Dylan LeBlanc Brings His Family Band to Callaghan’s Irish Social Club Oct. 18

MOBILE, Ala. — Singer-songwriter Dylan LeBlanc is returning to one of his favorite Mobile stops with some special company. LeBlanc brings his new project, The Family, to Callaghan’s Irish Social Club on Sunday, Oct. 18, at 7 p.m.

Tickets are $25 through the venue’s website.

A regular stop at Callaghan’s

LeBlanc has made Callaghan’s a recurring date on his tours for years, and the Oakleigh Garden District pub has built a loyal local following for his music along the way. His songs are known for a haunting, atmospheric take on country and Americana, steeped in hard-won, real-life storytelling.

Sunday’s show is different from his past visits. This time he is introducing Mobile to “The Family,” a band made up of, quite literally, his family.

Meet The Family

The lineup brings together four musicians from one blended household, each with a résumé of their own:

• Dylan LeBlanc, the singer-songwriter at the center of the project
• James LeBlanc, his father, a respected Nashville songwriter
• Angela Hacker, his stepmother, winner of Season 5 of “Nashville Star”
• Bay Simpson, his stepbrother, a recent contestant on “The Voice”

James LeBlanc has a strong reputation in the Music Row songwriting community. He has written or co-written songs recorded by country stars ranging from Travis Tritt to Jason Aldean.

Hacker won the fifth season of “Nashville Star,” the televised country singing competition, and her voice is a natural match for Dylan’s in harmony.

Simpson spent time in the Muscle Shoals music scene before joining Team Adam Levine on “The Voice.” He released an EP, “Time Waster,” last year before joining The Family.

Talent-show roots

Two members of The Family come to the stage by way of television. “Nashville Star” was a country music talent competition that aired in the mid-2000s, mostly on USA Network, and helped introduce a number of country performers to national audiences. Winning its fifth season put Hacker in a select group of artists who emerged from the show.

“The Voice,” which airs on NBC, remains one of the most-watched singing competitions on television, and Simpson’s run on Team Adam Levine gave him a national platform. South Alabama viewers have been paying special attention to the show this fall, as Grand Bay’s Joe Henley and Mobile’s Anna McElroy compete in Season 30.

Meanwhile, James LeBlanc’s work comes out of Music Row, the Nashville neighborhood of record labels, publishing companies and studios that has served as the business center of country music for generations. Songwriters there craft the material that country stars take to radio, and a long list of credits like his is a mark of respect within the industry.

‘Delusions of Grandeur’

The family collaboration is documented on “Delusions of Grandeur,” an album released last summer on Big Black Cow Records. The record distills the alternative country sound that has defined LeBlanc’s career, with the added chemistry of four voices that grew up around one another.

LeBlanc’s music has long carried a mellow, dreamlike quality, and The Family leans into it. Fans who have not yet heard the album would do well to listen before Sunday; newcomers will find it an easy entry point into his work.

Who is Dylan LeBlanc?

LeBlanc grew up between Louisiana and the Muscle Shoals area of northwest Alabama, a region famous for the studios where artists from Aretha Franklin to the Rolling Stones recorded in the 1960s and 1970s. He released his debut album, “Paupers Field,” in 2010, and his later records, including 2019’s “Renegade,” earned him a following among fans of Southern Americana and songwriting-focused rock.

Growing up around his father’s songwriting career gave him an early education in the craft, which makes The Family something of a full-circle project.

Why Muscle Shoals matters

The Muscle Shoals connection runs through both LeBlanc’s story and Simpson’s. The cluster of towns along the Tennessee River in northwest Alabama became one of the most important recording centers in American music in the 1960s and 1970s, thanks to studios such as FAME and Muscle Shoals Sound and the house musicians who played on hit after hit. That tradition of soulful, rootsy musicianship still shapes the region’s songwriters, and it echoes in the warm, unhurried sound of The Family.

About Callaghan’s

Callaghan’s Irish Social Club, at 916 Charleston St., is a neighborhood pub in Mobile’s Oakleigh Garden District, the historic area of 19th-century homes and live oaks just southwest of downtown. Along with The Merry Widow and Soul Kitchen, it is one of the venues at the heart of the city’s live music scene, with a reputation for booking singer-songwriters and roots acts in a small room where the music is the focus. Earlier this month the club hosted Mississippi Americana band Blue Mother Tupelo.

Its laid-back Sunday-night atmosphere is a good fit for an evening of family harmonies.

Tips for the show

• Get tickets ahead of time. Callaghan’s is a small room, and LeBlanc’s past visits have built a loyal local audience.
• Come early for dinner. The pub is known for its food as well as its music, so consider arriving before the 7 p.m. start.
• Listen first. Spending some time with “Delusions of Grandeur” will make the family harmonies even more rewarding live.

If you go

• Who: Dylan LeBlanc and The Family, with James LeBlanc, Angela Hacker and Bay Simpson
• When: Sunday, Oct. 18, 7 p.m.
• Where: Callaghan’s Irish Social Club, 916 Charleston St., Mobile
• Tickets: $25 through the venue’s website
• Album to hear first: “Delusions of Grandeur” (Big Black Cow Records)