is now I’ve replaced bravado with actual self-assurance. It’s a lot easier to relax about it. It’s one thing to be really, really cool but at 17, most often you’re probably just acting like it.
More Information on Musician John Lefebvre
Sample John Lefebvre's music, watch his videos, and purchase his albums on his official website. The entire first John Lefebvre album, Psalngs, streams online for free.
Sources:
One Man's Green PR Battle. The Vancouver Sun. Pub. 17 Feb. 2007. Retr. 16 Feb. 2011.
Personal Interview. Lefebvre, John. 19 Jan. 2011.
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