How the College of Piping led a musician to RuPaul's DragCon

It's been an unlikely road forDenique Leblanc, who started his musical training at the College of Piping in Summerside, P.E.I., and ended up on the mainstage at RuPaul's DragCon.

"I really owe it to my College of Piping connections. I was hugely involved at the collegefrom the time I was, I believe, five years old," Leblanc said.

"Doing that Highland Gathering every year, that's pretty much where I learned to do everything."

His experience at one of the few schools in the world devoted year-round to Celtic music and arts eventuallylanded him an East Coast Music Award(ECMA) for best electronic recordingand a spot atRuPaul's DragCon in Los Angeles, New York and, earlier this month, London.

2019 was a big year for LeBlanc. He was invited to perform at DragCon the night before he won his ECMA.

It was a bit of a surprise. He classifies himself as a musician, not a drag performer, though he is known for his unique and arresting presentation, both musically and on stage.

"Certainly in my presentation there's an androgyny there that could definitely be influenced from drag," said Leblanc.

"As RuPaul always says, we're born naked and the rest is drag. I do believe, of course, what I'm doing is some derivative of drag, but if we look traditionally at what drag is, it is people taking on the characteristics of what is deemed as feminine and exaggerating those. That's not what I do onstage."

'Fiddle has this innate ability to impress crowds'

LeBlanc's music combines East Coast fiddle with electronic beats and his own singing.

The mix is a culmination of his personal history: picking up the fiddle at the age of 10, dumping it for electronic music in his teensand then finding he missed his fiddle when he was in his mid-20s.

That mix has proven to be a great way to connect to audiences.

"Fiddle has this innate ability to impress crowds no matter where I am, and that's just the nature of people not having heard that music," he said.

'Pace yourself'

The invitation to DragCon was a great experience, said Leblanc, if occasionally overwhelming.

The events includedpanel discussions, vendors selling drag fashions and paraphernalia, and the mainstage, all happening at once.

"I always tell people who are participating at an event like this to really pace yourselfand to take breaks and drink water and eat food," he said.

The DragCons were an opportunity to connect with artists from all over the world and exchange ideas, he said.

Leblanc will be releasing a new single Feb. 18, which focuses on age disparities in relationships and the small town experience of moving to a big city.

More P.E.I. news