Bernie LaBarge

Bernie LaBarge (born March 11, 1953 in Ottawa, Ontario) is a Canadian guitarist, singer, and songwriter.

History

LaBarge began studying guitar at age 11, shortly after seeing The Beatles perform on The Ed Sullivan Show, February 9, 1964. He has been playing professionally since 1967. He was the frontman and/or guitarist for many popular bands in Ontario, (Bond, Rain, Sweet Blindness, Zwol, Stem, Stingaree, George Olliver). He was nominated for Most Promising Male Vocalist at the 1984 Juno Awards for his album entitled Barging In (Sony). That album is available in Europe on Long Island Records, and digitally. LaBarge has released records on Warner Bros., Sony, BMG, and various independent labels, and performed on tour and recordings with The Irish Rovers, Kim Mitchell, Ian Tyson, Frank Biner of Tower of Power, Long John Baldry, Doug Riley, Dione Taylor, George Canyon, Cassandra Vasik, Joel Feeney, David Clayton-Thomas, Rhinoceros (band) and others. He has composed and/or performed on many North American and worldwide jingles, i.e., Coke, Pepsi, GM, Ford, and Nissan (his singing can be heard on the Coke jingle which opens up the original Batman video). Bernie has written songs for Long John Baldry, the Irish Rovers, Lisa Price, the Good Brothers, and many others. Bernie won the Canadian Songwriting Contest in 1986 (Best R&B Song category). "Dream Away" (produced by Daniel Lanois) was one of the most-played songs of 1981, and still receives extensive airplay.

LaBarge played guitar on TV shows shown worldwide such as Fraggle Rock (a Jim Henson production), Care Bears (with John Sebastian), Twilight Zone (with David Cassidy), Danger Bay, Smith & Smith (starring Steve Smith (comedian)), and Party with The Rovers, backing up artists such as Roger Miller, B.J. Thomas, Andy Gibb, and Boxcar Willie. LaBarge worked extensively with Jack Richardson (record producer), who produced the Guess Who, Alice Cooper, the Irish Rovers, Bob Seger, and Poco. As lead guitarist for the Dexters, Off The Record, Stem, and the Stickmen, LaBarge performed regularly at the Orbit Room in Toronto from 1994 until 2004, and occasionally after that. The Orbit Room is co-owned by Alex Lifeson, one of the founders of Rush. LaBarge holds the record for the most performances at the Orbit Room, more than 1,000 appearances. He was the guitarist for The Doodlebops TV show, which is released worldwide, and he also plays on the new "Hockey Night in Canada" anthem, which premiered October 11, 2008.

He is the guitarist for the Dexters, and Danny B and the R&B All-Stars.

Influences

LaBarge's influences include (in no particular order) Jimi Hendrix, George Harrison, Curtis Mayfield, James Burton, Eric Clapton, Carlos Santana, Albert King, Domenic Troiano, Steve Cropper, Jeff Beck, Steely Dan, Elvis Costello, Robin Trower, Howard Roberts, Elliott Randall, Rick Derringer, Elliot Easton, Peter Frampton, Gary Moore Peter Green, Danny Weis, and Kenny Marco.

Partial discography

LaBarge's bands

1967 - The Underground Taxi Service

1968 - 1969 - The Royal Banke

1969 - 1972 - Stem

1972 - 1973 - Rain

1973 - 1974 - The Jax 'n Lynda

1974 - George Olliver's Blue-Eyed Brotherhood

1974 - 1975 - Hot Dog

1975 - 1976 - Whizz

1976 - 1977 - Stingaree

1978 - 1979 - Bond

1979 - Sweet Blindness

1980 - Zwol

1980 - 1981 - Kearney, King, McBride & LaBarge

1983 - 1990 - The Irish Rovers

1987 - Mind Over Matter

1989–present - The Danny B Blues Band

1992 - 1994 - Cassandra Vasik

1994–2014 - The Dexters

1999 - 2000 - The Incontinentals

1999 - 2002 - Off The Record

2002 - 2006 - The Stickmen

2005–2009 - David Clayton-Thomas

2009 - Rhinoceros (band)

External links

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